Curated by Hiro Sugiyama

[Artist]
Emi Imazeki
Mayu Kakuda
Yoko Kawamoto
ZHANG TING
Masako Hasegawa

The 1980s were the time of the so-called economic bubble in Japan, when commercial facilities were thriving according to the general economic expansion. That also had certain effects on youth culture. The award-winners at the Nippon Graphics Exhibition, a large-scale exhibition of works by the general public hosted by one of those commercial facilities, were catapulted to stardom one after another. Young people who used to draw illustrations on their desktops, were now painting pictures onto large, B1 size (728x1,030mm) panels. That came to be referred to as “art,” which suggests how the boundary between art and illustration in Japan was blurred around that time. At present, there is a phenomenon in Japan that we call “illustration art.” Illustrators chose a theme or subject, paint pictures onto large canvases, and present those at their own exhibitions, after which the works are traded at enormous prices. As a counter-movement to this flamboyant illustration art trend, there are artists who create contemporary paintings based on their own unique techniques and ideas. I feel that it won’t be long until their works eventually chime in with the times.
– Hiro Sugiyama

NEO PAINTING TOKYO 3 [PART2]