Opening July 25th in collaboration with Tokyo’s Mizuma Art Gallery, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art brings us a show by emerging Japanese artists and legends alike. IMPACTS! takes a look at work created between 2008 through today by names to put on your radar- Amano Yoshitaka, Ai Yamaguchi, Ishii Toru, Kaneno Tomiyuki, and Ishihara Nanami shown below. You may already be familiar with Ai Yamaguchi (featured here), and Amano Yoshitaka, famous for his designs for the Final Fantasy video games. Their works are filled with warring heroes, sirens and monsters drawn from mythology; some mix traditional Japanese folk tales with fantasy elements, while the new generation progressively exhibits Western influences. Among these “newcomers” is Ai Kato (who sometimes goes by “ai☆madonna”) recognized for her provocative female subjects that first appeared in Tokyo street graffiti. She will perform a live painting at the opening, kick-starting a series of performances, lectures, and film screenings. The event promises to be more like a contemporary Japanese art festival than a group exhibition, an opportunity for American fans to see pieces by otherwise rare talents. Despite their dramatically different visual styles, collectively, these are artists who test boundaries and will provide insight to Japan’s political and social environment.
©Ai Yamaguchi, Ninyu Works, Courtesy the artist and Mizuma Art Gallery.
©Ai Yamaguchi, Ninyu Works, Courtesy the artist and Mizuma Art Gallery.
©Amano Yoshitaka, Courtesy the artist and Mizuma Art Gallery.
©Amano Yoshitaka, Courtesy the artist and Mizuma Art Gallery.
©Kaneko Tomiyuki, Courtesy the artist and Mizuma Art Gallery.
©Ishii Toru, Courtesy the artist and Mizuma Art Gallery.
©Ishihara Nanami, Courtesy the artist and Mizuma Art Gallery.
Japanese artist 
Numbers of women artists still rank low in gallery rosters, less than 50 percent, across the world. With the exception of a few like Yayoi Kusama and Yoko Ono, women in the Japanese contemporary art world have yet to earn equal recognition. This is largely due to the historical conception that women were not suited to become professional artists. A new exhibition at Jiro Miura Gallery in Tokyo is bringing awareness to 19 emerging international women artists. "Ephemeral: Territory of Girls", which opened on July 25th, showcases new works by Jana Brike, Amy Crehore, Virginia Mori, Ania Tomicka, Emi Adachi, Fuco Ueda, Kaori Ogawa, Miki Kato, Kimi Kuruhara, Kozue Kuroki, Satomi Kuwahara, Atsuko Goto, Yuka Sakuma, Minae Takada, Tsubaki Torii, Yumi Nakai, Yuko Nagami, Yuki Nagayoshi, Mao Hamaguchi, Miho Hirano, Shiori Matsumoto, Eri Mizuno, and Yuko Murai.
There is nothing perfect about the pretty "Tokyo girls" that artist 
They are "the girls behind the lace." This is how Okinawa based painter