Painter and installation artist Tomokazu Matsuyama, just 30, has already lived through more years of cultural confusion than most of us will ever see. The oft-transplanted Matsuyama, now in New York, makes the accidental multiculturalism that doesn’t show on his face the primary subject of all of his work. “When I considered what is uniquely mine,” explains the artist, “I realized I wanted to take everything I was raised with and mix it all up and make something completely new.”
In keeping with his global upbringing, Matsuyama exhibits his contemporary art around the world, in addition to working with multinationals like Levi’s and Nike to bring them into line with “the now, today, in all of its cultural complexity.” He strives to portray this global melee through a conscious “appropriation” of all of his influences: cultural, artistic, and personal. Matsuyama’s unconflicted and positively ebullient works do not ask, “What am I?,” but assert, “I am everybody.”
Via Theme Mag
“3-Horse” 2006 / acrylic on paper / 24 X 36in
“Kirin” 2006 / acrylic on canvas / 60 X 60in
“Collabotal” 2006 / acrylic on paper / 18 X 35in
Save This Page
RSS feed
Post a comment