Mr. (b. 1969, Cupa, Japan, lives and works in Saitama, Japan) approaches the visual language of anime and manga as a means of examining Japanese culture, fusing high and low forms of contemporary expression. Like his fellow Superflat artists, such as Takashi Murakami, Mr. utilizes otaku, the "cute" Japanese subculture that is marked by an obsession with adolescence, manga, anime, and video games. Alongside his interest in otaku is an engagement with the 1960s Italian art movement, Arte Povera. Inspired by these artists’ use of unconventional materials and purposeful amateurism, Mr.’s earliest magna-style paintings and drawings were on store receipts, takeout menus and other scraps of transactional detritus.
Prior to 2010, Mr. often incorporated into his work the hypersexualized portrayal of young women prevalent in otaku. Known in Japan as lolicon, a portmanteau of “Lolita Complex,” this word has come to refer to the otaku preference for graphic anime images of young girls. However, in the years since the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor meltdown in Tohoku, Japan, Mr. has paired the cute characters, bright colors, and clean finishes characteristic of his work with a gritty and abstract painting style reminiscent of his early Arte Povera-inspired work, through which he explores themes of destruction. In his exhibition with Lehmann Maupin in 2012 and at the Seattle Art Museum in 2015, Mr. presented a large-scale, immersive installation of garbage and everyday objects from Japanese life, standing as a reminder of the debris that blanketed Tohoku in the aftermath of the 2011 disaster. Viewers were invited to physically interact with the work, getting a glimpse into the psychological state of Japan while remaining alien to the experience. Since then, Mr. has extended this sentiment into his paintings, trampling, tearing and burning his canvases to give his surfaces a distressed, textured quality, often at odds with the innocence of the bright-eyed cartoon figures he paints on top.
Mr. graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, Sokei Art School in Tokyo in 1996. Solo exhibitions of his work have been organized at Seattle Art Museum, WA (2014); and Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, France (2006). Select group exhibitions featuring his work include Animamix Biennale 2015-2016, Daegu Art Museum, South Korea (2015-16); Kyoto-Tokyo: From Samurais to Mangas, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco (2010); Animate, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan (2009); KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada (2008); RED HOT: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection, Museum of Fine Arts Houston (2007); and Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture, Japan Society, New York (2005). Mr.'s work is in numerous international public and private collections, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum, and Daegu Art Museum, South Korea.
Mr. (1969年生於日本,在日本東京定居及工作) 研究動漫和漫畫中的視覺藝術語言,用日本文化融合不同形式的當代表現手法。與其他的超平面(superflat)藝術家如村上隆一樣,他的作品體現與批判禦宅族(Otaku)和他們所沈迷的可愛文化-一種迷戀青少年體態、科技、科幻文學、動漫、及電子遊戲的生活方式。除了對禦宅族的與趣,Mr.在1960年代積極參與意大術貧窮藝術運動,受到當時的藝術家以非傳統物料和目的性業余工作所啟發,Mr. 最早時期都是在商店收據、外賣菜單和其他收據上創作漫畫和繪畫。
在2010年以前,Mr. 的繪畫描繪了被禦宅族情色化(hyper-sexualized)的虛構年輕女孩-「蘿莉控」(lolicon),反映禦宅族對年輕女孩的動漫形象的偏好。自2011年的東北地震帶來的一連串核事故,Mr. 開始擺脫 “可愛”的角色、鮮艷的色彩和整潔的線條,改以抽象粗糙的繪畫風格來探索毀滅的主題。2012年Mr. 在香港紐約立木畫廊和2015年在美國西雅圖藝術博物館舉行的展覽中,Mr. 展出一個以日本日常生活的物品和垃圾創作的大型裝置藝術,使觀眾有身臨其境的感覺,提醒人們在2011年災難發生後覆蓋東北的殘骸。Mr. 邀請觀眾與作品進行身體互動,一瞥日本人的心理狀態,體驗時同時亦保持陌生感。此後,Mr. 將這種情緒延伸到他的畫作中 - 踐踏、撕裂和燃燒他的畫布,使畫布的表面呈現仿舊的質感,往往與畫上用色明亮、天真無邪的卡通人物不一致。
Mr. 在1996年畢業於東京創形藝術研究院美術系。Mr. 曾舉辦多場個人展覽,包括美國西雅圖藝術博物館(2014年)、法國裏昂當代藝術博物館(2004年)。Mr. 亦參與過多場群展,包括Animamix 雙年展 (2015 - 2016年)、韓國大邱美術館(2015 - 2016年)、摩納哥格利馬爾蒂會議展覽中心的「Kyoto-Tokyo: From Samurais to Mangas」(2010年)、日本米子市美術館的「Animate」(2009年)、加拿大溫哥華美術館的「KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art」(2008年)、美國休士頓美術博物館的「RED HOT: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection」(2007年),以及美國紐約Japan Society的「Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture」(2005年)。Mr. 的作品可見於多個公營和私營收藏,包括美國費城藝術博物館、美國西雅圖藝術博物館和韓國大邱美術館。