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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Noboru Tsubaki In the group show "Parergon: Japanese Art of the 1980s and 1990s," Blum & Poe offers a survey of the country's practitioners of two decades. “Part 1” is currently being held at the Los Angeles gallery, with Noboru Tsubaki, Yukinori Yanagi, and Tsuyoshi Ozawa are among the artists featured in the show. “Part 1” and “Part 2” are curated by Mika Yoshitake.
Painter Hiroomi Ito uses traditional means to produce contemporary scenes and ideas. And he takes this process further than just creating his own color pigments; he actually creates the rice paper on which his works are crafted. In these works, Ito explores modern social issues as they relate to customs of the past.
Kyosuke Tchinai (b. 1948) is a Japanese artist known for his ethereal paintings made with acrylics and precious metals on washi paper. The artist employs traditional aesthetics and techniques that help pay tribute to his homeland while reflecting his training in Western style painting. Through his unique medium, the artist fuses these two worlds to present a modern interpretation of both Japanese and European art forms.
Stephen Friedman gallery in London is currently showing their fourth solo exhibition with acclaimed Japanese artist, Yoshitomo Nara, covered here. Following his recent solo exhibitions at Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan, Asia Society Museum, New York, Asia Society Hong Kong Center and Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland, "New Works" is the simple title of the current exhibition by one of the most important living contemporary Japanese artists.
Dreams are considered important, real, and public in some cultures, but absurd, irrational and personal in others. Japan has its own history of dreaming, and the importance of dreams has evolved through Japanese supernatural beliefs and art for centuries. "Dreams are like strange stories," says Tokyo based artist Atsuko Goto, who builds on her own visions of dreams in her other-worldly mixed media drawings. "I draw what comes up from our unconscious, like hidden feelings reflected in our dreams."
Miho Hirano’s delicate portraits of young goddesses are in and of nature, adorned by pastel flowers, butterflies, and humming birds. They stand blissfully as slender tree branches wrap them in love and color, or wade neck high in a shallow river. We are immediately reminded of "Flora,” represented in Botticelli’s “Allegory of Spring”, a profusion of flowers coming out of her mouth.
Japanese artist Stephanie Inagaki's black and white charcoal drawings depict female figures that are not only an embodiment of her roots, but also of herself as an artist and a woman. For the past couple of years, she has been incorporating the Japanese ghost folklore and mythology of her culture into what she describes as "pillars of inspiration"; tall, bold, creative women, often self-portraits, that represent the well rounded woman Inagaki aspires to be. Previously featured on our blog, she likens the figures in her drawings to the Creation and Destruction goddesses like Kali from India or Izanami from Japan, and there is generally an underlying theme of life and death throughout. Inagaki invited Hi-Fructose into her new studio in Los Angeles to give us a preview and tell us more about the direction of where her work is going.
Japanese artist Izumi Kato's debut exhibition in the United States at Galerie Perrotin in New York is all about his creatures with very simplified human features and penetrating eyes. The simplistic traces in his portraits are one of the consequences of painting with no brushes or tools – only his hands and occasionally, a spatula. When Kato first started to paint, he was immersed in painting the abstract, but then he decided to try more human shapes, which can sometimes seem childlike but with an adult and eerie appearance. In his work, you can discover portrayals of a man but also a woman, cute but also ugly, a toy but also a monster.
The sparkling and sweet demeanor of Japanese artist Hikari Shimoda's child subjects is equally enchanting and disarming, and full of possibilities. Born and currently based in Nagano, Japan, but raised on Japanese animation and comics, Hikari herself is not unlike her characters, living on the edge between a place deeply rooted in its beliefs and traditions and an exciting, however uncertain, future. First featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 29, and also on our blog, her works in recent years have been deeply impacted by the Great East Japan Earthquake, created from the perspective of a young artist living in the countryside, where social media and the books she reads are her main portal to the outside world.
Takashi Murakami's often provacative works- which touch upon issues relating to high art and subculture, Japan's defeat in World War II, the relationship between Japan and the US, contemporary art and Japanese art, as well as art and capitalism, while also taking into account political, cultural, and historical contexts- have greatly expanded the domain of international contemporary art. Comprising his historically monumental "The 500 Arhats" and numerous new works, his exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo focuses on the present state of Murakami's career.
Hiroki Tsukuda's moody and graphical landscapes incorporate elements of traditional Japanese arts and pop culture imagery. The Japanese artist has been residing in Germany for the past few months while his current exhibition, "Colla Max", shows at Warhus Rittershaus Gallery in the city of Cologne. We recently met with him at his temporary open studio space at Autocenter in Berlin, Germany. The project is part of an international residence program curated by Tokyo based art gallery, Nanzuka Underground. Despite the rare opportunity to travel abroad, Tsukada says that it has little effect on his creative thinking. His drawings exhibit a rather neo-futuristic world view, a futuristic re-imagining of the visual and functionality of rapidly growing cities like Tokyo, where he lives. But unlike other neo-futurism artists, Tsukada teeters visually between old and new.
The name Ed Hardy immediately evokes images of tattooed baseball tees with cartoon skulls and studded baseball hats worn by reality TV stars. But before artist Don Ed Hardy became one of the most polarizing brands in history, he was a young aspiring artist whose favorite past time was going down to the beach in Southern California and looking at classic cars. He eventually went on to study under legendary Japanese tattoo artist Horihide, an experience that had a profound influence on Hardy's signature, ornate style. Today, Hardy is retired from tattooing, instead focused on non-tattoo based art like printmaking, drawing, and painting. This also includes new porcelain works and tapestries in his upcoming exhibition curated by Varnish Fine Art gallery in San Francisco, "Visionary Subversive".
Numbers of women artists still rank low in gallery rosters, less than 50 percent, across the world. With the exception of a few like Yayoi Kusama and Yoko Ono, women in the Japanese contemporary art world have yet to earn equal recognition. This is largely due to the historical conception that women were not suited to become professional artists. A new exhibition at Jiro Miura Gallery in Tokyo is bringing awareness to 19 emerging international women artists. "Ephemeral: Territory of Girls", which opened on July 25th, showcases new works by Jana Brike, Amy Crehore, Virginia Mori, Ania Tomicka, Emi Adachi, Fuco Ueda, Kaori Ogawa, Miki Kato, Kimi Kuruhara, Kozue Kuroki, Satomi Kuwahara, Atsuko Goto, Yuka Sakuma, Minae Takada, Tsubaki Torii, Yumi Nakai, Yuko Nagami, Yuki Nagayoshi, Mao Hamaguchi, Miho Hirano, Shiori Matsumoto, Eri Mizuno, and Yuko Murai.
Mixed media artist Lauren Brevner paints eclectic and fantastic portraits of women ornamented with a collage of Japanese motifs. Born of mixed heritage in Vancouver, she recently moved to Osaka to get in touch with her Japanese ancestry. Life in Japan has had a major influence on the self taught artist since. Not long after her move in 2009, she apprenticed under Japanese fashion designer Sin Nakayamal. The inspiration of his luxurious prints resonates in the the way Brevner dresses her subjects.
Japanese artist Hirabayashi Takahiro (not to be confused with Takahiro Hirabayashi) infuses his religion's mythology with the experience of growing up in his oil paintings. Using "boundaries" as a central theme, his dreamy portraits examine borders between the sky, land and sea, man and nature, childhood and adulthood, and how we navigate them. His main subjects are young girls who serve as a guide or guardian for those in this inbetween state of being. Considering their young age, they share in this delicate state.
Japanese artist and founder of Superflat, Takashi Murakami, has taken over four venues in Ibiza, Spain for his latest exhibition: Art Projects Ibiza, Lune Rouge Ibiza, the Ibiza Gran Hotel, and restaurant and performance space HEART Ibiza. His presence there coincides with the opening of Lune Rouge Ibiza, the collection of Guy Laliberté, the Canadian philanthropist perhaps best known as the CEO of Cirque du Soleil. The artist will have a selection of older work on display at the Lune Rouge dating back to his "Arhat" series (covered here), including his massive 32-foot long painting "69 Arhat's "Beneath the Bodhi Tree" (2013). The series was notable for its introduction of more historical Japanese art motifs in Murakami's works, some of which can be found at Laliberté's Casino de Ibiza.
New York-based artist Naoto Hattori, first featured in HF Vol. 7 and most recently, HF Vol. 35, creates dreamy paintings that are snap shots from his visionary world. It is there in the private recesses of his consciousness where his subjects thrive, he says. Opening July 18th, Hattori's next exhibition at Copro Gallery in Los Angeles titled "Genesis" delves even deeper into the artist's mind - where we dare to think about our creation and place in the universe. See more after the jump.
Alongside Jeff Soto's "Nightgardens" (covered here), Sashie Masakatsu made his debut solo exhibition at KP Projects/MKG in Los Angeles last weekend with "Blind Box." We featured Masakatsu's disaster striken world in HF Vol. 28, where there is no sign of life except for his strange, hovering orbs. As his title suggests, whatever propels them remains a mystery, but their exteriors have evolved to incorporate newly decorative motifs.
The late artist Tetsuya Ishida is still making an impression with his nightmarish paintings of young men in a state of disfigurement. His work has been described as a surrealistic portrayal of every day Japanese life. Of the 180 works he left behind after his death by a train accident in 2005, nearly all include self-portraits. Ishida’s images most certainly link his own childhood experiences with his observations of society. As a child growing up in Japan, Ishida felt constant pressure to meet the standards of young men his age, and was encouraged to study academics over art. Paintings, such as “Prisoner” (1999) which portrays a young boy growing beyond the capacity of his school walls, reflect on his memories. In fact, there are several iterations of the same image, pointing to the extremity of his frustrations as a student. See more of his work after the jump.
The characters in Yoskay Yamamoto's paintings are often portrayed submerged in water. With eyes half-closed and a serene expression on their faces, they seem at peace in the cool blue seas painted from the artist's dreams. The concept of being submerged, for Yamamoto, represents his place between cultures as a Japanese artist living in America. His ocean possesses a strong physical and emotional power because of this. It's waters contain new elements in his latest series of 12 paintings, debuting on Friday at the Honolulu Museum of Art's Contempo #ArtShop, curated by Giant Robot.
Recently named the most popular artist of 2014, Yayoi Kusama (HF Vol. 25) has currently taken over two expansive spaces at David Zwirner Gallery in New York. Her exhibition, "Give Me Love," which closes this week, includes a reenactment of her popular installation, "The Obliteration Room" (2002), new pumpkin sculptures, and paintings. They share the hallucinatory, obsessive, and energetic qualities we've seen throughout her career, something this exhibition aims to embody. More photos after the jump.
You may recognize the fantastical work of Chiho Aoshima as part of the artist's collective KaiKai Kiki, home to previously featured artists like Mr. and Aya Takano. Opening today, the Seattle Art Museum, in cooperation with Blum and Poe, tells the story of Aoshima's creative journey with "Rebirth of the World". It begins 10 years ago, when she quit her job as a member of iconic Japanese artist Takashi Murakami's design team after her own career took off. Her museum debut, the exhibition takes us from her earliest pieces to 35 new drawings on paper, large-scale prints on plexiglass, and a never before seen animation.
There is nothing perfect about the pretty "Tokyo girls" that artist Tomoyoshi Sakamoto paints. Sweet with a twist of irony, his acrylic paintings are representative of Neo-Nihonga Japanese style. In one painting, girls play "dress up" in a scene that would look like any typical sleepover. As they apply their makeup, one horrifyingly ties strings to another's watery eyes. Tears are a common characteristic of Sakamoto's subjects, as they inflict pain and humiliation upon themselves. Not all of his works are graphic, but more melancholy.
Tokyo based Tomoo Gokita paints in a monochrome, abstract style that is simple but haunting to look at. His ongoing black and white gouache series plays on the idea of traditional portraiture. For his next solo show "Bésame Mucho" at Honor Fraser Gallery, Gokita continues to blend this line between figurative and abstraction. If his images feel strangely familiar, it's because he borrows them from vintage film stills, 1970s magazines and photos. Check out our preview after the jump.
Fans of recently featured duo Pip & Pop will enjoy Japanese artist Yuko Kanatani, one of their inspirations. Kanatani recently gained international momentum after the launch of her Nike sneakers and 'Tight of the Moment' line, which features her psychedelic designs. Her works comprise of drawings, paintings, animation, and immersive large-scale installations where one feels like they are walking into a kaleidoscope. Her bright and dazzling ornamental imagery represents varying emotions, and themes of infinity and movement.
They are "the girls behind the lace." This is how Okinawa based painter Mao Hamaguchi describes the young subjects of her romantic paintings. Her Gothic Art inspired images are painted in a soft and delicate style, where we find Contemporary aristocratic girls peeking through veils or shrouds and lace curtains. The symbol of lace is used throughout Hamaguchi's art. Lace is a sensual fabric, often associated with intimacy and pleasure, as well as wealth, once among a household's most prized possessions. Hamaguchi embraces all of its nuances, using them to emphasize the qualities of womanhood.
Four years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake which continues to have a significant impact on the nation of Japan and its artists. On March 11th, the anniversary of the disaster, Mizuma Art Gallery presented "Howl", an exhibition of elaborate pencil drawings by Mikiko Kumazawa. Kumazawa's latest works reflect on the past four years, and her own personal emotional interpretation of the event. Collectively, here is an image of human nature's strength and weakness in the face of uncontrollable forces. Take a look at "Howl" after the jump!
Tomokazu Matsuyama's (Vol 24) third exhibition at Wendi Norris, which opens on March 12th, is a monument to some of art history's most iconic subjects. The title "Come with me" represents the spirit of Matsuyama's inspirations, powerful leaders spanning ancient Greek heroes, samurai, to Napoleon. Napoleon has been of particular interest to the artist of late, the subject of his "Sky is the Limit" installation at Harbour City Gallery, Hong Kong last year.
It's not manga. This is the starting point of a conversation that Yoshitomo Nara will host today about his debut solo exhibition in Hong Kong, "Life is Only One." The show opened last night at the Asia Society, named after Nara's painting "Life is Only One!", featuring a child holding a skull as he contemplates life. In a recent interview, Nara shared, "When I was a child, the word “life” itself, of course, was a foreign concept. After turning 50, however, and with the deaths of people close to me and with the recent earthquake, I started to think about life more realistically - the limits of life, and the importance of what one can accomplish during that time."
Back in 2012, latex artist Saeborg (pronounced Cyborg) announced that his dream was to make an entire farm made of rubber. His current show at Tomonotsu Museum in Hirsoshima, Japan realizes that vision. It was previously shown at Takashi Murakami's Zingaro space in Nakano, a mecca for comics, toys and cosplay- Saeborg's inspiration.