Yamaguchi Akira
b. 1969, JapanYamaguchi Akira draws together historical scenes with contemporary daily encounters in his large scale drawings and paintings. His elaborate and intricate compositions weave together images of modern day businessmen and cavalrymen riding horse-headed motorcycles; yukata wearing figures set in next to skyscrapers and window cleaners; pastoral scenes alongside the bustle of midday Roppongi. Yamaguchi’s works draw comparison with yamato-e and ukiyo-e prints and ornate tapestry work, yet his training is throroughly modern. Having studied western painting, Yamaguchi combines disparate techniques and subject matter that reveal a mutual obssession between East and West. Yet he is critical of the wholesale embrace of Western ideals in the Meiji Era that alienated a nation for the sake of modernity.
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