The Ishibashi Foundation Collection × Yamaguchi Akira, Drawn to the Irresistible Sensation

YAMAGUCHI Akira, who is well-known for his unique technique of Japanese traditional painting that forgo the use of Western perspective, and The Ishibashi Foundation Collection, known for its important collection of modern paintings, have collaborated on a special exhibition “The Ishibashi Foundation Collection × Yamaguchi Akira, Drawn to the Irresistible Sensation” in Kyobashi, Tokyo. The show continues until November 19, 2023.

This project is a part of the Jam Session, in which the Ishibashi Foundation Collection offers contemporary artists the opportunity to have a session with works from its collection. Yamaguchi is the creator of the official art poster for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. He has a deep insight into Japan’s modern history which is also the theme of this exhibition. Yamaguchi gave meaningful comments to ART Driven Tokyo about the intent of the exhibition.

What a bird’s-eye view! The work can be appreciated for a long time!

Yamaguchi’s comment for this work in the catalogue book: To date, my works have juxtaposed different ages within a single motif but, for this work, I separated them into different layers; the top layer, amid the clouds, representing the oldest period. I have retained the line from my original sketch in the oldest layer.

Yamaguchi portrays things not from one era, but from various eras. The artist depicts what looks like a motorcycle, but it appears to be a forecast of the future. Large-sized figures and smaller figures exist in the same space. There is no vanishing point, and Western perspective is not employed. Japan has its own unique expression of perspective. Ukiyo-e, for example, depicts the foreground as large and the background as small.

Yamaguchi completed the Master’s Program in oil painting at Tokyo University of the Arts; the most prestigious arts university in Japan. Oil paint is excellent for spreading colors thinly and evenly, and he utilizes the advantages of oil painting to develop his unique world.

The curator of this show, Heima Rika wrote in the catalogue book of this exhibition: The reason I proposed a Jam Session with Yamaguchi Akira was that I thought his bird’s-eye views of cities, hallmarked by blending ancient temples, modern buildings, and even skyscrapers and interweaving people of different regions and eras into that space would correspond to the wide-ranging Ishibashi Foundation Collection. It covers, period-wise, from antiquity to after World War II and, geographically, westward from Japan in the Far East, to China, India, the Middle East, Europe, and the US. Yamaguchi copied Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire and Château Noir (cat. no.5), from the Ishibashi Foundation Collection and exhibits it in the show. The curator, Rika Heima, wrote in the catalogue book: Whereas the Impressionist artists created visual images by placing colors beside one another in a row, Cézanne created sensory images by arranging single elements of color independently. By looking at individual colors and perceiving them in your mind, a landscape is formed.

Yamaguchi’s comment for this work in the catalogue book, “The areas in which I became bored and careless, or even those instances where I drifted off and the space turned upside down, are interesting to look at later and often provide a hint for the next painting.”

ART Driven Tokyo asked Yamaguchi why he feels so strongly about modern Japan. The artist replied as follows.

“In the process of modernization, Japan urgently needed to import the latest technology to compete with the Western powers. This may be valid in the field of technology, where the new often surpasses the old. However, in the fields of literature and art, where the old is not necessarily inferior to the new, and even in fields that should have been left to the country’s own circumstances, the adverse effects of the importation of new technology have remained.”

“Especially in the fine arts, it was considered a sincere attitude to adopt new trends from Europe and the U.S., and even when the circumstances in Japan did not necessitate such new trends, there was a tendency to receive them with praise. Then, when the artists had sincerely studied and embodied the new trend to finally digest it and develop it on their own with their own internal motivation, they are “buried alive” (a phrase used by Mori Ogai to mean buried alive without completing a full generation) by the next trend and its followers, or they are deprived of their place of activity without having fulfilled the expectations of their own generation. In other words, they have been repeatedly “buried alive” or “torn apart” by the next trend and its adherents.”

“We must break away from this cycle and create a place in Japan for the original creation of art. In order to do so, I believe it is necessary to reevaluate the modern era and find our own distinct evaluative framework that allows artists who were “buried alive” to be recognized properly. This is the reason why I am interested in “modernity” and also because I do not want to be “buried alive” myself.”

ART Driven Tokyo: Could you be more specific about “the next trend?”

Yamaguchi: From the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period, there was a unique movement in the field of oil painting, involving those such as Takahashi Yuichi and the Goseda School. However, when the Engineering College of Fine Arts, Ministry of Engineering was established in 1876, the Romantic school style of painting emerged, following the lead of teacher Antonio Fontanesi. Around the Meiji era, between 1887-1896, the Impressionist style of Kuroda Seiki, who had returned from France, overtook the earlier movements. Over the years, various art movements emerged and succeeded each other, including Cubism, Fauvism, Surrealism, and others.

In the postwar period, there were the Yomiuri Independents who followed the French Independents, the “Gutai” movement that developed from the Informalism movement, the late Dadaism, and Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s. In Europe and the U.S. (the home of these movements), they were born into contextual and intergenerational conflicts, but they simply adopted them as “new trends” without any context. Of course, without natural adversaries to overcome, they turned to radicalism and the rest disintegrated.

ART Driven Tokyo: What do you think of creating a place in Japan for the original creation of art?

Yamaguchi: I think it is unusual and unfortunate that the history of modern and contemporary art in our country has become a history of imported competition. In such a situation, there is no conflict, and the history of modern and contemporary art in one’s own country is a history of disconnection, in which the preceding generation is simply ignored, without forming a “stratum” that includes the preceding generation due to the conflict. The root of the problem is deeper than “the country or the art world’s agenda” in that it is based on a self-seeking attitude of learning from the world and not falling behind. This is not to say that we should reject the influence of other countries’ currents, but even if we start from their influence, we should find “our own pure, inner motivation for creation,” regional relevance, and engage in conflicts with subsequent generations. We should make this a place where we can describe our own axis of evaluation. I believe that a place where each person has the capacity to do so is essential.

Yamaguchi’s comment for this work: Perhaps salvation does still exist in the contemporary world. In the painting, half of the face is that of the Buddha who takes us to paradise, while the other half, I have painted my own face, peering out from behind. While painting this, I felt as if I may be on the verge of enlightenment, but perhaps it was just my imagination.

The exhibition features many of Yamaguchi’s cartoons that have appeared in magazines and newspapers.

ART Driven Tokyo: You seem to be a manga lover. Are there any manga artists who have influenced you or whom you respect? You describe the building clearly. For example, have you been influenced by Otomo Katsuhiro, famous for AKIRA?

Yamaguchi: I was wondering if I could somehow get a sense of the times by mentioning teachers such as Kamogawa Tsubame, Hasegawa Machiko, Fujiko Fujio, Matsumoto Leiji, Mizuki Shigeru, and so on. With regard to Otomo, it was during my high school and college years, so I remember being careful not to imitate him. I think the inspiration for the building came largely from the picture book called “Earth” by Kako Satoshi, which I read when I was in preschool and early elementary school. Although the similarity of form and proximity are often used to measure the extent of the influence, looking at other artists, however, I feel that the vein of inspiration goes back a bit further than what appears on the surface.

In art, what is original production? This is an important exhibition that makes us think through Yamaguchi’s vast contemplations and his works.

YAMAGUCHI Akira

Born in Tokyo in 1969. Raised in Kiryu City in Gunma Prefecture. Completed the Master’s Program in oil painting at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1996. In 2013 his Hen na Nihon Bijutsushi (Strange History of Japanese Art) won the 12th Kobayashi Hideo Award. A distinctive feature of his work is the use of oil painting to reproduce traditional styles of Japanese painting. Since then, Yamaguchi has embraced many forms of creative expression, including painting, sculpture, manga, and installations. His work has been shown numerous times in exhibitions both in Japan and abroad. His works include public art for the Tokyo Metro Nihombashi Station and the official art poster for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Exhibition overview

Exhibition title

Jam Session: The Ishibashi Foundation Collection x Yamaguchi Akira Drawn to the Irresistible Sensation

Exhibition period

9 September [Sat] – 19 November [Sun], 2023

Opening hours

10:00 – 18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays except November 3) *Last entry 30 minutes before closing.

Closed

Mondays (except September 18, October 9), September 19, October 10

Organizer

Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation

Venue

Artizon Museum 6F Gallery