Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

On View: “Sky Is the Limit” by Tomokazu Matsuyama at Harbour City Gallery, Hong Kong

Currently on view at Harbour City, Hong Kong is "Sky is the Limit", a new sculpture and paintings by Tomokazu Matsuyama (Vol 24). Curated by LA based Lebasse Projects in collaboration with Harbour City's Ocean Terminal and gallery, the event centers around Matsuyama's largest outdoor sculpture of the same name. At 21.5 feet of stainless steel, it is also the largest ever installed in Harbour City, which has previously exhibited artists like KAWS, Yayoi Kusama, and Yue Minjun.

Currently on view at Harbour City, Hong Kong is “Sky is the Limit”, a new sculpture and paintings by Tomokazu Matsuyama (Vol 24).  Curated by LA based Lebasse Projects in collaboration with Harbour City’s Ocean Terminal and gallery, the event centers around Matsuyama’s largest outdoor sculpture of the same name. At 21.5 feet of stainless steel, it is also the largest ever installed in Harbour City, which has previously exhibited artists like KAWS, Yayoi Kusama, and Yue Minjun. 

2014 is the Chinese Year of the Horse, although not officially Matsuyama’s reason to depict it. His sculpture is a reimagining of 19th century oil painting “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” by French artist Jacques-Louis David. Inside the gallery, Matsuyama continues his visual exploration of the horse with images of a riding samurai in traditional garb, a reference to ukiyo-e painter Hokusai. Others are more abstract and kaleidoscopic, taking a visual cue from American Playmobil toys and Japanese Manga (comics), such as Yu-gi Oh!.  This fusion of Eastern and Western cultures is a signature characteristic of Matsuyama’s colorful artworks, a result of living in Japan and the United States.  With a masterful mix of art history and pop culture, Matsuyama builds on his personal, yet universal, iconography.

Tomokazu Matsuyama’s “Sky is the Limit” is on view at Ocean Terminal at Harbour City, Hong Kong through September 10, 2014.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Mixed media artist Lauren Brevner paints eclectic and fantastic portraits of women ornamented with a collage of Japanese motifs. Born of mixed heritage in Vancouver, she recently moved to Osaka to get in touch with her Japanese ancestry. Life in Japan has had a major influence on the self taught artist since. Not long after her move in 2009, she apprenticed under Japanese fashion designer Sin Nakayamal. The inspiration of his luxurious prints resonates in the the way Brevner dresses her subjects.
These works by Japanese artist Tenmyouya Hisashi represent uniquely Japanese aesthetics, mixed with modern, vulgar depictions of sub-culture icons. His paintings of vehicles and Gundam samurai on gold leaf are only a few characters he's refashioned in the styles of his predecessors. By combining traditional Japanese symbols, his paintings have a spirit that is old and contemporary at the same time.
Noboru Tsubaki In the group show "Parergon: Japanese Art of the 1980s and 1990s," Blum & Poe offers a survey of the country's practitioners of two decades. “Part 1” is currently being held at the Los Angeles gallery, with Noboru Tsubaki, Yukinori Yanagi, and Tsuyoshi Ozawa are among the artists featured in the show. “Part 1” and “Part 2” are curated by Mika Yoshitake.
Japanese artist Stephanie Inagaki's black and white charcoal drawings depict female figures that are not only an embodiment of her roots, but also of herself as an artist and a woman. For the past couple of years, she has been incorporating the Japanese ghost folklore and mythology of her culture into what she describes as "pillars of inspiration"; tall, bold, creative women, often self-portraits, that represent the well rounded woman Inagaki aspires to be. Previously featured on our blog, she likens the figures in her drawings to the Creation and Destruction goddesses like Kali from India or Izanami from Japan, and there is generally an underlying theme of life and death throughout. Inagaki invited Hi-Fructose into her new studio in Los Angeles to give us a preview and tell us more about the direction of where her work is going.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List