(born March 13, 1934), a Japanese

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. His work is characterized by fantasized portraiture, sensuous line flow, flamboyant (and occasionally

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

)

eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

, and frequent use of

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

and bright colors. Uno was prominently involved with the Japanese underground art of the 1960s–1970s, and is particularly notable for his collaborations with

Shūji Terayama was a Japanese avant-garde poet, dramatist, writer, film director, and photographer. His works range from radio drama, experimental television, underground (''Angura'') theatre, countercultural essays, to Japanese New Wave and "expanded" cinema ...

and his experimental theater

Tenjō Sajiki , was a Japanese independent theater troupe co-founded by Shūji Terayama and whose members include Kohei Ando, Kujō Kyōko, Yutaka Higashi, Tadanori Yokoo, and Fumiko Takagi. It was led by Shūji Terayama and active between 1967 and 1983 (unt ...

. Uno did two album covers for the rock band

Buck-Tick Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band, formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The group has consisted of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Hig ...

. Uno did an art installation for the historic

Dōgo Onsen is a hot spring in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan. History Dōgo Onsen is one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, with a history stretching back over 1000 years. The springs are mentioned in the Man'yōs ...

in 2019. Uno's illustrated retelling of ''Cinderella'' was exhibited in th
Rokko International Musical Box Museum
at the annual ''Rokko Meets Art'' modern art festival atop

Mount Rokkō is the name of a range of mountains in southeastern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Outline There is no single mountain or peak called "Rokkō," although the highest peak of the mountains is called , (literally, ''the highest peak of the Rokkō ...

in 2019.

Name

*The

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

''Aquirax'' was chosen as an exotic French-style spelling of his

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

name Akira. He has also mentioned that he has chosen "Aquirax" so he was able to write a longer signature on his works.

Works

*''Aquirax Uno posters 1959–1975'', published by Blues Interactions, Inc (2003), . * Cover art for

's ''

Razzle Dazzle ''Razzle Dazzle'' is a Canadian children's television program produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation between October 2, 1961, and July 1, 1966. The series was initially co-hosted by Alan Hamel and Michele Finney who were later replac ...

'',

Ariola Japan , is a Japanese record label that is part of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It is the successor of BMG Japan. History *2008 – Ariola Japan becomes a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. *2009 – Ariola Japan becomes a full-on record label ...

, (2010) The World of Aquirax Uno's Fantasy Illustrations, published by PIE Books (2016), .

References

People from Nagoya 1934 births Living people Japanese illustrators Japanese painters Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Pseudonymous artists {{illustrator-stub

Name

Works

See also

References