“Armed with solid traditional Japanese painting techniques he paints contemporary motives, mixes warriors with football, paints graffiti on Buddhas and sets up break dance battles against cute Japanese dancers in Kimono. Hisashi Tenmyouya is a maverick in the world of traditional Japanese painting - taking it to a new level of NEO-Traditional Japanese Painting. ” -PING MAG

Tenmyouya Hisashi for me is an entry into a very specific way of thought. Of all the time that I’ve spent learning about Japanese culture and thought, I can easily say that I don’t know all that much. But his works open up a new way of thinking about remixing traditional thought and ideas with modern techniques and the inverse too. He gives a real insight into anxieties and humor that the people might have. He is self taught and seems to have a very good grasp on the pulse of the modern mind.

Not only am I just drawn to his visual style, I like the way it looks and that always seems to be, for me at least, a starting point for the world of the artist. Sometimes thats as far as I go though, I never really look deeper into the work and ask more questions, or spend time with it thinking about why things are the way they are. But for some reason, I keep coming back to his work and and thinking about the pressure of society of being a specific way or the balance between Japan and the states. I tend to find that a lot of his works have the metaphors in them, but it isn’t necessary to fully understand these to enjoy the work. Which is something that I enjoy. I think work should have multiple levels in it. I mean, if someone enjoys a work for its visual qualities and doesn’t care to dive deeper thats ok, but there should be things there for the person who does choose to keep looking. Almost like a magic eye haha.

I also like that his work is playful. While there may be serious themes hidden, the images themselves always seem easy to digest and add a second or two of …wait what? But what is awesome about his work, is that the pieces themselves are also very large. I had an opportunity to go see his work on display while I was in Japan, at the Mizuma Art Gallery in Naka-Meguro. But seeing these works in person a wonderful experience. So yeah, check it out, I’ll be keeping up with him and hopefully seeing the documentary on him soon.

PING MAG article on Hisashi and the documentary on him.