Yuichi Yokoyama

14 Feb - 22 Mar 2014

AISHONANZUKA is pleased to announce our upcoming solo exhibition of Yuichi Yokoyama. Included in the exhibition are new paper works, recent portrait series “ourselves” , recent canvas paintings as well as 5 selected original comic drawings from one of his most famous comic “travel"in 2006.

Yuichi Yokoyama was born in 1967 in Miyazaki, Japan. He received his MFA in oil painting from Musashino Art University in 1990 and has been active as a manga artist since 1995. In addition to his manga, Yokoyama ́s colorful paintings and drawings have also drawn a wide fan base and his works have been praised within the art scene. Yokoyama ́s works have appeared in exhibitions including "Record of neo-manga by Yuichi Yokoyama: I am drawing time" (2010, Kawasaki City Museum), "City net Asia" (2009, Seoul Museum of Art) and "Roppongi Crossing" (2007, Mori Art Museum). His talent, which can be confined to neither the contemporary comic nor art scene, has garnered attention around the world.

"Whatever theme or motif I select, what I am drawing is not the physical thing in the picture but rather the particular sort of time that exists there."

Appropriately, the key themes that recur in Yokoyama ́s creations are time, process and passage. One distinct aspect of his works is the way in which he expresses the steady, rhythmic passage of time. The mysterious and fantastic landscapes he creates are also key to understanding Yokoyama ́s world. As a child, he moved constantly from place to place, witnessing many different lands along the way. "I am mesmerized by landscapes and nature," says Yokoyama. "The man-made world is so easily destroyed, and is so uncertain; in contrast to that, the natural world is enduring, divine even. Humans, standing before such a gigantic force, are so tiny; all we can do is sit back and watch." Yokoyama ́s awe and respect for nature are represented in his imagery, in the landscapes and episodes, the constant tension, and in the characters he creates.