A fascination with cutting-edge technology coupled with a deep, almost sacred reverence for centuries’ old traditions is one of the most fascinating facets of contemporary Japanese culture, and its not something that its necessarily easy to convey through art. Over the last ten years or so, Akira Yamaguchi has crafted strange, often complex paintings, which pay homage to masters like Hokusai and Hiroshige whilst being modern and strikingly original. A talented draftsman and painter, he uses traditional techniques whilst littering his work with weird technology and machinery. The works veer from simple, fun, almost Manga-esque ideas, such as a skeleton riding a jet-powered surfboard, to densely layered imagined cityscapes (with an almost never-ending level of detail) which he paints on vast canvases. Hiroo Roppongi and Mitsukoshi, shown below, measure 2&1/2 metres across and are hard to admire on a computer screen, so click on the thumbnails to view them as large as possible.
Rakuchi-Rakugai, 2007
Hiroo Roppongi, 2006 (detail)
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