Contemporary Artist: Ikenaga Yasunari (b. 1965- )

-Ikenaga Yasunari (right) with collector and recent painting

Born in 1965, artist Ikenaga Yasunari’s serene and soothing portraits of modern women evoke a dreamy nostalgia through their faded golden hues and elegant floating poses. Using a Menso brush, mineral pigments, and soot ink on linen cloth, Yasunari continues the ancient tradition of Nihonga painting, while simultaneously bringing modern elements to play, such as present-day clothing styles and floral textile designs. The result is both beautiful and melancholy, capturing the timelessness of the Nihonga style as well as its dimming presence through the years.

-Juxtapoz Magazine: http://www.juxtapoz.com/illustration/soot-and-gold-by-ikenaga-yasunari

 Yasunari is one of a number of contemporary Japanese painters to have led the revival of the traditional Japanese painting technique known as Nihonga. Historically, Nihonga was characterized by the media as well as the subject matter — quotidian scenes, flowers and landscapes typically executed with tanuki (raccoon dog tail) brushes and mineral-based pigments applied to moistened washi paper.

Today, Nihonga has been given a fresh new face, with subject matter ranging from horror to hip-hop to anime. This new crop of Nihonga artists have found favor both in Japan and abroad. Among the better known artists of the “New Nihonga” are Fuyuko Matsui…

…Keizaburo Okamura…

…Enokki Toshiyuki…

…Tomoko Kashiki…

… and Makoto Aida:

Ikenaga Yasunari is perhaps the most popular of those contemporary artists who have embraced the time-honored Japanese painting method of Nihonga. In many ways his work is also the most traditional… clearly rooted in the work of artists such as Utagawa Toyoharu (1735–1814):

Uemura Shōen (1875-1945):

… and Hashimoto Kansetsu (1883–1945):

Yasunari’s work also recalls the Japanese tradition of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Ukiyo-e of “The Floating World” described the urban lifestyle, especially the pleasure-seeking culture of depicted scenes of the brothels, tea-hoses, and theaters… a world populated by geisha, actors, soldiers, wrestlers, courtesans, and prostitutes. Like Yasunari’s work, Ukiyo-e prints were flush with images of beautiful women in beautiful clothing:

Suzuki Harunobu (1725 – 7 July 1770):

Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815):

… and especially Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753- 1806):

Yasunari’s warm palette echoes the colors of these earlier Ukiyo-e print-makers as well as their sensitivity to line, graphic “flatteness”, and rich patterns. 

Some commentators and critics have gone so far as to suggest a link between Yasunari’s work and William Morris…

… Art Nouveau…

… Edouard Vuillard…

… and even the iconic fashion illustrator of the 1980s, Patrick Nagel:

Of course there are similarities… but these are far more likely due to the fact that these Western artists were inspired by and building upon the same traditional Japanese sources as Yasunari. 

Watching Yasunari’s work develop has been quite thrilling… and when I consider the young age of the artist, I cannot help but imagine their is much inspired work to come. His most recent work exhibits a greater degree of decorative complexity… and even ambition. He is surely an artist to watch.