The foreign view of Japanese art has tended to focus on traditional aspects, as represented by Japonisme. However, exhibits at the Venice Biennale Aperto 1998 by artists including Tatsuo Miyajima and Yasumasa Morimura have spurred interest in contemporary Japanese art as well. Takashi Murakami has exerted a major impact on the USA and European art scenes with his concept of Superflat, developed from Japan’s pop culture. He has produced exhibitions featuring not only his own works but also those of Japanese artists from the late 19th century to the present day and incorporating manga, anime, shokugan (Japanese giveaway candy toys) and fashion. While stretching the boundaries of art in this way, he has expanded into producing marketable works.

Japan’s contemporary art scene encompasses a broad range of artists working in different media. They include pop-culture figures Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto and painter Hiroshi Senju, whose works deal with seasonal change in the natural world and the artist’s own sensibilities, and Tatsuo Miyajima and Yasumasa Morimura, who make seemingly casual yet clever use of the latest technology.

Text by Yumi Yamaguchi ( Art Producer)

Copyright 2007 - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan