Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture

MURAKAMI, TAKASHI (ed); New York. Japan Society

ISBN 10: 0300102852 / ISBN 13: 9780300102857

Editore: 2005, 2005

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MURAKAMI, TAKASHI (editor). Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture. xiv and 298 pp., hundreds of color illustrations. 4to, boards. New York, Japan Society, in association with New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2005. This exhibition catalogue for a show at the Japan Society looks at contemporary Japanese culture from the prespective of one of the country's most celebrated artists.

Codice articolo 115407

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture
• Editore: 2005
• Data di pubblicazione: 2005
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0300102852
• ISBN 13: 9780300102857
• Rilegatura: Rilegato

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

Little Boy examines the culture of postwar Japan through its arts and popular visual media. Focusing on the youth-driven phenomenon of otaku (roughly translated as “geek culture” or “pop cult fanaticism”), Takashi Murakami and a notable group of contributors explore the complex historical influences that shape Japanese contemporary art and its distinct graphic languages. The book’s title, Little Boy, is a reference to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, thus clearly locating the birth of these new cultural forms in the trauma and generational aftershock of the atomic bomb.

This generously illustrated book showcases the work of key otaku artists and designers, many of whom are cult celebrities in Japan, and discusses their feature film and video animations, video games and internet sites, music, toys, fashion, and more. In the process, the following questions are posed: What is otaku, and what does it tell us about contemporary social, economic, and cultural life in Japan and throughout the world? How is it related to the pervasive and curious fixation on “cuteness” evident in Japanese popular culture? What impact did the atomic devastation of World War II have on the development of Japanese art and culture?

This brilliantly designed, bilingual (English and Japanese) publication examines these themes to explore how contemporary Japanese art has become inseparable from the subcultural realms of manga and animé (Japanese animation)―a world where meticulous technique, apocalyptic imagery, and high and low cultures meet.

Little Boy concludes Murakami’s “Superflat” trilogy, a project conceived in 2000 to introduce a new wave of Japanese artists and to place their work in the historical context of traditional styles and concepts.

Informazioni sugli autori

Takashi Murakami has exhibited works in major museums throughout the world. His high-profile public art commissions include large-scale installations at Grand Central and Rockefeller Center, and he is also well known for his design work for Louis Vuitton. Contributors include: Sawaragi Noi, Matsui Midori, Morikawa Kaichiro, Okada Toshio, Katy Siegel, and project directors Tom Eccles and Alexandra Munroe.

Takashi Murakami has exhibited works in major museums throughout the world. His high-profile public art commissions include large-scale installations at Grand Central and Rockefeller Center, and he is also well known for his design work for Louis Vuitton. Contributors include: Sawaragi Noi, Matsui Midori, Morikawa Kaichiro, Okada Toshio, Katy Siegel, and project directors Tom Eccles and Alexandra Munroe.