Mr. (born 1969 in Cupa, JapanOfficial Profile at Kaikai Kiki Official Website
http://english.kaikaikiki.co.jp/artists/profile_mr
. Accessed 9 March 2009.) is a

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 ...

contemporary artist, based in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.- Biography
" Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Accessed 9 March 2009. A former protégé of

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts as well as co ae ...

, Mr.'s work debuted in both solo and group exhibitions in 1996, and has since been seen in museum and gallery exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hong Kong, Seoul, Daegu, Paris, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and London.Grenville, Bruce et al. ''KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art''. Exhibition Catalog. Vancouver:

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...

, 2008. pp273-4. He works in a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, and video, though his works are all closely related in aesthetics, style, and theme. A self-proclaimed ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorat ...

'' with a

Lolita complex In Japanese popular culture, is a genre of fictional media in which young (or young-looking) girl characters appear in romantic or sexual contexts. The term, a portmanteau of the English phrase " Lolita complex", also refers to desire and ...

, which he says he does not act upon,Chen, Aric.
Candy Man
." ''Hint Fashion Magazine''. May 2007. Accessed 9 March 2009. his pieces depict young boys and girls in an

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

/ manga style, drawing upon the aesthetics and attitudes of ''otaku'' culture, and '' lolicon'' themes. While quite

cute Cuteness is a subjective term describing a type of attractiveness commonly associated with youth and appearance, as well as a scientific concept and analytical model in ethology, first introduced by Konrad Lorenz. Lorenz proposed the concept ...

and innocent on the surface, many of his works are also quite sexualized, tying into the anime phenomenon of fanservice, and leaving it an open question as to how innocent his works are in the end. Critics have also questioned whether Mr.'s work reflects a commentary on ''otaku'' culture, or glimpses into a private fantasy world, though Mr. has said his art is about expressing his personal fantasies, and not about cultural commentary.

Biography

Born in Cupa, Mr. takes his pseudonym from that of former

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

baseball player

Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ...

, who was frequently referred to as "Mr. Giants". Mr. graduated from Sokei Art School in 1996, having been discovered by Murakami the year prior. He has since worked as an assistant to Murakami, and member of Murakami's

Kaikai Kiki is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts as well as co aes ...

studio, which has also supported Mr. in his solo career. His participation in Murakami's 2000 exhibition ''Super Flat'' played a crucial role in earning him international attention and recognition. It is said that Mr. made his first "impression in the contemporary art scene with a collection of drawings of anime-style girl characters using the backs of shopping receipts he had gathered from his day-to-day purchases."

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

studio art professor and contemporary artist in his own right

Paul McCarthy Paul McCarthy (born August 4, 1945) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Life McCarthy was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1945. He studied art at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, and later continued ...

has commented that "the blending of a Lolita complex and otaku culture in his works ... as'an unbearable irresistibility in its tiny, innocent world.'" A short film entitled , directed by Mr. and premiered at Geisai 11 in Tokyo, accompanied by photos of the film's characters (i.e. the film's actresses, in costume as their characters, on the film's sets), was the artist's first forays into the media of video art and still photography. In 2010, Mr. exhibited in a group show at the

Grimaldi Forum The Grimaldi Forum in Monaco is a conference and congress centre located on the seafront of Monaco's eastern beach quartier, Larvotto. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra regularly perform there. This is also t ...

in Monaco, entitled ''Exhibition Kyoto-Tokyo: From to '' and had a solo exhibition at Leeahn Gallery in Seoul. Mr. has exhibited in solo and group shows at major museums and galleries worldwide. In 2002, he exhibited with Rei Sato at the

Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain The Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, known simply as the Fondation Cartier, is a contemporary art museum located at 261 boulevard Raspail in the 14th arrondissement of the French capital, Paris. History The Fondation Cartier was cr ...

; and in 2006 with fellow Kaikai Kiki artists

Chiho Aoshima is a Japanese pop artist and member of Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki Collective. Aoshima graduated from the Department of Economics, Hosei University, Tokyo. She held a residency at Art Pace, San Antonio, United States in 2006. Personal life ...

and

Aya Takano is a Japanese painter, Superflat artist, manga artist, and science fiction essayist. Aya Takano is represented by Kaikai Kiki, the artistic production studio created in 2001 by Takashi Murakami. Early life and influence Takano was born in Sa ...

Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon The Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon is a museum devoted to contemporary art, located in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon, in the Cité Internationale, next to the cinema, in front of the Parc de la Tête d'Or. It had over 42,000 visitors in 2007. ...

. In the same year Mr. was also featured in the group exhibition ''Red Hot: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection'' at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 2005, he was included in the acclaimed exhibition ''Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture'' at Japan Society, New York. In 2014 he had a solo exhibition at the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...

Literature

* Melissa Chu, Tamaki Saito, ''Mr.'',

Galerie Perrotin Perrotin is a contemporary art gallery founded in 1990 by Emmanuel Perrotin, at the age of twenty-one. He has since opened over eighteen spaces, with the aim of offering increasingly vibrant and creative environments in which to experience art. He ...

, Paris, 2011 * Michele Robecchi, Xiaojin Wu, ''Live On: Mr.'s Japanese Neo Pop'',

, 2014

References

External links

Mr. @ Lehmann Maupin GalleryMr. Kaikai Kiki Co. - Selected ArtworksMr. @ Perrotin Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mr. Living people 1969 births Japanese contemporary artists Japanese pop artists People from Saitama (city) Otaku

Biography

Literature

References

Further reading

External links