FUMITAKE UCHIDA “UKIYO REMIX”

HAPPENINGText: Amelia Ijiri

Osaka-based artist, illustrator and designer, Fumitake Uchida, made his name in graphic design. Four of his prints were selected for MoMA Design Store’s 2008 “Destination: Japan”, and his graphic designs are featured in numerous domestic magazine covers and in international print collections.

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© Fumitake Uchida / Courtesy of DMO ARTS

In this solo exhibition, “UKIYO REMIX” at DMO ARTS shop/gallery next to JR Osaka Station, imagery from contemporary artists such as the popular artist Yayoi Kusama, graffiti/interventionist Banksy, and Jeff Koons are painted into ukiyo-e woodblock prints –such as “Evening Snow at Kanbara”, from the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō” by Utagawa Hiroshige and “The Great Wave”, from the series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” by Katsushika Hokusai– to embed Edo period scenery with pop/cultural references.

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© Fumitake Uchida / Courtesy of DMO ARTS

Flying saucers, pink trees, and polka dots command viewer’s attention. A coloring book-type illustration, based on Torii Kiyonaga’s “Women at Bath” is an interactive for visitors to graffiti, resulting with the bathing ladies being decorated with tattoos, bikinis, and brand name logos.

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© Fumitake Uchida / Courtesy of DMO ARTS

Fumitake Uchida’s prints are the reworking of what by now seems traditional by modern day sensibilities, in other words, the pop culturing of popular ukiyo-e imagery.

Fumitake Uchida exhibition “UKIYOREMIX”
Date: January 12th – 25th, 2018
Opening Hours: 10:00 – 21:00
Place: DMO ARTS
Address: 7F LUCUA 1100, Umeda 3-1-3, Kita-ku, Osaka
Tel: 06-6450-8187
https://dmoarts.com

Text: Amelia Ijiri

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Yuka Kasai
MoMA STORE