Tenmyouya Hisashi

Tenmyouya Hisashi
Born	天明屋尚 (1966-02-10) February 10, 1966 Saitama prefecture, Greater Tokyo Area, Japan
Known for	Contemporary art
Movement	Neo-Nihonga, BASARA

Tenmyouya Hisashi (天明屋尚, born 1966 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese contemporary artist.

He supposed his unique Japanese painting "Neo-Nihonga" which revives Japanese traditional paintings as a contemporary art. And in 2000 he also created his new style "Butouha" which shows the resistant attitude for authoritative art system through his paintings. He currently lives and works in Saitama, Japan and is represented by the Mizuma Art Gallery in Tokyo.

In 2010 he proposed a new Japanese art scheme named "BASARA" which is extravagant and extraordinary and embodies a Samurai aesthetic like "Basara" in Nanboku dynasty era and "Kabuki-mono" in the end of Sengoku era.

Neo Nihonga (Neo Japanese-style painting)

"Gay Japanese-style painting" is an art concept, founded by Tenmyouya Hisashi in 2001. It is an antithesis to a modern Japanese-style painting. He thinks a modern Japanese-style painting whose role as an opposite concept of a modern Western-style painting ended sticks to use a traditional painting materials such as mineral pigments, glue and ink. On the other hand, Neo Japanese-style painting is a new one, using a new material like acrylic paint etc. Also it refers some features of Japanese art such as a traditional Japanese line as well as its decorative, symbolic and playful ones. As for subjects, it intends to quote a Japanese traditional essence and express real Japanese contemporary art. Neo Japanese-style painting is a suggestion, suspecting the concept of "modern Japanese-style painting" which was made and twisted artificially in Meiji age. And it offers another possibility for a Japanese contemporary art history. Moreover, in Neo Japanese-style painting, classic Japanese paintings and styles before Meiji age are respected and modernized. In short, Neo Japanese-style painting takes over spirits of Ukiyo-e and the other Japanese classic painting and develop them.

BASARA

"Basara" is an art concept suggested by Tenmyouya Hisashi in 2010. The term "Basara" refers the family of beauty that with innovative unprecedented beauty, including the basara of the Nanbokucho Period, the kabukimono of the end of the Warring States Period, the ukiyoeshi of the end of the Edo period and Japanese recent youth culture with bad and decorative tastes. He regard the culture stands on the opposite end of the spectrum from wabi sabi and is incompatible with Otaku culture. Also he aims that such an aspect connects Japanese culture and history more directly to make an original Japanese art story. As for "Basara", deliberately he avoids too introvert (he thinks of it as one of weaｋness of Japanese art) and often quotes Japanese historical elements. Indeed, "Basara" covers wide range, ancient culture, samurai culture and recent youth culture in Japan. Especially "Basara" focuses on street culture or samurai culture in the end of the Warring States Period or the end of the Edo period which has been estimated low for a long time. Avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto once separated Japanese art into the two categories of "Yayoi-like" art characterized by grace and delicate features, and "Jomon-like" art characterized by dynamic and innovative features. The term "Basara" is an adopted and developed version of Taro's concept of "Jomon-like" art, which is excessive in beauty yet innovative. Implicitly he criticizes a conservative attitude which just receives an established value blindly and avoids taking a risk for a new unique things. He published an art book "BASARA Japanese art theory crossing borders: from Jomon pottery to decorated trucks", which has more details with affluent photos and Japanese and English texts.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• " Japanese Spirit " at Harajuku Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2000
• " Tenmyouya Hisashi Exhibition " at PROGETTO (Tokyo, Japan), 2001
• " NEO Japanese Paintings " at Depot (Tokyo, Japan), 2002
• " Gakyo " at Nadiff (Tokyo, Japan), 2003
• " Tenmyouya Hisashi " at the reed spase.(New York, U.S.A), 2003
• " Kabuku " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2003
• " Deceptive Spirits of the Mountains and Rivers "　at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2004
• " Bunshin " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2005
• " MADE IN JAPAN " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2006
• " NEO Japanese Paintings " at Roppongi hills art design store space A+D (Tokyo, Japan), 2007
• " Fighting Spirit " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2008
• " FURYU - EXTRAVAGANT " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2009
• " G-tokyo 2011" Mori arts center gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2011
• " Rhyme " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2012
• " Rough Sketch and Print " at TENGAI GALLERY (Tokyo, Japan), 2013
• " Process through to the original - Sketch" Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery(Tokyo, Japan),2014
• " Rhyme Ⅱ " Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan),2014
• " Ippitsu-Nyuukon Exhibition" Parco Museum (Tokyo, Japan),2014

Selected Group Exhibitions

• " One Planet under a Groove : Hip Hop and Contemporary Art " Bronx Museum (New York, U.S.A), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, U.S.A), traveled to Spellman College Art Museum (Atlanta, U.S.A), Museum Villa Stuck (Munich, Germany), 2001
• " Kyosai plus one, Kawanabe Kyosai and Tenmyouya Hisashi " Kawanabe Kyosai Memorial Museum (Saitama, Japan),2002
• " 6th Exhibition of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art " Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki (Kanagawa, Japan), 2003
• " The American Effect - Global Perspective on the United States, 1990-2003 " Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, U.S.A), 2003
• " Japan : Rising " Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art (Florida, U.S.A), 2003
• " Astonishment house house exhibit space" PARCO Museum(Tokyo, Japan), 2004
• " Asian Invitationa " Frey Norris Gallely (San Francisco,U.S.A), 2004
• " GUNDAM, Generating Futures " Suntory Museum (Osaka, Japan), traveled to The Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo, Japan), Sendai Mediatheque (Miyagi, Japan), traveled to Kawara Museum (Aichi, Japan), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo (Hokkaido, Japan),Generating Futures " Kyoto International Manga Museum (Kyoto, Japan), 2005
• " MOT Annual, " Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan), 2006
• " Berlin - Tokyo " Neue Nationalgalerie (Berlin, Germany), 2006
• " HEROES IN WARRIOR PAINTINGS " Nagano Prefectural Shinano Art Museum (Nagano, Japan), 2007
• " neoteny Japan " Kirishima Open-Air Museum(Kagoshima,Japan), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo (Hokkaido, Japan),Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo (Hokkaido, Japan),The Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo, Japan),The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art(Niigata, Japan), Akita Museum of Modern Art(Akita,Japan),Yonago City Museum of Art (Totutoriken, Japan), The Museum of Art, Ehime (Ehime, Japan), 2008
• " Go Game, Beijing! " German embassy(China,Beijing), 2008
• " Vision of East Asian 2008 " national library exhibition room in China(China,Beijing), Fine Art Hall of Henan Art Centre(China,Zhengzhou), 2008
• " AIDA Makoto＋TENMYOUYA Hisashi＋YAMAGUCHI Akira" Takahashi Collection Hibiya (Tokyo, Japan), 2010
• " 17th Biennale of Sydney " (Sydney,Australia), 2010
• " BASARA " Spiral Garden(Tokyo, Japan), 2010
• " TDW-ART JALAPAGOSU Exhibition " Meiji Jingu Gaien(Tokyo, Japan), 2010
• " SugiPOP! " Portsmouth Museum of Art(New Hampshire, U.S.A), 2010
• " Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art" japansociety(New York, U.S.A), 2011
• " Request top 30 — Step of the past 10 years " Takahashi Collection TABLOID GALLERY(Tokyo, Japan), 2011
• " ZIPANG " Nihonbashi Takashimaya(Tokyo, Japan),Osaka Takashimaya(Osaka, Japan),KyotoTakashimaya(Kyoto, Japan),The Nigata Bandaijima Art Museum (Nigata, Japan),Talasaki Museum of Art (gunma, Japan), 2011
• " Taguchi Art Collection GLOBAL NEW ART " Sompo Japan Museum of Art(Tokyo, Japan), 2011
• " JALAPAGOSU Exhibition " Mitsubishi-Jisho Artium(Fukuoka, Japan), 2011
• " TDW-ART ITO JAKUCHU INSPIRED " Meiji Jingu Gaien(Tokyo, Japan), 2012
• " Wonderful my art - Artists of the Takahashi collection " KAWAGUCHIKO MUSEUM OF ART(Yamanashi, Japan), 2013
• " Ikeda Manabu and Tenmyouya Hisashi " Chazen Museum of Art(Madison, U.S.A), 2013
• " Soccer exhibition - Whereabouts of the image" Urawa Art Museum(Saitama, Japan),2014
• " Taguchi Art Collection TAG-TEN" Matsumoto City Museum of Art(Nagano, Japan),2014
• " Garden of Unearthly Delights: Works by Ikeda, Tenmyouya & teamlab" Japan Society (New York, USA),2014
• " Winners of the Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art" Taro Okamoto　Museume of Art (Ｋanagawa, Ｊapan),2014

Awards

• 11th Japan Graphic Exhibition, Winning judge Prize, 1990
• JACA'97, Winning special prize, 1997
• URBANART#8, Winning Lichtex Prize, 1999
• 8th Lichtex Biennale, Winning encouragement Prize, 2001
• 6th Exhibition of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art "Winning excellent prize, 2003
• The only Japanese artist selected for the FIFA World Cup Germany Poster, 2006

Public collections

• The Museum of Fine Arts（Houston, U.S.A）MFAH
• Chazen Museum of Art（Madison, U.S.A）
• Takamatsu city museum of Art (Takamatsu, Japan)
• Takahashi Collection（Tokyo, Japan）
• Taguchi Collection（Tokyo, Japan）

Books

• Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "Japanese Spirit" (Published by Gakken Co., Ltd.), 2003
• Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "Kabuki-mono" (Published by PARCO Co., Ltd.), 2004
• Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "Tenmyouya Hisashi" (Published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Publishers), 2006
• Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "KAMON TENMYOUYA HISASHI" (Published by KING OF MOUNTAIN), 2007
• Written by Tenmyouya Hisashi "BASARA Japanese art theory crossing borders : from Jomon pottery to decorated trucks"(Published by Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, Co., LTD), 2010
• Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "Masterpiece" (Published by Seigenshiya, Publishers), 2014

External links

• Homepage of Tenmyouya Hisashi
• Mizuma art gallery artist page／Hisashi Tenmyouya