How to Recognize Pop Art From Japan

Contemporary Japanese art has been strongly influenced by postwar American pop art and by Western music and film. Like American Pop Art, Japanese Pop Art borrows from popular culture, consumer products and comic books, but also is heavily indebted to traditional Japanese art and animation. Some Pop artists from Japan have found fame in the United States, while many art experts recognize Japanese Pop Art as the most influential Pop Art movement in the world today.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Recognize Pop Art From Japan

1. Familiarize yourself with American Pop Art. Pop Art from Japan owes a debt to the 1960s American Pop artists, including Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

2. Read "Pop Art," by Tilman Osterwold at Amazon (see Resources below). The author examines the styles, themes and origins of pop art from around the globe.

3. Acquaint yourself with work of Takashi Murakami. He is the best known pop artist in Japan today and is considered the Japanese Andy Warhol.

4. Learn about Japan's "superflat art movement." Takashi Murakami is widely-recognized as the founder of this pop-style art movement. "Superflat" images combine the traditional Japanese techniques of flatness (two-dimensional design) with good use of line and composition.

5. Familiarize yourself with Anime (a type of animation). Considered pop street art, anime is very popular with Japanese young people and has a huge influence on Japanese Pop Art. Anime is provocative and often depicts images of nude females and graphic sex.

6. Look for the influences of Manga, Japanese comics and cartoons. Somewhat like American comic books, Manga and comics hold more cultural significance and are widely read by adults.

7. Check out subject matter. Many Pop artists in Japan use obscene and shocking images in their art, which they borrow from ****. ****, to the Japanese, is an artistic expression of pornography.

8. Recognize Japanese Pop Art by its treatment of women. Women in Japanese Pop Art are usually depicted as sexual objects, sometimes very feminine and sometimes defiant and full of attitude.

9. Look for graffiti-inspired images. Graffiti writing in Japan has a style all its own and has proven so popular that in 2005, a major contemporary art museum, the Art Tower Mito, devoted an entire exhibit to showcasing Japanese graffiti writers. Japanese Pop artist Yoshitomo Nara is famous for his graffiti inspired art.

Tips & Warnings

• Japanese Pop Art is often referred to as J-Art.
• Beware of the bizarre and obscene images found in Japanese Pop Art. While they are considered thought provoking rather than offensive by the Japanese (both young and old), some American viewers may find them too provocative or disturbing.