We are pleased to announce the second exhibition by Japanese popular Manga writers ‘POP-ART SERIES’ with their print art will soon to be held at Gallery ANTENNA, Kyoto Japan (Touring from Tokyo. The show in Tokyo ended).
2-19 Sep, 2011
Gallery opens on Fri, Sat and Sun only, from 1 to 7pm.
For basic information about the Kyoto show in Gallery ANTENNA :
http://www.antenna-re.info/page/exhibition/schedule.html
About ‘POP-ART SERIES’ by Freestyle :
http://webfreestyle.com/shop/pop-art-top.html
Taking into consideration that sooner or later the print art by Manga writer will be collector’s item internationally, Freestyle has started to sell the prints by popular Japanese Manga writers. In ‘POP-ART SERIES’ Freestyle has produced the print arts by Hisashi Eguchi, Taiyo Matsumoto, and Jiro Taniguchi. The first solo show (Tokyo/Kyoto, Mar 2011) by Hisashi Eguchi got attention in both venues, and the second one will be coming soon(as above mentioned) in Kyoto. Their high-quality prints were produced by a printer Masashi Ozaki, who studied the printing technique not only in Japan but also in France as one of the artists provided by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan. Ozaki has produced the prints for Japanese artists such as Akira Kurosawa, Kaii Higashiyama and some other masters in Japanese art.
About the writers :
Hisashi Eguchi (1956-), in his representative Manga ‘Stop!! Hibari-kun!’ which was firstly published in 1981, illustrates the daily drama of the main character, a boy (Hibari-kun) who believes that he is a girl. Eguchi’s comical illustration seems to soften such a serious (and somehow, still be seen as a taboo) issue as gender identity disorder in early 80’s in Japan. He won Akatsuka Prize (1977) , Bungei Shunjyu Comic Prize (1992), etc. http://www.kotobuki-studio.com/
Taiyo Matsumoto(1967-) was influenced by Katsuhiro Otomo who produced ”AKIRA” series. In 2006 his animation ‘Tekkon Kinkreet’(directed by Michael Arias) received MOMA’s Best Film of the year, which was the first prize ever given to the Japanese films. He is one of the influential and charismatic Manga writers in contemporary Japanese comic. He received Tezuka Osamu Award. About the animation ‘Tekkon Kinkreet’ see the following Website … http://tekkon.net/ (http://www.shogakukan.co.jp/taiyo/)
Influenced by B.D.( bande dessinée), Jiro Taniguchi(1947-) focuses on the daily drama. Some critics point out that his style has something in common with the films by Yasujiro Ozu. In 2011 Taniguchi was given Chevalier from French Minister of Culture.
http://www.jiro-taniguchi-fan.com/