Yamaguchi Akira

Tokei (Tokyo): Roppongi Hills

Yamaguchi can accurately depict virtually any object in the world without reference to photographs, through the sheer power of his imagination and memory. While his technique is based on the traditional Oriental method of painting sharply defined outlines with the brush, having originally studied oil painting at art school he is equally in command of Western methods such as perspective and shading. There are some ‘fine artists’ in Japan who have abandoned the disciplined training of artistic skill, and who thus tend to be held in contempt by people as if they were simply manga artists or illustrators. It is Yamaguchi alone who has earned their particular respect.

Profound historical insight and a sharp critique of civilization are emblematic of Yamaguchi’s work. While avidly directing his gaze towards the international contemporary art scene (often in a critical manner), he also creates work in media such as installation and video. Not only that, but in 2012 he published a book to explain the characteristics of traditional Japanese painting from a modern point of view. It was recognized with a prize for the most authoritative work of criticism in Japan (selected by a jury of well-known intellectuals).

Virtually all Yamaguchi’s works are packed full of both a sense of something characteristically ‘Japanese’ (traditional) and the unique humor and esprit of Yamaguchi’s own character. They entice the viewer again and again into a mysterious kind of laughter.
A spirit of both pliability and an earnest wish to serve is a richly abundant defining characteristic, infusing Yamaguchi’s works as well as the character of the man himself. As someone with both the most genuine talent and the greatest popularity in the art world of the Far East, Yamaguchi Akira is an artist you should know about – right now.

ART REVIEW, March 2014 issue.