Mr.
미스터 (b.1969)
Information
Mr.'s work expands on the otaku culture of Japan.
Taking his name from the national baseball superstar Shigeo Nagashima’s alias “Mister,” Mr. began as the protégé of Takashi Murakami, and has worked as an artist for over eight years. Praised by Paul McCarthy as having “an unbearable irresistibility in its tiny, innocent world,” Mr.’s works range from drawings and paintings to large sculpture.
Whether they are “innocent” or not remains a question. Mr.’s works are “Japanese” in their anime-inspired, large-eyed characters and flat color fields. Portraying cute cartoon characters in a sexual context, Mr.’s work embodies the Lolita-esque fascination with young children found frequently in the Japanese comic industry. Is it cultural commentary or an exploration of his own fascination? Perhaps it is the potential for both that gives his work such power.
Also a performance and video artist, four of Mr.’s anime-inspired sculptural pieces were installed in Issey Miyake’s Aoyama boutique in Tokyo for Christmas season of 2004. His work, like that of his mentor, is character driven, and a small green sponge-like character “Toshihiko Yokohama” which he created was adopted by the pop band Kicell for their album design.
“미스터” 의 작품은 일본의 오타쿠 문화의 확장이다.
시게오 나가시마의 별명인 “미스터”에서 본인의 예명을 따온 미스터는 타카시 무라카미의 후배로 시작한 그는 8년 넘게 예술가로 활동해오고 있다. 폴 맥카시에게서 “그 작고 순수한 세상의 참을 수 없는 매력” 이라고 극찬을 받은 그의 작품들은 회화부터 그림 그리고 큰 조각까지 다양하다.
그 작품들이 “순수한지” 아닌지에 대한 것은 애매모호하다. 미스터의 작품은 굉장히 “일본적”으로, 애니메이션에서 영향을 받은 큰 눈과 무광에 가까운 (flat: 1~9% gloss) 색의 배경으로 특징지어진다. 귀여운 만화 주인공들을 성적인 맥락에서 해석하는 미스터의 작품은 일본 만화계에서 자주 등장하는 로리타 (역자주: 블라디미르 나보코브의 소설 Lolita 에서 파생된 용어로 아동성애자들을 일컫는 표현으로 자주 사용된다) 스러운 어린 아이들에 대한 매료를 상징한다. 그것이 문화적 비평인지 혹은 본인의 매료에 대한 탐구인지는 확실치 않다. 그러나 두 가지 가능성이 모두 존재한다는 점이 그의 작품에 그런 힘을 부여하는 것이 아닐까.
또한 공연과 비디오 예술가로서, 애니메이션에서 영향을 받은 미스터의 조각 작품 중 네 가지는 2004년 크리스마스 시즌에 이세이 미야케의 도쿄 아오야마 부티크에 설치되기도 하였다. 그의 스승의 작품성과 비슷하게, 그의 작품 또한 인물에 초점이 맞춰져 있으며, “토시히코 요코하마” 라는 그가 팝 밴드 Kicell의 앨범 커버에서 영향을 받은 작은 초록색 스폰지 같은 캐릭터가 자주 등장한다.
Profile
1996 Graduated from Department of Fine Arts, Sokei Art School, Tokyo
1969 Born in Cupa
Solo Exhibitions
2009 Solo Exhibition, Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY
2008 Solo Exhibition, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
Nobody Dies, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY
2006 "Mr.," Musée d'Art Contemporain, Lyon, France
"Nin – stealth," Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Miami, FL
2004 "ISSEY x Mr., ISSEY MIYAKE by Naoki Takizawa," Tokyo, Japan
"Thank You for Your Hard Work," Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2003 Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
2001 Nano Galerie, Paris, France
2000 "Venus #2," Vedanta Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998 "Mr., Painter of Alps," Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"-Edo Kunoichi Ninpocho (‘Greater Edo handbook of female ninja techniques’)," Shop33, Tokyo, Japan
1997 Aoi Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1996 "Frone & Perrine ’97," Shop33, Tokyo, Japan
Group Exhibitions
2009 "VRAOUM!", La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
2008 "Krazy! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art," Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
"Kaikai Kiki Artists," Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"Art Los Angeles," Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA
2007 "Red Hot: Contemporary Asian Art Rising," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
"The Armory Show," Pier 94, New York, NY
2005 "2005 Rising Sun, Melting Moon," Israel Museum Jerusalem, Jerusalem
"Kaikai Kiki Exhibition," Aoi Gallery, Osaka, Japan
"Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture," Japan Society, New York, NY
"Animate," Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
2004 Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Miami, FL
"T-Junction," Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
"Fiction. Love: Ultra New Vision in Contemporary Art," Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
Chiho Aoshima, Mr., Aya Takano, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin at LFL Gallery, New York, NY
2003 "Hope—The Future is in Our Hands," LAFORET Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan
Opening Exhibition, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"Mr. vs. Shintaro Miyake Exhibition," NADiff, Tokyo, Japan
2002 "The Japanese Experience – Inevitable," Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Chiho Aoshima, Aya Takano, Mr., Takashi Murakami, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
"Coloriage," Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France
2001 "My Reality: The Culture of Anime," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
"Hiropon Show," White Cube Gallery, London, UK; Shinsaibashi PARCO, Osaka, Japan
"Yokai Festival," Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
"Superflat," Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
2000 "Superflat," Shibuya Parco Gallery, Tokyo and Parco Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
1999 "Hiropon 32/80", NADiff, Tokyo, Japan
"Hiropon Show," Parco Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
"Sampling," Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc., New York, NY
"Hiropon PO+KU Art Revolution," Logus Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"Attention Spam," Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1998 "Hiropon Show," George’s, Los Angeles, CA
"Ero Pop Christmas," NADiff, Tokyo, Japan
1997 "Hiropon Show," shop33, Tokyo, Japan
"Tokyo Sex," NAS, Tokyo, Japan
1996 "Pico Pico Show," Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan