全通翻譯/翻譯社

Japan's Warhol

Passing off commercial, everyday images as high-art is nothing new. Andy Warhol was doing it with cans of soup in the 1960s, and Roy Lichtenstein with comic book panels even earlier. Warhol would doubtless recognize a follower of his pop art movement in Takashi Murakami, albeit with a distinctly Japanese slant.

Born in Tokyo in 1962, Murakami received his Ph.D in traditional Japanese painting from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He soon lost interest in traditional techniques and developed Superflat, a style that incorporates manga, anime and other elements of otaku, Japan's geek culture. His aim was to blur the line between pop culture and art, a line that he says is less distinct in Japan.

Motifs such as eyeballs and mushrooms recur in Murakami's work, and one character appears in many different incarnations. Mr. DOB, as the mouse-like creature is known, embodies “kawaii,” the Japanese obsession with cuteness. He's not always portrayed as cute though. Some works have him with razor-sharp teeth or spewing toxic bile. As well as this violent imagery, Murakami's work has combined cuteness with sexuality. “My Lonesome Cowboy” and “Hiropon” are two of Murakami's more controversial works, where the artist uses strong sexual imagery.

村上隆 × 藝術 vs. 商業

以商業、日常影像作為高級藝術的手法並非新鮮事。安迪‧沃荷在一九六○年代即以湯罐頭為素材，甚至在更早時，羅依‧李奇登斯坦就以單格漫畫作品來呈現。沃荷肯定會將村上隆視為其普普藝術運動的追隨者，儘管這名追隨者帶有鮮明的日本觀點。

一九六二年於東京出生的村上在東京藝術大學取得日本傳統繪畫的博士學位。他很快就對傳統技法失去興趣，並發展出「超級扁平」概念，一種結合漫畫、動畫和其他御宅族（日本阿宅文化）元素的風格。他的意圖是要模糊流行文化與藝術的界線，他說在日本這個界線較不明確。

眼球和蘑菇等基本圖案一再出現在村上的作品裡，而同個角色則以許多不同的化身出現。以貌似老鼠的生物聞名的DOB先生具體展現了日本對可愛執著的「卡哇伊」精神。不過他並非總以可愛的形象出現。在一些作品中他有著銳利尖齒或是噴出有毒膽汁。除了暴力形象外，村上的作品也將可愛與性慾作結合。「我的寂寞牛仔」和「Hiropon」是村上較具爭議的其中兩件作品，他讓這兩件作品展現了強烈的性意味。

資料來源：biz 互動英語