Classic Art with a Modern Twist

December 7, 2015 10:34 PM

2015 marks the 400th anniversary of the famous Rinpa School painting of the Wind God and Thunder God (Fujin-Raijin-zu). This has led a modern painter of the Rinpa School to add his own twists on the iconic painting, first in a collaboration with Nintendo to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. and, shortly thereafter, to celebrate the new Star Wars movie's release. In addition to these, the artist, Yamamoto Taro, has quite a history of producing traditionally-styled Japanese paintings with a modern sensibility and a touch of humor.
posted by DoctorFedora (4 comments total)

What an imagination! I recommend the last link (his works) especially.
posted by oheso at 2:28 AM on December 8, 2015

There's been a lot of rinpa-related stuff going on in and around Kyoto this fall, to coincide with the 400th anniversary. One of the smaller exhibits was a comparison of Yamamoto Taro's art with the works of Kamisaka Sekka, who is credited with reviving the rinpa style in the modern era. Along with combining modern pop culture with famous, 400 year-old rinpa pieces, Yamamoto has many works that are direct plays on and references to Kamisaka's. The whole show was fascinating, and Yamamoto is now one of my favorite modern artists.
posted by emmling at 5:26 AM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Takashi Murakami's 727 is a similar work. It's a nice contrast to a lot of his other stuff which is much less traditional looking.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:30 PM on December 8, 2015

The first thing I thought of were Akira Yamaguchi's yamato-e style tributes to the screen paintings like the one known as Scenes in and around the Capital
posted by ob1quixote at 2:40 PM on December 8, 2015