Barry McGee was born in San Francisco, California in 1966. He received his BFA in painting and printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at museums and institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, CA; Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy; UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; and Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan. McGee’s works are included in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA; the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; The New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK; and Fondazione Prada, Venice, Italy.
Cleon Peterson’s chaotic and violent paintings show clashing figures symbolizing a struggle between power and submission in the fluctuating architecture of contemporary society. Peterson’s work acknowledges the demons within us and sheds light on the inherent violence of civilization. His allegorical works contrast good with evil, and violence with victim, in the tradition of Greco-Roman gladiator-motif vases, Francisco Goya’s “The Disasters of War (1810-1820),” and Eugene Delacroix’s “The Rape of Sabine Women (1850).”
Craig Costello is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. He works in a range of mediums including photography, painting, and site-specific installation. Craig's new series of ink drawings are to push the boundaries of legibility. In graffiti, style is used to express individuality and is often illegible to non-graffiti writers. Costello draws upon this concept and incorporates it as a nod to his graffiti roots. He explores the manipulation of letters to create abstract shapes and forms while simultaneously embracing the material excess and imperfections that result from his technique.
DISKAH was a Japanese pro skateboarder from the late '80s to '00s, immersed himself in street art in the late '90s, and began providing artwork for magazines and musicians on the side. Started his career as an artist in 2002 and Held his first solo exhibition under the name DISKAH. Self-taught in painting. DISKAH likes to create works by accident, so many of his paintings are improvised. DISKAH draws various motifs, such as characters and lettering, using various techniques based mainly on freehand lines. Despite his comical and lovable style, his works are based on the concept of freedom of expression. DISKAH incorporates irony and current affairs that are usually difficult to discuss, such as satire and antithesis of the times, into his works through his filter. In addition to exhibiting his works in solo and group exhibitions in Japan and abroad, he is active in various fields, including fashion, music, and advertising.
美術家。ストリートアートの一領域であるエアロゾル・ライティングのヴィジュアルを再解釈したモティーフ「クイックターン・ストラクチャー」を起点にメディアを横断する表現を展開。イタリア人の父と日本人の母のもと、1983年に東京で生まれ、同地に育つ。2007年に慶應義塾大学卒業、2009年に東京藝術大学大学院修了。2011-12年にアジアン・カルチュラル・カウンシルの招聘でニューヨークに滞在以降、ブルックリンにスタジオを構えて制作。これまでに大和日英基金(ロンドン)、マリアンナ・キストラー・ビーチ美術館(カンザス)、ポーラ美術館(箱根)、中村キース・ヘリング美術館(山梨)、タワー49ギャラリー(ニューヨーク)、神奈川県民ホールギャラリー、慶應義塾ミュージアム・コモンズ(東京)などで個展を開催。『アゲインスト・リテラシー』(LIXIL出版)、『ストリートアートの素顔』(青土社)、『ストリートの美術』(講談社)、『エアロゾルの意味論』(青土社)などの著作を刊行。『美術手帖』2017年6月号を企画・監修したほか、コム デ ギャルソン、シュウ ウエムラ、JINS、アウディなどの企業やブランドとコラボレーションを実施。大相撲令和4年1月場所では、横綱照ノ富士の「三つ揃え化粧廻し」にアートワークを提供し、話題となった。2023年3月に東京・天王洲で開催されたアートフェア「MEET YOUR ART FAIR 2023「RE:FACTORY」」ではアーティスティック・ディレクターを務め、多角的に仕事をする。2020年には東京にもスタジオを開設し、現在は二都市で制作を行なう。
Eric Elms’ work exists in an intersection of graphic, collage, and painterly processes. His recent work explores the image as ephemera, comparing what was once the gateway into sub-cultures, preserved as stickers, posters, flyers, and imagery, with the fleeting hyper-paced slideshow of modern-day digital imagery. Each piece is a unique compound of hand-manipulated constructed elements. Pivotal to the work is the custom-made canvas treated with rubber dots, giving a nod to the ben-day patterns used in commercial printing processes. The dotted canvas is further manipulated by heat, which is used to melt pvc ink collages into the fabric. The repetition is also a deconstruction, an attempt to break away from the addiction to representation. What remains is born from the chaos and chance of destroying the image, blurring the focus nearly to the point of abstraction. Sitting atop each piece are curated trompe l’oeil painted adornments. Nostalgically pulled from a personal collection of ephemera and detritus, the icons used have been contextualized and translated to painting as an act of preservation. These works are both a celebration of the printed image and a mourning of its fleeting relevance.
Eric Haze
エリック・ヘイズ
ニューヨークを拠点とするアーティスト、デザイナー。
ヘイズは1970年代に「SE3」の名でグラフィティライターとして伝説的なキャリアをスタートさせた。グラフィティ・コレクティブ「The Soul Artist」の創設メンバーであり、Futura 2000、リー・キニョネス、DONDIらと過ごした。1980年代にはグラフィティ界のパイオニアとしてキャリアを積み、キース・ヘリングやジャン=マイケル・バスキアらと作品を発表。その後、グラフィック・アートに軸足を移し、トレードマークの手描きレタリングを武器に、ビースティ・ボーイズ、トミー・ボーイズなどのミュージシャンやレーベルのロゴ、アルバム・ジャケットを数多く手がけた。現在も、コンテンポラリーデザイン、ストリートカルチャー、ヒップホップの世界で最も注目されるクリエイターの一人であり、同時にファインアートの文脈でも活躍している。同時にファイン・アートの文脈でも活躍し、MoCAで開催された「Art in The Streets」では大規模なペインティング・インスタレーションを手がけた。2011年にMoCAロサンゼルスで開催された「Art in The Streets」、2018年5月に開催されたアートフェスティバル「Beyond The Streets」で大規模なペインティング・インスタレーションを手がけた。
New York based artist and designer. Haze began his legendary career as a grati writer in the 1970’ s under the name ‘SE3’ . He was a founding member of the grati collective ‘The Soul Artist’ and spent time with Futura 2000, Lee Quiñones, and DONDI. In the 1980s, he built a career as a pioneer in the grati world, exhibiting works with fellow artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michael Basquiat. He then shifted his focus to graphic arts, and armed with his trademark hand-drawn lettering, created numerous logos and album covers for the musicians and labels such as Beastie Boys, Tommy Boyz, and others. He is still one of the most sought-after creators in the world of contemporary design, street culture and hip-hop whilst simultaneously being active in a fine art context, and creating large-scale painting installations at ‘Art in The Streets’ at MoCA Los Angeles in 2011 and ‘Beyond The Streets’ art festival in May 2018.
Born in Tokyo in 1972, ESOW started skateboarding at the age of 13 and moved to the U.S. at 17, where he encountered graffiti and created his own unique style influenced by the Japanese Edo style, which is also his roots. Based in Asakusa, he has exhibited his works in Japan, the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The medium of expression is broad and flexible, including paper, walls, lumber, and three-dimensional objects. He is also a founding member of "T19," a pioneering group in Japanese skate culture, and a member of the "DYZ Experiment", which has made its mark on the history of graffiti in Japan.
Born in Tokyo in 1972, ESOW started skateboardHaroshi is an artist who has been creating sculptures and installations using skateboard deck scraps since 2003. Through collaborations with HUF, led by popular skater Keith Hufnagel, and other projects, Haroshi has gained a huge following worldwide as an artist who embodies the depths of contemporary street culture.
Haroshi's work begins with collecting used decks that would normally be thrown away. Having been a skater himself since childhood, Haroshi knows firsthand the amount of discipline required to master the various techniques unique to skateboarding. Haroshi saw a deck he had been saving in his room instead of throwing it away and came up with the idea of using it as a material for his artwork.
Haroshi's work resonates deeply with those on the periphery of street culture because it is an act of redemption that comes from a personal love of skateboarding, rather than general recycling.
KAMIとSASUによるアーティスト・ユニットHITOTZUKI(日と月, ヒトツキ)。1999年より共同制作をスタートさせ、2000年にNY発のアーティストコレクティブ「Barnstormers」での壁画プロジェクトから本格的に壁画活動を開始。黎明期の日本におけるストリート・アートの可能性を拡張し、独創的なアプローチでシーンに影響を与えてきた。二人が描き出す新しい景色は、欧米を中心にアジアをはじめ世界各地で高い評価を受け、多くの新たな風景を創出している。KAMIは、生まれ育った京都の情景と幼少から親しんできたスケートボードの軌跡にインスパイアされた文字でも具象がでもない滑らかなライン(曲線)を描き、SASUは80年代のサブカルチャーやカウンセリング心理学に影響を受け、繊細な色彩でシンメトリーのモチーフを描く。 近年では壁画制作で使用した道具を用いた作品制作から、市民によるクラウドファンディングで実現した壁画制作、「X-COLOR / Graffiti in Japan」(2005年 /水戸芸術館現代美術センター)や「六本木クロッシング:芸術は可能か?」(2011年 /森美術館)など美術館での展示など、活動の場は多岐に渡る。『太陽と月を表す HITOTZUKIという名前には、男と女、陰と陽、+とーなど相反する二つの要素が融合し、一つの調和した世界を創るという意味が込められている。』プライベートでも夫婦でもある二人は、日常の些細な美しさや喜びを表現へと昇華させることを試みながら、あらゆる角度からライフとアートを追求し、現代に発信している。
The unit HITOTZUKI (the sun and the moon), which consists of the artists KAMI and SASU, began a joint production in1999, and began fullscale mural production with its participation in the New York artists group BARNSTORMERS in 2000. The duo were originally active individually as artists in their own right. Through painting using his distinctive strong, smooth lines, which are neither characters nor concrete images, KAMI has expanded the potential of street art in Japan and has continually been a driving force behind the scene as a skateboarder and street artist since 1990s, primarily in Tokyo. On the other hand, the work of SASU who creates unique geometric designs that take fruit and leaves as their motifs, is characterized by a delicacy and use of color color unique to women, and thanks to her unique stance, she has been involved in the male-dominated street art scene.Their murals are completed by freehand, painted directly onto the wall. The name HITOTZUKI, which signifies the sun (hi) and the moon (tsuki), is a fusion of two opposing elements: male and female, yin and yang, plus and minus. It incorporates the meaning of creating a single, harmonious world. The new scenery that this couple creates express the feeling that arise from their everyday life, as well as their hopes for the future. They are together in their creative work and their life as a family, and their very lifestyle as they createthe shape of the future is a work by HITOTZUKI. While trying to sublimate simple, everyday beauty and joy into expressions, the duo, who live as partners even in their private life, believe even their lifestyle as a couple to be a work of art; they are pursuing their lifestyle and art from all angles and sending it out into the modern world.
Japanese artist pursues cityscapes mainly from the view of a skateboarder. Yamaguchi started to paint landscapes influenced by his grandfather, who himself was also a landscape painter. From 2015 to 2018, he moved from Tokyo and actively working based in New York. He is currently based in Tokyo.
Born in 1988 in Fukuoka.
During his student years, he studied traditional Japanese painting, and later became active as a graffiti writer based in Fukuoka. Drawing inspiration from 1980s manga and record covers, his unique works combining "street culture x girl" gained much attention globally. He also collaborated with apparel brands, created illustrations for CD jackets and advertisements. In 2022, he held a solo exhibition at the Powerlong Museum in Shanghai.
東京生まれのAIKO (aka LADY AIKO) は90年代後半からニューヨークを拠点に世界で活動するステンシルアートレジェンド。若かりしバンクシーやシェパードフェリーと出会い共に活動開始。ニュージェネレーショングラフィティ&ストリートアートのムーブメントにおいて作家として、女性として、アジア人として沢山の影響を人々に与えている。
AIKO was born and raised in Tokyo before moving to New York City in the mid-90′s. Already creating art since a young age, her art career in NYC began when she started working for Takashi Murakami. She apprenticed in Murakami’s studio in Brooklyn and worked for him until the late 90′s going on to a direct a digital biography on the artist (“Superflat” 1998). AIKO continued to practice her own art and after leaving Murakami’s studio graduated from The New School University where she finished her MFA Media Studies and later met up with two American artists, the three of them would come to establish the group now known as FAILE. Creating work within the collective locally and abroad for a number of years, she moved on and established herself as Lady AIKO in 2006.
Born in Tokyo. Using white, black, and gray, LY depicts cityscapes from foreign places visited and landscapes imagined since childhood. In these scenes, a monster named "LUV," embodying her own emotions, roams. LY studied art at an early age in art school, but at age 11, was disheartened when she saw the vast difference in skill between herself and her friends during a drawing class. Despite continuing to attend the school, LY’s artistic progress remained stagnant as she only drew freely. During junior high school, she abandons the idea of entering art schools. In high school, she encountered street art, discovered the allure of murals and graffiti, and became influenced by them. With a goal of embedding murals and street art within the local scene, she aims to communicate through her work across walls.
MADSAKI
マッドサキ
Photo by RK @rkrkrk Courtesy of MADSAKI/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
Born in Osaka in 1974 and relocated to New Jersey at a young age, MADSAKI graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York (BFA, 1996) and was a member of international artist group Barnstormers before starting his solo career. Both satirical and sentimental, aggressive yet vulnerable, MADSAKI has used graffiti influences as a way to express the frustration and alienation of his bicultural identity and to critique the value of art.
An Australian artist based in Tokyo since 2009, and co-founder of China Heights gallery (Sydney, AU). His artwork revolves around pop culture references, 90s rap samples, and the visual side of music.
MAROK / THOMAS MARECKI
トーマス・マレッキ aka マーロック
トーマス・マレッキ(1972年、ベルリン)は、ポップカルチャーに関連した雑誌『Lodown Magazine』を1995年に創刊。その発行人であり、以来、クリエイティブ・ディレクターとして活動している。グラフィックデザイナー、キュレーターとして活躍する傍ら、並行して自身もアーティストとして制作活動を行っている。1998年にFutura 2000とのデュオ展「one on one」で、ドイツ全土を巡回した。彼のプロジェクト「Traphic」は現在進行中で、「Traffic(交通)」+「Graphic(グラフィック)」=「TRAPHIC(トラフィック)」という見出しに基づき、ビジュアルとテキストを結びつけている。TRAPHICは、マレッキの言語的・芸術的探求の自然で必要な結果を表している。それはインスタレーション、グラフィック・アート作品、映像作品を通して、ストリート・カルチャーに近い様々な都市素材や媒体を並列させながら、そのコンセプトを表現している。彼の作品は、様々なネットワーク、時間枠、経験、そして現代の一般的な環境の解釈を提示している。
Thomas Marecki (Born in Berlin 1972) is the publisher of the pop culture related Lodown Magazine, which he founded in 1995 and has been creatively directing ever since. Besides this occupation, artistic endeavors have been going parallel to his work as a graphic designer and curator. Worth mentioning is a one on one show with Futura 2000 in 1998, which traveled throughout
Germany. His project ‘Traphic’ is ongoing and connects visuals and texts based on the headline “Traffic” + “Graphic” = TRAPHIC. TRAPHIC represents the natural and necessary result of Marecki's linguistic and artistic investigation. It carries out the concept displayed through installations, graphic artworks, and videos juxtaposing various urban materials and mediums close to street culture. His works present an interpretation of various networks, time frames, experiences, and the general surroundings of modern day existence.
1984年東京生まれ。2007年渡米、ニューヨーク・ブルックリンを拠点に活動している現代アーティスト。絵画表現における基本的要素“筆致/ブラシストローク”の持つ可能性を追究した様々な作品群を展開。代表作品群「OUT OF BOUNDS」では“固定概念・ルール・国境・境界線の越境、絵画の拡張”というコンセプトのもと、筆致の形状自体をそのまま実体化する独自の手法によって、ダイナミックで立体的な作品を制作し続けている。
Born in 1984 in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. The artist moved to New York in 2007 and currently based in Brooklyn.
The artist focuses and pursues possibilities of brushstrokes’ expressions, one of the most fundamental elements of painting. Yamaguchi’s signature work series OUT OF BOUNDS is made with conception of “transcending stereotypes, rules, borders and boundaries, expansion of painting”. Yamaguchi stopped using canvases that restrained the physical area for his brush strokes but instead invented an original method for materialising unrestrained shapes of the brush strokes, successfully expressing and exploring the possibilities of his dynamic and sculptural beauty of brush strokes.
The artist experienced the pivotal transition of street culture from the 90’s to early 2000’s in Tokyo. He has collaborated with major brands representing American street culture, such as ALIFE, BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB, FTC, NIKE. The artist has also collaborated with other international brands such as ISSEY MIYAKE MEN, LEVI’s, OAKLEY, and UNIQLO.
Artworks are owned by FENDI Foundation and more.
Born in 1981.
Raised in Fukushima-ken, one of a famous historical town in Japan. A member of an artistic crew “81 BASTARDS”. MHAK received much influence from well designed and sophisticated furniture, interior and spatial art. He started to see paintings to be a part of an interior and began creating works under the theme of "coexist with the space". As a result, unique pattern constructed with variety of complex curved lines became MHAK's signature. His luscious patters received much recognition as well as commissions from both individual and public organizations. For the past decade, MHAK mainly showed his works oversea. Cities such as New York, Los Angels, Portland, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Sydney and Milan. In recent years, MHAK had been creating art works enthusiastically for revitalization projects of his hometown, Aizuwakamatsu.
Since the 90s, the Tokyo-based MOZYSKEY has been developing various approaches to graffiti culture. The beauty of the series of sublimated tagging, in which alphabetic, Japanese kana and kanji characters are mixed, transcends legibility, and is imprinted with a sense of validity, reveals a free challenge to functionality and systems, and the artist's beliefs and aesthetics that have been inciting the world from the underground scene in Tokyo. He has exhibited and expressed himself in a variety of scenes and scales, from the streets to fashion and museums.
Naomi Kazama,born in Kamakura, Japan.
In 1993, he moved to San Diego, California. There, he met Shepard Fairly, and learned silkscreening from him. In 1998, back in Japan, he began doing experimental art projects, by posting art on the streets etc. During this time, he started his gallery, the "Dyezu Experimental Gallery" in Nakameguro, Tokyo, and he also worked in New York as a member of Barnstormers, a painting collaborative. The art by Naomi was created by a passive element of finding beauty, in conjunction with the color composition and organic graphic shapes, resulting in abstract expressions.
The actual creations projected overwhelm even Kazama himself as they are brought to life through the chaos and wonders of the natural life forms. Every one of us exists here in organic synthesis through the environment, intentions, and DNA, colliding and influencing each other. The existence of things made without a set agenda is so interesting and beautiful as the footsteps left behind on the beach.
Throughout his years in art, instead of trying to find a right answer, he is always more interested in simply questioning the fundamental ideas and continuing to create art inspired by this curiosity.
In 2010, he started a live silkscreen printing project “Big O“, and a blank T-shirt apparel brand, called "Kamakura Cut & Sew", which creates shirts exclusively with organic cotton, hoping to spread the positive affirmation "YES" to the world.
A painter of a wanderer. Ragelow has been wandering around Japan and abroad since his teenage years, preferring to live a fluid life. His means of expression are diverse, ranging from journals to zines, making huts out of scrap wood, abstract painting, sketches of the city, and miniature paintings. His style consistently evokes a sense of transience. Currently, Ragelow has a studio in the mountains, where Ragelow divides his time between the city and nature and devotes himself to painting. Ragelow presides over the spontaneous newspaper "NEWTOKYOPOST. Ragelow is a jokey guy who loves freedom. Professional freeter.
ROSTARR
ロモン・キミン・ヤン aka ロースター
絵画、抽象的書道、大規模な壁画、実験的な映像制作など、多方面で活躍するアーティスト。1971年に韓国で生まれ、1歳の頃に家族でワシントンD.C.に移住。1989年にニューヨークに移り、スクール・オブ・ビジュアル・アーツでグラフィックデザインと版画を専攻。キャリア初期からアートとデザインの両分野で作品を発表し、互いの分野の境界線を曖昧にしてきた。20年以上にわたり、抽象的な多態性のあるペインティング、トーテム的なイコノグラフィック・キャラクター、主モノクロのカリグラフィー作品など、幅広い作品を生み出している。常に自然発生的な方法で創作を続け、スタイル、媒体、形式の中に自由を見出そうと絶えず努力し、彼の作品に特徴的な幾何学的ダイナミズムを例示する言葉であるグラフィクスと呼ばれる図像的視覚言語を構築している。また、1999年にデビッド・エリスによって設立された、ニューヨークと東京の30人以上のアーティストで構成されるアート集団「バーンストーマーズ」の創設メンバーでもある。
2000年にはI.D.誌の「I.D. 40 under 30」の一人に選ばれ、2004年にはMOMAで開催されたA.I.C.Pショーで、ナイキの有名なキャンペーンへの貢献が評価された。2010年2月には、パリのポンピドゥー・センターで45分のモーションペインティング・フィルム『Kill The Ego』が初公開された。彼の作品は、Artforum、Modern Painters、The New York Times、The Village Voice、Libérationなどの出版物で批評され、東京、パリ、ミラノ、ニューヨーク、ロサンゼルス、マイアミ、プエルトリコで個展を開催し、国内外のグループ展にも参加している。
Romon Kimin Yang is a multidisciplinary artist in painting, abstract calligraphy, large scale murals and experimental filmmaking. Born in South Korea in 1971, at the age of 1 years old his family immigrated to Washington D.C. and in 1989 he moved to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts, where he majored in graphic design and printmaking. From early in his career he managed to produce work in both the art and design spheres, practically blurring the lines between the two. For over 20 years he has built an extensive oeuvre of abstract polymorphic paintings, totemic iconographic characters and mostly black and white calligraphic works. Always creating in a spontaneous manner, he is continually striving to find freedom within style, medium and form, and building upon the iconographic visual language he terms Graphysics, a word that exemplifies the geometric dynamism characteristic in his work. Rostarr is also a founding member of the art collective Barnstormers, established in 1999 by David Ellis and comprised of more than 30 artists from NYC & Tokyo.
In 2000, he was named one of I.D. magazine’s “I.D. 40 under 30”, and recognized as an honoree at the 2004 A.I.C.P show held at the MOMA for his contribution to a celebrated Nike campaign. In February 2010, his forty five minute motion painting film titled Kill The Ego premiered at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. His artwork has been reviewed in Artforum, Modern Painters, The New York Times, The Village Voice, and Libération among other publications, and he has had solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Paris, Milan, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Puerto Rico, and has participated in group shows on both a national and international level, also extensively as part of the esteemed Beautiful Losers show which has toured museums and contemporary art centers worldwide.
Born in Tokyo in 1972. Ryuji moved from the graphic industry to the fashion world in the early 1990s. Ryuji has been active in Ura-Harajuku for 10 years as his own brand "FAMOUZ". After the FAMOUZ brand, he live-painted on the streets as artwork in public places and held exhibitions in SF, LA, Scandinavia, etc., starting with his first solo exhibition in 2003. In recent years, he has continued to paint murals, showrooms, and windows in Japan and abroad, with a focus on exhibitions in Japan. He is also active as "ULTRA HEAVY" with Akira Ishikawa and JERRY Ukai.
Born in 1979 and based in Tokyo. Started his career as a graphic artist. While providing designs for various companies, SAND started the graphic label "SAYHELLO". Since around 2008, has been focusing on his activities as a painter. SAND participated in many mural art festivals such as #BICTION in Japan while focusing on WALL painting as a member of the art collective "81 BASTARDS". SAND actively involved in creating artworks since his solo show at W+K Gallery in 2017, and has shown his works in many group shows both in Japan and abroad.
Shepard Fairey
シェパード・フェアリー
シェパード・フェアリーは、キャリアの始まりとなったファインアート・スクリーンプリントの広範かつ一貫した制作で知られている。彼はアメリカの現代アーティストであり、活動家であり、スケートボードシーンから生まれたOBEY Clothingの創設者でもある。1989年、ロードアイランド・スクール・オブ・デザイン(RISD)在学中に「Andre the Giant Has a Posse」ステッカー・キャンペーンをデザインした。2008年のアメリカ大統領選挙では、バラク・オバマの「Hope」ポスターをデザインしたことでも知られている。ボストン現代美術館は、最も影響力のあるストリート・アーティストの一人と評しており、その作品は、スミソニアン、ロサンゼルス郡美術館、ニューヨーク近代美術館、サンディエゴ現代美術館、ワシントンD.C.のナショナル・ポートレート・ギャラリー、リッチモンドのヴァージニア美術館、ロンドンのヴィクトリア・アンド・アルバート美術館、ビヨンド・ストリート・ロサンゼルス、ニューヨーク、ロンドンに収蔵されている。彼の作風は、"イメージをスタイリングし、理想化することに基づいた大胆な象徴的スタイル"と評されている。
Born in 1979 in Saitama, Japan, Shohei Takasaki lived in both Japan and Portland before settling in Sydney, Australia where he now lives and works. The underlying and consistent theme across Takasaki's body of work is the idea of comparison. Using an array of mediums ranging from oil pastels, charcoal, and paint to found objects and fabric, Takasaki often depicts a certain subject or motif in multiple styles to draw attention to the “in-betweenness'' that arises from these juxtapositions. Through works that question the boundaries between self/other, domestic/foreign, inside/outside the body, native/foreign language, physical/online, real/virtual, past/future, and life/death, Takasaki inspires us to reexamine our assumptions and further our dialogue with others for a more nuanced, “in-between” understanding of the world. Takasaki's work has been exhibited across Los Angeles, Portland, Kuwait, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tokyo, and is also in the public collections of the Starbucks headquarters in Seattle and The Hoxton Hotel in Portland.
A graffiti writer/artist. snipe1 immersed himself in the New York graffiti scene as a teenager in the early 1990s, and later returned to Japan after traveling and building connections in graffiti communities around the world. In 2018, snipe1 held his first solo exhibition at Takashi Murakami's Hidari Zingaro, which was well received. snipe1 continues to bomb the art world with avant-garde galleries around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Melbourne.
Steve ESPO Powers
スティーブ・エスポ・パワーズ
Photo Credit: Courtesy of ESPO's ART WORLD
1968年生まれ。ニューヨーク在住。1984年、16歳の頃からグラフィティライター“ESPO”の名で描き始める。1994年、ニューヨークに移り『Go Magazine』を発行、1999年にライターを辞めアーティストとして活動。以後、世界中のギャラリーや美術館にて作品を精力的に発表。2005年に、コニー・アウランド(ニューヨーク)市長と協力して、彼がキュレーションしたアーティストたちと共にコニーアイランド復興のために遊園地の看板や乗り物をペイントした。2007年にフルブライト奨学金を受け取り、ダブリンの街に壁画をペイント。2015年にニューヨーク市より依頼され、街の電信柱に彼の描いたサインを設置。ポジティブなメッセージやアートを必要とする地域にラブレターを描き続ける傍ら、ニューヨークで自身のショップ「ESPO’s Art World」を経営している。
Born in 1968. Lives and works in New York & Brooklyn, New York. Stephen Powers was born and raised in Philadelphia, where in 1984 as an overgrown 16 year-old, started writing the name ESPO around his neighborhood and eventually around the world. In 1999 Powers stopped writing graffiti and tending bar to dedicate himself to being a full-time artist. In 2005, he worked with mayor of NY city to paint signs and rides at the amusement park for the revival of Coney Island with artists curated by him. In 2007, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to paint murals in the streets of Dublin. In 2015, he was commissioned by New York City's Summer Street Program to install signs drawn by Powers on utility poles in the city.He lives and works in New York City where he makes and sells art at his store, ESPO’s Art World in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill.
Photo: Courtesy of ESPO's ART WORLDPhoto: Courtesy of ESPO's ART WORLDPhoto: Courtesy of ESPO's ART WORLDPhoto: Courtesy of ESPO's ART WORLD
TENGAone (b. 1977) is a street artist based in Tokyo. His alias derives from the notion of “Ga ga Tenshoku (TenGa)”, which translates to “Art is My Calling.”
TENGAone grew up in a neighborhood near an American military base where he frequently encountered American-style graffiti such as tags and throw-ups done by the personnel who had brought their home country’s art movement over to Japan. This firsthand exposure to graffiti culture had a profound effect on the artist, and at the age of 14 he began creating his own graffiti using spray paint. In 2007, after having worked as a graphic designer and a web design professional for several years, he began his official career as an artist. His practice encompasses a wide range of genres including street graffiti and murals on commercial and public facilities, as well as sculpture and graphic design. His artworks have also been exhibited at contemporary galleries and art fairs.
1976年 岐阜県出身、ブルックリンを拠点に活動。
上智大学卒業後2002年渡米。NY Pratt Instituteを首席で卒業。ペインティングを中心に彫刻やインスタレーションも手がける。作品には、東洋と西洋、古代と現代、具象と抽象といった両極の要素が見られ、これは日本とアメリカの両国で育った松山自身の経験や情報化の中で移ろいゆく現代社会が反映されている。世界各地のギャラリー、美術館、大学施設等にて展覧会を多数開催。また、ロサンゼルス・カウンティ美術館、サンフランシスコアジア美術館、マイアミ・ペレス美術館、龍美術館、宝龍美術館、Microsoftコレクション、香港のK11 Art Foundation、ドバイ首長国の王室コレクション等に作品が収蔵されている。2012年から2017年5月までの5年間、School of Visual Arts(SVA)の非常勤教授を勤めた。2020年、JR新宿駅東口広場のアートスペースを監修、中心に7mの巨大彫刻を制作する。2021年にはNHK「日曜美術館」で特集が組まれ、グローバルな活動と重層的な作品が高く評価される。現在はブルックリン・グリーンポイントにスタジオを構える。
Tomokazu Matsuyama (1976, Born in Gifu, Based in New York) moved to the United States in 2002,
after graduating from Sophia University. He received his MFA in Communications Design from the Prat t Institute, New York. Matsuyama’ s works include painting, sculpture as well as public art installation and respond to his own bi-cultural experience of growing up between Japan and America by bringing together aspects of both Eastern and Western aesthetic system and reflect the changing modern society in the informatization.
Numerous exhibitions have been held in major cities in galleries, museums, and university facilities
around the world. His works are in the permanent collections of LACMA, Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, Pérez Ar t Museum Miami, Long Museum and Powerlong Museum in China, the Royal Family, Bank of Sharjah Collection, Dubai, UAE, K11 Art Foundation in Hong Kong, Microsoft
Collection and more.
From 2012 to May 2017 he was an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) . In 2020, he
designed and supervised the community ar t space at JR Shinjuku Station East Square and installed 7m-tall sculpture. In 2021, he was featured on NHK’ s “Nichiyo Bijutsukan”, Japan’ s longest running weekly arts TV program and his international activities and growing profile were well valued.
Desktop Utopia, 2020 Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 261.6 × 190.5 cm Courtesy of Matsuyama StudioMother Other, 2023 MEDIUM: FRP, wood, steel, epoxy, polyurethane and acrylic, H196 x W118 x D104 cm Courtesy of Matsuyama StudioHanao-san, 2020 Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 261.6 × 190.5 cm 3 Panels: 152.5 ×213.5 ×3.8cm each Courtesy of Matsuyama StudioKeep fishin’ for twilight, 2017 Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 457.5 ×213.5 ×3.8cm Courtesy of Matsuyama Studio
Usugrow started his art career by creating flyers in the underground punk and hardcore music in the early ’90s. He develops creative activities beyond methods and media as illustration, calligraphy, canvas painting, and mural. He is currently creating artwork with the theme of cultural diffusion with the motif of his original calligraphy and traditional folk dances.
Born in 1981 Gifu Prefecture, Japan. At the age of twenty, he moved to California, U.S.A. to pursue an art career. He spent four years in the Bay area doing live painting and participating in both solo exhibitions and art events. While living in San Francisco, he discovered a small group of avid bicyclists and became a bike messenger. It was through his experience as a courier that he found his essence of life and the conceptual basis
for his art. In 2006, he returned to Japan. Initially he lived in Tokyo, where he continued to work as a messenger and became involved in the bicycle industry. He eventually relocated to Kariya City for two and a half years to focus on his artistic and business endeavors. In 2010, he spent eight months in Tochigi and afterward returned to Tokyo. He is involved in art curating, graphic design, company/collaborative projects, and continues to exhibit his artwork worldwide such as Australia, China, America, Canada, France, Mexico, Sweden, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Philippines. He currently resides in a country side, Chita Peninsula, where he can ride a bike, surf, fishing, and snowboarding.
Yusuke Hanai
花井 祐介
1978年 北海道生まれ。50~60年代のカウンターカルチャーの影響を色濃く受けた作風で、日本の美的感覚とアメリカのレトロなイラストレーションを融合させた独自のスタイルを確立している。アメリカ、フランス、オーストラリア、ブラジル、台湾、イギリスなどで作品を発表し、現在までにVANS、NIXON、BEAMS などへのアートワークの提供など、国内外問わず活躍の場を広げている。2006年、ザ・サーフ・ギャラリー(カリフォルニア)にて展示を開始。主な個展に「IT WILL BE ALL RIGHT」(GALLERY TARGET、東京、2017)。2009年にはブラジルのSantos Surf Museumのパーマネントコレクションに選ばれる。2022年には香港のPowerlong Museumで個展を開催。
Born in 1978 in Hokkaido, Japan.Hanai’s style is strongly influenced by the counterculture of the 50s and 60s, forming a unique style that combines Japanese aesthetic sensibilities with American retro illustration. He has exhibited in the U.S., France, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, and the U.K. To date, he has provided artwork for Vans, NIXON, BEAMS, and others, expanding his activities both in Japan and abroad. In 2006, he exhibited at The Surf Gallery, California, since then he has been participating much group shows around the world. His solo exhibitions include "IT WILL BE ALL RIGHT" (GALLERY TARGET, Tokyo, 2017) in 2009 he was selected for the permanent collection of Santos Surf Museum, Brazil in 2022, solo exhibition at the Powerlong Museum, Hong Kong in 2022.