MASATO YAMAGUCHI

Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, Roy Lichtenstein, Bridget Riley, street artists KAWS and Space Invader.
I’ve taken characteristics from each of these artists’ masterpieces, consolidated them into individual graphics, and
sealed them away in plastic. Careful to preserve their superficial aesthetics, the complex backgrounds and context
of each work are assimilated into a solid piece.
All culture; be it high, low, Eastern or Western, regardless of region or history, is archived and copied on the Internet.
It is this phenomenon that I have attempted to reflect in my work. For example, in Portrait of plastic girl #ed. 2 “ how do I look? ”,
Damien Hirst’s Spot Painting pattern decorates a hat made of Yayoi Kusama’s trademark pumpkin; Bridget Riley’s designs
form a necklace, and Roy Lichtenstein’s painting technique adds texture to a character in the vein of Girl with a Pearl Earring.
I’ve brought all of these disparate parts together to create a new piece, while incorporating none of my own original style.
I see the world as overflowing with artificial things; an aggregation of plastic. With this project I’ve endeavored to move
beyond the borderline of “original” and “copy”. The result is a work I call Plastic Painting; painstakingly assembled and
welded together with hundreds of plastic cylinders, creating a tender, beautiful, and appealing picture.

Masato Yamaguchi was born in 1980 in Tokyo, Japan. He studied Economics at Hosei University and graduated in
2003. He is the founder of Ideasketch Co.,Ltd., an art & design studio in Tokyo. Recent solo and group shows include
“Colors,” Hillside Forum, Tokyo Japan (2010); “GEISAI#12,” Tokyo Big Site, Tokyo Japan (2009); “FUTURE ACADEMIC1,”
Caspers Gallery, Tokyo Japan (2008); and “Snow Fort 06,” Gallery Hibiya, Tokyo Japan (2006). He has lectured at
“DOMESTIC TOKYO,” Arts Initiative Tokyo (2011); and “Visual Design,” Asagaya College of Art and Design (2011).
Yamaguchi lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.

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