Cleverness, it seems, is the goal of the modern artist. As the world has long been confronted with images of religious, political, and personal significance, the current avant-garde must find its calling in the amusing juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated items.
This at least appears to be the goal of Japanese artist Yumiko Kayukawa. A Japanese comic book (or manga) artist and American culture aficionado, Kayukawa discovered her own visual identity on a trip to Seattle, where she first combined Japanese symbolism with American pop art in an orgy of color and icons.
Kayukawa’s signature style revolves around the conflict between traditional and modern imagery, between art and advertisement, nature and fashion. Nearly all of her images focus around one or two central human characters and their interaction with themselves, with the world, and with the viewer, all depicted in mind-warming color. A lithe vixen gazes longingly at her voyeur. A young girl turns away from the world between headphones. Animals, depicted almost iconically, dot almost all of Kayukawa’s landscapes, nestled snugly beside human companions
Kayukawa is clearly influenced by modern advertising, and perhaps that explains the undeniable appeal of her work. Bright, colorful, and intense, works such as “Veggie Burger” recall both the immediate satisfaction and total absurdity of the advertising image.
But the crucial ingredient in Kayukawa’s blend is a healthy dose of cleverness. Her best images are riddles: “Surf” could be a page out of a fashion magazine, but it quotes traditional Japanese representations of tsunami waves.
Kayukawa’s work is undeniably playful, and this is where her genius lies. Insofar as her paintings are riddles, they are also captivating juxtapositions of the elements of modernity. We have in her work a stunning representation of the collective argument that defines human life — the argument between our future and past, our desire to transcend animal nature and our willingness to succumb to it — all wrapped in an envelope of subtle humor. Cleverness, then, is not what Kayukawa aspires to at all, but rather it is her way of bundling the confusion of modern life into an anecdote that we all understand.
The art of Yumiko Kayukawa will be on display at the Kantor Gallery, 7025 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, through May 1.