Aya Takano

Japanese a r t fantasy

cute co lourfu l s c enes

car toon sur r ea l e rot i c

p l easure d r eam t ransform

juxtaposed f la t pe r spect ive

t ransends ex i s t ence

inf luenced by comic books

sc i ence imag inat ion

impres s ion i s t s sur r ea l i s t s

un ive r sa l mind

cv2500, Mathew Bell JC265272, assignment 1

masterful painters and study art publications, it was at this early age

Aya decided to be a painter. Graduating from Department of Fine Art,

Tama Art University in the year 2000, Aya worked for Nintendo

designing packages but found her daily tasks and routine dull

“I didn’t like going to the same place and meeting with the same

people every day, doing what somebody would tell me to do”

( Towards Eternity, 2011 )

Aya became the assistant of Takashi Murakami, A well renowned

Japanese artist “known for his contemporary Pop synthesis of fine

art and popular culture, particularly his use of a boldly graphic

and colorful anime and manga cartoon style.” ( Artsy, 2016 )

(2) Aya Takano’s work in partnership with Takashi Murakami’s other

artists at studio Kaikai-kiki are members of the Japanese Superflat

movement influenced by Japanese history, manga and anime, as well

as the artists of the 1950’s from abstract painters such as Ellsworth

Kelly and Frank Stella, to the Pop Culture investigations of Andy

Warhol and Mel Ramos. (1) Influenced by science fiction novels Aya

read as she grew up, and Osamu Tezuku a well known author in Japan,

whimsical scenes of girls elevating beyond reality are painted

leaving the constraints of today’s Japan behind them as they extend

themselves to the universe.

Aya Takano’s paintings have distinct impressionist characteristics,

small, thin and visible brush strokes forming the scene in figure 2.

This technique is applied to develop a contemporary landscape in

partner with short painted marks of pure colour placed next to

each other blending the tones optically. “In their landscapes and

genre scenes, the Impressionist tried to arrest a particular moment

in time by pinpointing specific atmospheric conditions—light flickering

on water, moving clouds, a burst of rain. Their technique tried to

capture what they saw. ” Dr. Beth Gersh-Nesic (2016).

Unlike the impressionists however, Aya Takano is not depicting scenes

she sees from every day life but aspects of her own mind, this is a

sort of juxtaposition with the surreal. Once again displaying her

attempt to escape the reality of the every day ordinary.

Figure 1, Aya Takano, 2007, The code of the wild, and the tremendous face of clouds, acrylic on canvas.

When first viewing Aya Takano’s work I was struck by naked cartoon

females in an unpleasant environment. (Nude girls in a rubbish dump?

You have my attention.) Aya Takano has done her job and it was up to

me to deal with the questions evoked from such a scene. Without an

artist statement I’m left to my imagination, you see, these five girls are

runaways from their oppressive families. Go to school, get a job, that’s

no fun “let’s go live on that trash island where no-one can tell us what

to do”. Hold on using my imagination is too easy, let’s do some

research, who is Aya Takano?

(1) Aya Takano (2011) is a thirty six year old Japanese contemporary

artist who has a profound passion for painting and illustration. Born in

Saitama, a town near Tokyo known for it’s animation, comic books and

sake production. Aya was very young when she would read of

When first viewing Aya Takano’s work I was struck by naked cartoon

females in an unpleasant environment. (Nude girls in a rubbish dump?

You have my attention.) Aya Takano has done her job and it was up to

me to deal with the questions evoked from such a scene. Without an

artist statement I’m left to my imagination, you see, these five girls

are runaways from their oppressive families. Go to school, get a job,

that’s no fun “let’s go live on that trash island where no-one can tell

us what to do”. Hold on using my imagination is too easy, let’s do

some research, who is Aya Takano?

(1) Aya Takano is a thirty six year old Japanese contemporary artist

who has a profound passion for painting and illustration. Born in

Saitama, a town near Tokyo known for it’s animation, comic books and

sake production. Aya was very young when she would read of

masterful painters and study art publications, it was at this early age

she decided to be a painter. Graduating from Department of Fine Art,

Tama Art University in the year 2000, Aya worked for Nintendo

designing packages but found her daily tasks and routine dull

“I didn’t like going to the same place and meeting with the same

people every day, doing what somebody would tell me to do”

( Towards Eternity, 2011 )

Aya became the assistant of Takashi Murakami, A well renowned

Japanese artist “known for his contemporary Pop synthesis of fine

art and popular culture, particularly his use of a boldly graphic

and colorful anime and manga cartoon style.” ( Artsy, 2016 )

(2) Aya Takano (2006) Aya Takano ’s work in partnership with Takashi

Murakami’s other artists at studio Kaikai-kiki are members of the

Japanese Superflat movement influenced by Japanese history, manga

and anime, as well as the artists of the 1950’s from abstract painters

such as Ellsworth Kelly and Frank Stella, to the Pop Culture

investigations of Andy Warhol and Mel Ramos. (1) Aya Takano (2011)

Influenced by science fiction novels Aya read as she grew up, and

Osamu Tezuku a well known author in Japan, whimsical scenes of girls

elevating beyond reality are painted leaving the constraints of today’s

Japan behind them as they extend themselves to the universe.

Aya Takano’s paintings have distinct impressionist characteristics,

small, thin and visible brush strokes forming the scene in figure 2.

This technique is applied to develop a contemporary landscape in

partner with short painted marks of pure colour placed next to

each other blending the tones optically. “In their landscapes and

genre scenes, the Impressionist tried to arrest a particular moment

in time by pinpointing specific atmospheric conditions—light flickering

on water, moving clouds, a burst of rain. Their technique tried to

capture what they saw. ” Dr. Beth Gersh-Nesic (2016).

Unlike the impressionists however, Aya Takano is not depicting scenes

she sees from every day life but aspects of her own mind, this is a

sort of juxtaposition with the surreal. Once again displaying her

attempt to escape the reality of the every day ordinary.

When first viewing Aya Takano’s work I was struck by naked cartoon

females in an unpleasant environment. (Nude girls in a rubbish dump?

You have my attention.) Aya Takano has done her job and it was up to

me to deal with the questions evoked from such a scene. Without an

artist statement I’m left to my imagination, you see, these five girls

are runaways from their oppressive families. Go to school, get a job,

that’s no fun “let’s go live on that trash island where no-one can tell

us what to do”. Hold on using my imagination is too easy, let’s do

some research, who is Aya Takano?

(1) Aya Takano is a thirty six year old Japanese contemporary artist

who has a profound passion for painting and illustration. Born in

Saitama, a town near Tokyo known for it’s animation, comic books and

sake production. Aya was very young when she would read of

masterful painters and study art publications, it was at this early age

Aya decided to be a painter. Graduating from Department of Fine Art,

Tama Art University in the year 2000, Aya worked for Nintendo

designing packages but found her daily tasks and routine dull

“I didn’t like going to the same place and meeting with the same

people every day, doing what somebody would tell me to do”

( Towards Eternity, 2011 )

Aya became the assistant of Takashi Murakami, A well renowned

Japanese artist “known for his contemporary Pop synthesis of fine

art and popular culture, particularly his use of a boldly graphic

and colorful anime and manga cartoon style.” ( Artsy, 2016 )

(2) Aya Takano’s work in partnership with Takashi Murakami’s other

artists at studio Kaikai-kiki are members of the Japanese Superflat

movement influenced by Japanese history, manga and anime, as well

as the artists of the 1950’s from abstract painters such as Ellsworth

Kelly and Frank Stella, to the Pop Culture investigations of Andy

Warhol and Mel Ramos. (1) Influenced by science fiction novels Aya

read as she grew up, and Osamu Tezuku a well known author in Japan,

whimsical scenes of girls elevating beyond reality are painted

leaving the constraints of today’s Japan behind them as they extend

themselves to the universe.

Aya Takano’s paintings have distinct impressionist characteristics,

small, thin and visible brush strokes forming the scene in figure 2.

This technique is applied to develop a contemporary landscape in

partner with short painted marks of pure colour placed next to

each other blending the tones optically. “In their landscapes and

genre scenes, the Impressionist tried to arrest a particular moment

in time by pinpointing specific atmospheric conditions—light flickering

on water, moving clouds, a burst of rain. Their technique tried to

capture what they saw. ” Dr. Beth Gersh-Nesic (2016).

Unlike the impressionists however, Aya Takano is not depicting scenes

she sees from every day life but aspects of her own mind, this is a

sort of juxtaposition with the surreal. Once again displaying her

attempt to escape the reality of the every day ordinary.

Figure 2. Aya Takano, 2010, Gymnastic Formation Over Dark Black Water, acrylic on canvas mounted on aluminum frame, 150 x 150 cm.

When first viewing Aya Takano’s work I was struck by naked cartoon

females in an unpleasant environment. (Nude girls in a rubbish dump?

You have my attention.) Aya Takano has done her job and it was up to

me to deal with the questions evoked from such a scene. Without an

artist statement I’m left to my imagination, you see, these five girls

are runaways from their oppressive families. Go to school, get a job,

that’s no fun “let’s go live on that trash island where no-one can tell

us what to do”. Hold on using my imagination is too easy, let’s do

some research, who is Aya Takano?

(1) Aya Takano is a thirty six year old Japanese contemporary artist

who has a profound passion for painting and illustration. Born in

Saitama, a town near Tokyo known for it’s animation, comic books and

sake production. Aya was very young when she would read of

masterful painters and study art publications, it was at this early age

Aya decided to be a painter. Graduating from Department of Fine Art,

Tama Art University in the year 2000, Aya worked for Nintendo

designing packages but found her daily tasks and routine dull

“I didn’t like going to the same place and meeting with the same

people every day, doing what somebody would tell me to do”

( Towards Eternity, 2011 )

Aya became the assistant of Takashi Murakami, A well renowned

Japanese artist “known for his contemporary Pop synthesis of fine

art and popular culture, particularly his use of a boldly graphic

and colorful anime and manga cartoon style.” ( Artsy, 2016 )

(2) Aya Takano’s work in partnership with Takashi Murakami’s other

artists at studio Kaikai-kiki are members of the Japanese Superflat

movement influenced by Japanese history, manga and anime, as well

as the artists of the 1950’s from abstract painters such as Ellsworth

Kelly and Frank Stella, to the Pop Culture investigations of Andy

Warhol and Mel Ramos. (1) Influenced by science fiction novels Aya

read as she grew up, and Osamu Tezuku a well known author in Japan,

whimsical scenes of girls elevating beyond reality are painted

leaving the constraints of today’s Japan behind them as they extend

themselves to the universe.

Aya Takano’s paintings have distinct impressionist characteristics,

small, thin and visible brush strokes forming the scene in figure 2.

This technique is applied to develop a contemporary landscape in

partner with short painted marks of pure colour placed next to

each other blending the tones optically. “In their landscapes and

genre scenes, the Impressionist tried to arrest a particular moment

in time by pinpointing specific atmospheric conditions—light flickering

on water, moving clouds, a burst of rain. Their technique tried to

capture what they saw. ” Dr. Beth Gersh-Nesic (2016).

Unlike the impressionists however, Aya Takano is not depicting scenes

she sees from every day life but aspects of her own mind, this is a

sort of juxtaposition with the surreal. Once again displaying her

attempt to escape the reality of the every day ordinary.

Figure 3. Aya Takano, 2006, Hoshiko the city child, acrylic on canvas, 146 x 112.

Aya Takano has an apparent relationship to the Pop Art, Surreal, and

Symbolist movements in her work and employs the pop culture of

contemporary Japan in her paintings, in figure 3 we see a shocked

girl in the foreground of a bright sparkling city dominated by a large

phallic like tower. This image, brought together by the leading lines of

the road, symbolism, implied movement and emotion allows us an

insight into the dazzling yet controversial nightlife of a bustling

Japanese city. (3) VICE (2015) JK (Josi Kusai), also named School

Girl Culture is a huge industry in Japan, selling everything from comic

books, pop music and performances to temporary dates with a young

girl, often escalating to other services.

As a fan of symbolism, I find figure 3 fascinating as I’m invited to

decipher the elements by an artist, from the obvious phallic sky

scraper mentioned earlier to the UFO flying through the city holding

figures in it’s beams, perhaps representing the unseen. Sinister bats

creeping in from the sky and the inverted body language in the

female’s stance, the upside down smiley face in the plush toy and

the PARCO ( a popular chain of Japanese department stores )

bellowing smoke out of it’s corner. ” The period in which the

Symbolists worked was marked by confusion regarding moral, social,

religious, and intellectual attitudes.“ The Art Story Contributors (2016).

.

(1) Aya Takano (2011) Aya paints her characters with pink body

parts presenting the body in between development phases, this

technique is appropriated from George Barbier, a French illustrator of

the art deco era, who would use colour to draw the viewer’s attention

towards features of an image, this is shown in Figure 4. Instinctivley

this technique reminded me of the Chapman brothers and their

appropriation on Goya’s etchings, painting over the image’s and

increasing the monstrous and abject elements of the work.

The major element that connects me to Aya Takano’s work is the

cartoon style, underneath all these techniques discussed lays the

attributes of flat two dimensional animation which not only did I grow

up watching but I still enjoy today as an adult. One show in particular

comes to mind instantly when viewing Aya’s paintings,

“Adventure Time”, an absurd world full of unique characters that

capture attention and inspire the imagination, a world beyond reality

where a young boy and his best friend struggle with morality,

relationships and responsibilities. Figure 5 shows just one of millions

of fan art created as a result of this program.

Figure 4. George Barbier, 1922, The Tango, Giclee print, 56 x 35 cm.

(1) Aya paints her characters with pink body parts presenting the

body in between development phases, this technique in appropriated

from George Barbier, a French illustrator of the art deco era, who

would use colour to draw the viewer ’s attention towards features of

an image, this is shown in Figure 4.Instinctivley this technique

reminded me of the Chapman brothers and their appropriation on

Goya’s etchings, painting over the image’s and increasing the

monstrous and abject elements of the work.

The major element that connects me to Aya Takano’s work is the

cartoon style, underneath all these techniques discussed lays the

attributes of flat two dimensional animation which not only did I grow

up watching but I still enjoy today as an adult. One show in particular

comes to mind instantly when viewing Aya’s paintings,

“Adventure Time”, an absurd world full of unique characters that

capture attention and inspire the imagination, a world beyond reality

where a young boy and his best friend struggle with morality,

relationships and responsibilities. Figure 5 shows just one of millions

of fan art created as a result of this program.

Figure 5. korintic, 2016, Adventure Time, digital illustration.

List of References

(1) TOWARDS ETERNITY, 2011, video recording, Aya Takano/Kaikai Kiki Co, Tokyo, Japan, viewed 8/03/2016.< https://www.perrotin.com/video-Aya_Takano-264.html >

Artsy, 2016, Takashi Murakami, viewed 8/03/2016.Retrieved from < https://www.artsy.net/artist/takashi-murakami >

(2) Galerie Perrotin, 2006, An extract from the catalogue on the exhibition "Aya Takano. ", Museum forContemporary Art, Lyon.< https://www.perrotin.com/text-Aya_Takano-15.html >

Dr. Beth Gersh-Nesic , 2016, A beginner's guide to Impressionism, Khan Academy, viewed 19/03/2016.Retrieved from < https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/impressionism/a/a-beginners-guide-to-impressionism >

(3) Schoolgirls for sale, 2015, video recording, VICE News, viewed 19/03/2016.< https://news.vice.com/video/schoolgirls-for-sale-in-japan >

The Art Story Contributors, 2016, The Art Story, viewed 19/03/2016.Retrieved from < http://www.theartstory.org/movement-symbolism.htm >

Figure 1, Aya Takano, 2007, The code of the wild, and the tremendous face of clouds, acrylic on canvas,viewed 12/03/2016Retrieved from < http://fyeahsuper�at.tumblr.com/tagged/Aya+Takano/page/8 >

Figure 2. Aya Takano, 2010, Gymnastic Formation Over Dark Black Water, acrylic on canvas mounted on aluminum frame, 150 x 150 cm, viewed 19/03/2016.Retrieved from < https://www.perrotin.com/Aya_Takano-works-oeuvres-18788-15.html >

Figure 3. Aya Takano, 2006, Hoshiko the city child, acrylic on canvas, 146 x 112, viewed 19/03/2016.Retrieved from < https://www.perrotin.com/Aya_Takano-works-oeuvres-10894-15.html >

Figure 4. George Barbier, 1922, The Tango, Giclee print, 56 x 35 cm, viewed, 19/03/2016.Retrieved from < http://www.art.com/products/p11785336-sa-i1422368/georges-barbier-the-tango.htm?sOrig=CAT&sOrigID=0&dimVals=5000452&ui=912E8440DD274ED0905AD6F23E4DF27F >

Figure 5. korintic, 2016, Adventure Time, digital illustration, viewed 19/03/2016.Retrieved from < http://www.deviantart.com/art/Adventure-Time-212755131 >

List of Figures