The Publics

While Takashi Murakami’s “super-flat” style seems to have won the world over via its vibrant pop-culture tie-ins (Kanye West, Louis Vuitton, etc.), another school of Japanese art is steadily gaining ground and quickly transforming how the country understands its visual identity.

“Neo-Nihonga” literally means “New Japanese-style”, taking its name from the “Nihonga” style which was popularized in the 17th and 18th centuries as a return-to form when the Japanese aesthetic was becoming increasingly infatuated with Western methods.

On the forefront of this latest “Nihonga” wave are artists like Ai Yamaguchi, Akira Yamaguchi, Hisashi Tenmyouya, Fuyuko Matsui and Kumi Machida.