Taro Yamamoto

each with a seal of the artist, signed, titled and dated 2007 in Japanese on the reverse, lacquered wood frame with metal mounts

imura art gallery, Kyoto

Generally in very good condition.
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Born in Kumamoto in 1974, Taro Yamamoto graduated from Kyoto University of Art and Design in Japanese Painting in 2000. In his work, Yamamoto chooses to continue the tradition of Japanese art history but in a contemporary manner, and his work is know to typically parody Japanese painting with the inclusion of American commercial logos and iconography.

 

The current work, which is painted with traditional Japanese mineral pigments, is a four-panel gold-leaf folding screen, displaying two classic blossoming cherry trees (sakura), between which hangs the flag of the United States of America. Cherry trees and their blossom are traditionally auspicious motifs in Japanese culture, symbolic of good fortune and love, and are also used as an enduring metaphor for the fleeting nature of life. Its presence here, along with the use of gold leaf on a folding screen distinguishes the work as unquestionably Japanese, however the viewer's eyes are drawn away from the subtle painting and delicate colours of the sakura towards the bold primary colours of the huge dominant feature: the US flag, which hangs in the background.

 

This integration of Western iconography into traditional Japanese aesthetic forms is a typical theme in the artist's oeuvre.

 

"I want to show the humorous nature of contemporary Japanese society through my paintings", Yamamoto remarks, "This work is to help reaffirm my identity, and re-establish my connection with traditional culture. I live in Kyoto, a traditional city where Japanese culture has been condensed. Yet at the same time we lead a very urban lifestyle. Just as in cities in other countries, we drive cars and buy groceries at supermarkets."

 

Clearly enamoured of the melding of East and West in contemporary culture, the artist provokes us to consider the meaning of traditional motifs in today's world.

 

The underlying message in the current work is reflective of certain aspects of contemporary Japanese life. The image is symbolic of much about the socio-economic and political situation in Japan today: it being a unique culture with its own distinct personality and individual history, yet affected by the omnipresence of the United States of America.

 

Yamamoto has held numerous solo exhibitions including at Imura Art Gallery, Kyoto, and Takashimaya, Kyoto and Shinjuku, in 2008; and will be shown at Museum "E Ki" Kyoto, Japan in 2009. Selected group exhibitions include VOCA 2007 for which he won the VOCA Prize, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan in 2007; The Suiboku Museum, Toyama, in 2008. Awards include the 4th Showa Shell Sekiyu Contemporary Art Prize in 1999, and the Philip Morris Art Award in 2000.