Harumi Yamaguchi 山口晴美 

 

Yamaguchi was born in Matsue in the Shimane prefecture, and graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a degree in oil painting. After working for the publicity department of Seibu Department Stores, Yamaguchi begun her career as a freelance illustrator, participating in the advertising production for PARCO with its opening in 1969. Since 1972 Yamaguchi has depicted female figures using airbrush techniques, instantly establishing herself as an illustrator that symbolized the era.

The encounter between Yamaguchi and PARCO was an inevitable one. Tsuji Masuda whom served as the president of PARCO had established plans for creating a department store that functioned as a cultural facility, collectively combining platforms such as museums, theater, and publishing in addition to retail, and as a result had headhunted Yamaguchi for this endeavor. As could be seen in Masuda’ s decision of appointing Eiko Ishioka for the art direction, Kazuko Koike as copywriter, and Harumi Yamaguchi for the illustration, PARCO had soon focused on ‘women’ as a major driving source behind Japanese society of 1970s and onward, further succeeding in diverting this power to the business sector. Yamaguchi’ s female figures are far from notions of eroticism as portrayed allegedly through male eyes in the form of pin-ups. On the contrary, the women themselves appear to joyously celebrate their own sexuality and existence. Furthermore, the images of women partaking in boxing, baseball, and skateboarding which Yamaguchi had illustrated in the 70s, could be interpreted as an ironic gesture towards a male-dominant society at a time prior to the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in 1985 an era when women were unable to equally advance into society.

In the catalog published in correspondence to “Women of the 70s PARCO Poster Exhibition 1969-1986” that took place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in 2001, Chizuko Ueno had critiqued Yamaguchi’ s works stating, “while appearing to adhere to the scenario of male-tailored eroticism, Yamaguchi deconstructs male desire through her exaggerative depictions. As a consequence, the female body is idealized to a realm unreachable by male hands.” ( ‘The Idea of the Woman’ )

It is certain that Yamaguchi’ s achievements will continue to receive acclaim as an inaugural figure of super-real illustration that took Japan’ s advertising industry of the 70s and 80s by storm.

1936年出生於日本島根縣松江市，並畢業於東京藝術大學主修油畫。她曾於株式會社西武百貨店宣傳部門工作，並參與 1969 年 PARCO 購物中心開幕的廣告製作，遂開展其插畫事業。自 1972 年起山口晴美運用噴槍技巧描繪女性畫像，瞬即成就她作為插畫家的代表性時期。

山口晴美與 PARCO 的合作並非巧合，PARCO 主席增田通二在構思建築時，希望建構一所集藝術館，劇場，購物中心於 一體的文化平台，故特意找到藝術家參與計劃。增田通二聘任石岡瑛子為藝術總監、小池一子為編輯、山口晴美負責插畫，由他的選擇中可見 PARCO 是以七十年代日本社會中的「女性」為主推動力，同時亦因此更成功地拓展其商業勢力。山口的畫像並非描繪一般男性眼中海報女郎的性感形態；相反地，畫中的女性是歡樂地展現自己的性感和存在。在藝術家七十年代的作品中，是以女性拳擊、打籃球、滑板的畫面諷刺女性在 1985 年平等就業法正式通過前男性主導的社會無法得到公平對待。

在 2001 年東京都寫真美術館舉行的「PARCO 七十年代海報的女性 1969 ‒ 1986 展覽」出版書冊中，Chizuko Ueno 曾對山口的作品評價道 :「性感畫面的出現都是以男性角度出發，但山口的浮誇繪畫卻打破了男性的幻想。在她的影響下，女性身體被理想地塑造成男性難以觸碰的領域。」(《女性思想》)

山口晴美的插畫首創超現實的圖像，一直深受歡迎並帶領了日本七十及八十年代廣告業的新風潮。

Previous Exhibitions

  • 2020
    Harumi Gals | 3110NZ by LDH kitchen | Tokyo, Japan
    HARUMI YAMAGUCHI × YOSHIROTTEN ‘HARUMI'S WINTER’ | NANZUKA 2G | Tokyo, Japan

    2018
    HARUMI YAMAGUCHI × YOSHIROTTEN ’Harumi's Summer’ | ginza graphic gallery (ggg) | Tokyo, Japan

    2017
    CONDO NY | Bridget Donahue | New York, NY
    Harumi Yamaguchi Selected Works 1974 – 1985 | Project Native Informant | London, UK

    2016
    Hyper! HARUMI GALS!! | PARCO MUSEUM | Tokyo, Japan
    WOMEN | Gallery Retara | Sapporo, Japan
    HARUMI GALS | POST | Tokyo, Japan

    2015
    HARUMI GALS | AISHONANZUKA | Hong Kong
    HARUMI GALS | NANZUKA | Tokyo, Japan

    2013
    Harumi Yamaguchi - femmes japonaises | Gallery House MAYA | Tokyo, Japan

    2011
    Yamaguchi Harumi meets Seibu Shibuya | Seibu Shibuya | Tokyo, Japan

    2009
    Ecchi | GALERIE Malle | Tokyo, Japan

    2002
    Fall in Love with Thoroughbreds | Minami-Aoyama Gallery | Tokyo, Japan

    2001
    Time Tunnel Series VOL.13 – Heroine at the Time | Creation Gallery G8, Tokyo/Guardian Garden | Tokyo, Japan

    2000
    A Message to the 21 Century – Dignify Woman – Harumi Yamaguchi Oroginal Poster | PARCO Gallery/Shimane Art Museum | Tokyo/Shimane, Japan

  • 2023
    The Summer | AISHONANZUKA | Hong Kong

    2022
    ONE ART TAIPEI 2022 | AKI Gallery | Taipei, Taiwan

    2021
    VAMOS NIPPON! | The Naughton Gallery | Belfast, Northern Ireland
    POP-ING NANZUKA at AKI Gallery | AKI Gallery | Taipei, Taiwan

    2020
    GLOBAL POP UNDERGROUND PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO | PARCO MUSEUM | Tokyo, Japan
    JP POP UNDERGROUND | Shinsaibashi PARCO 14F | Osaka, Japan
    HARUMI'S WINTER | SHIBUYA PARCO NANZUKA 2G | Tokyo, Japan

    2019
    Wanderlust | PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO | Tokyo, Japan
    TOKYO POP UNDERGROUND | Jeffrey Deitch | New York, NY
    They Gaze | James Fuentes | New York, NY
    MSD - Global POP Wave in the 21st Century | CAC Málaga, Antiguo Mercado de Mayoristas | Malaga, Spain

    2018
    Bubble wrap | Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto | Kumamoto Japan
    CONTEMPORARY CHIC -In Fasion Illustration | Hankyu Umeda Gallery | Osaka, Japan
    Takahashi Collection | Face and Abstraction | Kiyoharushirakaba Museum, Museum of the Light, Ryuzaburo Umehara Atelier | Yamanashi, Japan
    The House of Fame - Convened by Linder | Nottingham Contemporary | Nottingham, UK

    2017
    Japanorama. A new vision on art since 1970 | Centre Pompidou-Metz | Metz, France
    TAITTINGER ART EXHIBITION | MDP GALLERY | Tokyo, Japan
    EAST Tokyo - Discovery in old town | Creation Gallery G8 | Tokyo, Japan
    Parody and Intertextuality: Visual Culture in Japan around the1970s | TOKYO STASION GALLERY | Tokyo, Japan
    I♥LOVE SAKE in TOKYO | PARCO MUSEUM | Tokyo, Japan

    2016
    TOKYO ILLUSTRATORS SOCIETY PRESENTS 158 Sosekis Time Travel through a Century | Creation Gallery G8 | Tokyo, Japan
    Desire | Moore Building | Miami, FL

    2015
    Scarves and Blankets by 177 Creative Artists and a Knitwear Manufacturer in Date City | Fukushima Creation Gallery G8/Guardian Garden | Tokyo, Japan
    PEACE CARD 2015 TOKYO | gallery MAYA 2 | Tokyo, Japan
    TOKYO ILLUSTRATORS SOCIETY PRESENTS Decoleles ♪ 148 Ukuleles Designed by Illustrators | Creation Gallery G8 | Tokyo, Japan

    2014
    Here is ZINE tokyo BANGKOK 8 | TOKYO CULTuART by BEAMS | Tokyo, Japan
    TIS Exhibition | Creation Gallery G8 | Tokyo, Japan

    2013
    Shibuya PARCO 40TH anniversary exhibition ‘SHIBUPAR’ | PARCO MUSEUM | Tokyo, Japan
    Kabuki illustration | Creation Gallery G8 | Tokyo, Japan
    TOKYO ILLUSTRATORS SOCIETY PRESENTS Konjaku Monogatarishuu | MATSUYA GINZA | Tokyo, Japan

    2012
    The Tokyo Illustrators Society Presents Favorite Sayings in Pictures | Creation Gallery G8 | Tokyo, Japan

    わたしの句読点 2〈食いろいろ〉| TOBACCO & SALT MUSEUM | Tokyo, Japan

    2011
    Woman on the TOWN | Advertising Museum Tokyo | Tokyo, Japan

    The Tokyo Illustrators Society Presents Smiles by 178 Illustrators | Creation Gallery G8 | Tokyo, Japan

    2001
    Parco poster collection 1969-1986 | Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography Library | Tokyo, Japan

    1992
    Tadahito Nadamoto, Akira Uno, Makoto Wada, Harumi Yamaguchi Exhibition | ginza graphic gallery (ggg) Gallery/ddd Gallery | Tokyo/Osaka, Japan

  • Museum of Modern Art | New York, NY

    WALKER ART CENTER | Minneapolis, MN

    Kawasaki City Museum | Kanagawa, Japan

    CCGA Graphic Art Center | Fukushima, Japan

    M+ | Hong Kong