“Modern Art” in contemporary Japan is handicapped by its association with the West. That is, the majority of Japanese drawn to view modern art at all (a very small audience, indeed) tend to see it as a Western import. The Tokyo Museum of Modern Art and the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art, for example, both feature Western artists almost exclusively in their collections and special exhibitions alike. It is difficult for a Japanese artist to establish a place for himself / herself in such a narrowly-focused world. Most have had to rely on self-financed gallery exhibitions. The available alternatives fall into several categories:

• Join together with other likeminded artists to gain needed exposure;
• Seek to establish one’s self abroad as “a contemporary Japanese artist” to gain the needed international reputation that might lead to recognition at home in Japan;
• Turn to the consumer-oriented world of popular culture and cater to the fads and tastes of the masses;
• Seek notoriety through outrageous subject matter, extreme artistic styles or idiosyncratic personal behavior.

MURAKAMI TAKASHI is perhaps the most popular artist at work in Japan today. Born in 1962, Murakami represents a generation whose visual vocabulary is steeped in the culture of anime (Japanese animation films) and manga (Japanese comics). Murakami is widely acclaimed as one of the most innovative modern Japanese artists, his work influenced as much by Western art, such as American Pop and Andy Warhol, as it is by Japanese culture. His pieces vividly illustrate his pop-infused universe detailing colorful flowers and fantastical mushrooms as well as unique cartoon-like characters. His projects include designing the logo for the Mori Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo, shop windows for prestigious designer goods flagship stores and “character goods” that regularly catch the eye of the fickle Japanese consumer. From the beginning of his career, Murakami has carefully chartered his present course in light of the above criteria. His approach epitomizes the current state of affairs in the world of modern art in Japan.

an interview with the artist from February 2000

TERAOKA MASAMI has followed a somewhat different course. Educated at the Los Angeles School of the Arts, he returned to Japan in search of a Japanese approach to contemporary artistic expression and found it (initially, at least) in the world of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints). Employing the traditional style characteristic of these colorful prints, Masaoka infused them with a modern sensibility, focusing, for example, on the experiences of Japanese vacationing abroad or dealing with the AIDS crisis or trying to integrate Westernization into modern daily life.

“TENMOUYA HISASHI, an artist from Tokyo, attempts to construct a similar dichotomy in his works, which faithfully reproduce stylistic features of otoko-e, ukiyo-e and other styles, yet infuse them with wry contemporary twists that recall Western influence. A statue of Buddha may be covered with graffiti, a samurai may be holding a laser, or a yakuza tattoo may adorn the exposed arm of a geisha. His pieces portray an inconsistency between style and subject, offering no resolution.” [from KABUKI: THE MYTH OF FACE by Venessa Chang, an internet web site accessed November 10, 2003]

AIDA MAKOTO represents perhaps the most intriguing case of all. His diverse and multifaceted approach to contemporary artistic expression is coupled with a more confrontational stance motivated by his political activism. Ranging over a wide variety of styles, his work seems purposefully designed to provoke and stir controversy to the point that his reputation suffered a nearly irreversible setback when a performance art piece he presented in the period just prior to the death of the Showa Emperor in 1989 brought in its wake charges of lese majesty and led to his being hounded for months by elements of the yakuza organized crime syndicate.

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