TAKERU AMANO : SHY MADNESS_RELENTLESS DETERMINATION: SEOUL

Acrylic still-life paintings and portraits with bright primary colors, spray paint paintings on paper and walls, semi-abstract landscape paintings and so on. These visually refreshing works featuring concise points and lines are works by the Japanese neo-pop artist Takeru Amano. The clarity and simplicity of the lines and colors allow the viewers to quickly digest the information entering their field of vision. In terms of art appreciation, there is a certain amount of time I would habitually and customarily spend gazing at each artwork and although I wanted to closely examine the figures and objects and get lost in thought, the pace at which I've processed the works of Takeru Amano felt rather quick and bizarre to me. This traditional way of art appreciation collides with artworks of neo-pop artists like Takeru Amano, causing a spark.

 

We can better understand his works by looking at his journey to becoming an artist. Growing up in a family of artists where everyone drew, he didn't need to attend art schools during his childhood. New York where he settled at 20 to finally learn to paint was the cultural capital of the world. As a child he was inspired by Keith Haring's work in some department store in Tokyo. He later became fascinated with prints and street art in New York as an adult. Also, his life and artistic philosophy formed living through the late 20^th century in Japan where subcultures like manga, animation and video games started to explode, were projected immediately, concisely and transparently onto his artworks.

 

Returning to Japan in 2000, he worked as a designer, making album covers for musicians and collaborating with clothing brands. But, to focus on his ultimate goal of being an artist, he has been gradually cutting down his activities across various spectrums. Nevertheless, he traverses a wide range of fields including sculpture, painting, art toys and NFTs. His journey to simplifying and cutting down on various projects can be seen as both a process towards his ultimate goal of being an artist and accumulating the energy needed for him to collaborate in any medium in the future. In the traditional sense, his activities may seem fancy, dimensional and diverse and, he may seem to be always changing his colors like a chameleon, but he's getting closer and closer to his center.

 

It seems that in the contemporary Japanese art scene, the predominant artworks are those of neo-pop art, which are vibrant, fresh, lively and often comprised of elements of grotesque fantasies. The boundary between pop art and animation is often blurred, which is considered a tendency in Japanese visual arts. Starting in New York, pop art which first emerged in the 1960s, was aimed at "anti-art", embracing comics, commercial designs, film stills and, images from mass media were actively incorporated as subjects. This lineage continued on in the 1990s to give a rise to "Neo-Pop Art" which was first defined by Japanese art critic Sawaragi Noi.

 

 

In fact, Japan's Mono-ha ("School of Things") movement and Gutai (Concrete Art Association) movement which had significant global impact, seemed to have been overshadowed by the refreshing emergence of neo-pop in the 1990s. Not only that, they were overthrown rather abruptly without any probable cause and this is what is so bizarre about Japanese visual arts. However, Sawaragi Noi explains that behind the transition from Gutai to Mono-ha (movements that emerged and then disappeared) lied the deep-seated Japanese post-war propaganda art and futuristic art and that neo-pop emerged when these forms of art flowed into the otaku cultures and subcultures like manga, animation, and special effects in films. Ultimately, the trend of neo-pop that currently pervades contemporary Japanese visual arts is not just a new, hip trend, but rather the manifestation of the deeply ingrained spirit of Japan, expressed through the visual language of the generations who grew up in the 1990s.

 

In Japan, subcultures are not merely seen as branches of mainstream culture. Rather, they have thrived and expanded in an atmosphere that embraces and accepts minor cultures. Subcultures are not lowbrow cultures at the opposite end of highbrow cultures nor they are some lower-level cultures that go against the mainstream culture. They possess independent power and are clearly distinct from one another. A social atmosphere where societal hierarchy and etiquette matter greatly, deviant or extreme behaviors are strictly controlled. However, within areas where diverse personalities are permitted, the social atmosphere can be surprisingly generous within those areas and individuals can freely delve into their interests. This means, within areas where order remains intact, there is infinite diversity and subcultures like the mania culture and otaku culture have been able to naturally emerge and gain strength.

 

In the 1980s, Japan experienced unprecedented material prosperity and exposure to diverse cultures. But, in these materialistic times, children who felt alienated at home sought solace in creating and nurturing objects of affection. Otaku that emerged from this environment, were extremely introverted but as they grew, they gained the power to make economic and cultural contributions and become a new intellectual social class with wealth. They also became the foundation of Japan's cultural competitiveness. The sadness, sensual love, eccentricity, aesthetics of death, and cuteness inherent in Japanese neo-pop art are condensed and implicit product of Japan's unique spirit, rooted in its natural environment, geographical features, and historical context. It can be seen as a localized form of pop art which originated in the West but fragmented and manifested in various regions. Neo-pop art symbolizes visual art that has seamlessly embraced subcultures and also contemporary Japanese art itself.

 

"My Adorable" Venus that "Isn't Divine" 

The term "fandom" is a compound of "fan," meaning an enthusiast, and the suffix "dom," meaning territory or domain, referring to a person who is enthusiastically devoted or immersed in a particular individual or field. It is one of the elements of neo-pop art that is dealt with in Takeru Amano's work. Venus, the goddess that has been revered and worshipped throughout history. Venus has been depicted by many renowned artists as a divine, mythical figure with an aura that is beyond comprehension. Venus has traditionally been portrayed as a being with unrealistic bodily proportions and facial expressions and who never gives us a direct eye contact. However, in Takeru Amano's work, Venus is a friendly and adorable character that is very clearly gazing at us. What, then, does Venus truly represent?

 

If we trace back to the origins of art, images recreated in public yet intimate spaces have resonated with and been understood by a significant number of people. Beyond merely documenting the facts, people expressed their earnest wishes and hopes. And as more people imbued the images with their deep yearnings and aspirations, it probably seemed to "believers" as though miracles were actually happening. Ultimately, what these images originally depicted becomes meaningless. These images simply become icons or symbols. Venus, the unfathomably elegant character which encompassed all the aesthetically pleasing elements that humans could express, now exist in Takeru Amano's works. And each Venus, looking straight at us, has a unique and direct relationship with each and every one of us. And, this is probably why Takeru Amano explains that he wants to say as little as possible regarding who Venus symbolizes. allowing for a personal depth and connection within each individual's interpretation. The concept of "fandom" in his works represents every person's deep inner self and their relationship and a fantasy Takeru Amano's Venus offers us. Even when Andy Warhol's colorful portraits of Marilyn Monroe completely shifted the paradigm of the visual arts and gave rise to consumable art, depicting the roles, functions and method of mass media, the portraits still preserved the traditional composition and form of portrait art and, aimed to draw our desire for casually and broadly consumed art as well as our continuing admiration for traditional art. Takeru Amano's Venus on the other hand, calmly depicts a personal icon baptized by the times and circumstances, without any resistance to or desire to overthrow traditional artistic values.

 

If art is about telling anthropological macroscopic stories based on artistic insights, reasoning and sensory awareness of the giant discourses formed by the era, then there is a significant meaning in how pop art which originated and spread from the West and evolved into neo-pop in Japan, carrying local specificity. Neo-pop which holds the local histories, cultures and contemporary essence of Japan, is one of the most unique cultural elements Japan has. The anxiety-ridden natural environment and the trauma from experiencing the collapse of the national defense line for the first time in Japanese history in 1945, led to the emergence of end-of-the-world and apocalyptic thoughts, the ideas of transience and fleetingness of life as well as narcissism and nostalgia we saw in the works of Yoshitomo Nara, first generation Japanese neo-pop artist. Japan's belief that sex is the source of community prosperity and abundance led to the emergence of sensual eroticism. Japan's society which emphasizes strict hierarchy and "wa" (harmony) and rejects deviation eventually gave rise to eccentricity and absurdity. Aesthetic power in loyal and honorable deaths. The cruel economic downturn after the collapse of the economic bubble in the 1990s led to a sense of futility towards the values the Japanese had and this is represented and sublimated into an adorable girlishness. Therefore, as one delves deeper inward, the expression becomes more concise, and as fear intensifies, it becomes cuter. Subjective, personal relationships and the deeply introspective expertise are not as convincing or appealing to others. The instincts of fandom, excessive absorption, digging, multi-personas, otaku culture stemming from existential anxiety (unique to Japan), individualization, fantasy, cuteness, and desire are all common elements of Japan's neo-pop.

 

If art is awe-inspiring force at the forefront of history, creating monumental flows of context, then neo-pop may need to be viewed from a slightly different perspective. While it's undeniable that art is the product of its time and history, produced with the unique formal languages of the contemporary artists that resonates with the entire humanity, what makes Takeru Amano artistically compelling as a neo-pop artist is his pursuit of "now, present, here, me" instead of universal values. Takeru Amano's "adorable Venus" is free from that symbolism of absolute beauty. Amano's Venus allows us to focus on the relationship between the object and ourself. It is an idol (icon) derived from our own "fandom" and "fantasy". As long as I exist, and as long as I enshrine Venus in my own temple, my Venus will always be adorable than my imagination, and she will always be waiting for me there.

 

Amano's works are rapidly consumed and digested. Numerous Venuses with round, vertically long eyes and a tightly shut mouth, all showing exactly the same expression, are staring at us in various cute and alluring poses. Venus exudes a special aura as if it's the only thing illuminated by the sun. Takeru Amano transforms every woman into Venus and Venus will always exist in the process of constant questioning of what Venus means to ourself. Takeru Amano's Venus fandom will continue to put down roots in various regions, delving deeply through shy yet profound, introspective digging, and will be quickly consumed.

 

Ko Yeonsoo (art critic)