Biography

山口真人

Biography

Masato Yamaguchi / 山口真人

Yamaguchi started his career as an artist influenced by the music, fashion and design of Tokyo in the 90's. With the theme of "Trans-reality", he continues to question what reality is by painting "Cool & Cute" selfie characters. He is doing borderless activities such as collaborating with the apparel brand X-girl, ReZARD. His major solo exhibitions include "TRUEFALSE" (Tokyo 2023), "SELFY: Complete Edition" (Hongkong 2022), "stay pixelated" x MAKERS SPACE (Tokyo 2022), and "SELFY" (Tokyo 2021).

90年代東京の音楽・ファッション・デザインの影響を受けアーティストとして活動をする。「トランスリアリティ（現実の向こう側の現実）」をテーマに、SELFY（自撮り）をする女性をクールキュートに描き現実とは何かを問い続けている。アパレルブランドX-girl や Youtuber ヒカル, 初音ミクとのコラボレーションを行うなどボーダレスな活動をしている。主な個展に"REMIXED BY" x FUKI COMMITTEE ( Tokyo 2024), ”TRUEFALSE"( Tokyo 2023 ), "SELFY：完整版"( Hongkong 2022 )、"stay pixelated" x MAKERS SPACE ( Tokyo 2022) がある。



"Reality beyond the reality"

Contemporary art historian, Miwa Kutsuna　(@miwakutsuna) 

A girl holding a smartphone and tilting her head to look at the camera, or combining filters to create close-up of her face in a cute atmosphere, is reminiscent of the different but extremely unified web photos that are flooded on social networks. All the women in Yamaguchi's paintings feel as if you're traversing the line between the real and the virtual, as if you've met the people in the painting somewhere. As we have seen, the figures of young women appearing on social media with the same formulaic posture are, for Yamaguchi, a microcosm that reflects the existence of this era. Even if there are no specific characters or characters that the audience is familiar with, viewers can still involuntarily associate themselves or the people around them. There is a symbol of the era when Andy Warhol painted Marilyn Monroe in the past, and it can be said that it depicts what modern Asia imagined by people who transcend countries, languages, and even cultural backgrounds, and who are ambiguously shared. People all over the world are constantly connected on the Internet, to cross the boundaries between modern, real and virtual, and even to think, sometimes what is displayed on the monitor may be closer to reality than everything in front of them. Through his work, Masato Yamaguchi delicately captures everything you are sure to feel familiar with.
Kutsuna Miwa, a contemporary art historian, commented, "People cry over messages from far-flung chat apps, complacent over intricately adjusted selfies, and wildly unrealistic fascination with virtual idols. They are so common in our daily lives that it is difficult to call them fictional works. Yamaguchi, in the context of this trend, created works with the theme of "trans-reality" (reality beyond the reality), thereby continue to question reality.

「現実の向こう側の現実」

現代美術史家　沓名美和 (@miwakutsuna) 

山口真人が描く女性たちは皆、どこかで出会ったことがあるような既視感を抱かせる。スマートホンを片手にカメラ目線で首をかしげる姿や、フィルターを合成して可愛さを演出する顔のアップ、それらは日々、SNSに大量に流れてくる見知らぬ誰かの姿を連想させる。示し合わせたように同じようなポーズでSNSに登場する若い女性たちの姿は山口にとって時代を映す存在であり、モデルとなる特定の人物やキャラクターがなくとも、見る人は思わず自分や身近な誰かの姿を重ね、親近感を抱くに違いない。そこにはかつてアンディ・ウォーホルが描いたマリリン・モンローに通じる時代の象徴性があり、国や言語を超えて漠然と共有される現代アジアの姿そのものが描かれているといえるだろう。
世界中の人がインターネット上でつながり、絶え間なくSNSと接続する現代において、リアルとバーチャルの境界はますます曖昧になり、ときに目の前にあるものよりディスプレイに映るもののほうがリアリティを持つことを山口の感覚は実に繊細に捉えている。LINEのメッセージで泣いてしまうこと、加工したセルフィーへの自己愛、バーチャルアイドルへの本気の恋、それらは日常にありふれていてもはや虚構とはいいがたい。山口はそうした時代性を背景として「トランスリアリティ（現実の向こう側の現実）」をテーマに作品をつくることで、現実とは何かを問い続けている。

Biography

  • 1980 Born in Tokyo
  • 2003 Graduated School of Economics, The Hosei University.

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2023 "TRUEFALSE" ( SH GALLERY / Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2022 "SELFY：完整版" ( Cupper Space / Hongkong 2022 )
  • 2022 "stay pixelated" x MAKERS SPACE ( SH GALLERY / Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2021 "SELFY" ( SH GALLERY / Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2020 "Trans Reality#2 INTO MATERIAL" ( GINZA TAKAGI BUILDING / Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2019 "Trans Reality#1 Digital Objects"( Turner Gallery / Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2019 "Prologue of Trans Reality"( H.P.FRANCE WINDOW GALLERY / Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2016 "MADE IN TOKYO"( Gallery Onetwentyeight / NYC, US )
  • 2015 "MADE IN TOKYO"( Gallery Speak For / Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2014 "Plastic Painting"( Gallery Speak For / Tokyo, Japan )

Curation

  • “Art fEAr Tokyo” ( SH GALLERY / Tokyo, Japan)
  • “TRANSREALITYSHOW 0.2: FOR THE PLACE FUZZY AND NEW” (WWW.TRANSREALITY.IO )

Award

  • 2019 Grand Prix INDEPENDENT TOKYO 2019

Group Exhibitions

  • 2023 “NEO JAPAN POPART” ( Art Space Helutrans, Singapore )
  • 2023 "Art Fair Tokyo 2023" Tokyo International Forum ( Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2023 "Study：Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival 2023" ( Osaka, Japan )
  • 2022 "ART TAIPEI" Taipei World Trade Center ( Taipei, Taiwan )
  • 2022 "二次元派" HILLSIDE FORUM ( Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2022 "ART BUSAN 2022" BEXCO 1 ( BUSAN, KOREA )
  • 2022 "Art Fair Tokyo 2022" Tokyo International Forum ( Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2021 "BREAK IN EMERGENCY2" JM Gallery ( London, UK )
  • 2021 "JAPANESE GROUP SHOW" Gallery Jo Yana ( Marseille, France )
  • 2021 "ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2021" HAKATA HANKYU ( Fukuoka, Japan )
  • 2021 "スマホの方が現実" HIKARIE /8 CUBE1,2,3 ( Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2020 "HOMMAGE" Sansiao Gallery ( Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2020 "SHIGERU AOI ART COLLECTION" COURTYARD HIROO ( Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2020 "TAGBOAT x HYAKUDANKAIDAN" GAJOEN ( Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2020 "HILLS ZINE" ROPPONGI HILLS A/D GALLERY ( Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2019 "Emerging Tokyo" White Box ( NYC, US)
  • 2019 "INDEPENDENT TOKYO2019" HULIC CONFERENCE ( Tokyo, Japan)
  • 2016 "FridGe ART FAIR NYC" Angel Orensanz Foundation ( NYC, US)
  • 2013 "SCOPE MIAMI BEARCH 2013"( Miami, US)
  • 2013 "TOKYO FANTASY" MITSUKOSHI GALLERY ( Ginza, Japan )
  • 2012 "Affordable Art Fair" The Tunnel, Chelsea ( New York )
  • 2009 "GEISAI #12" Tokyo Big Site ( Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2008 "FUTURE ACADEMIC 1" Caspers Gallery ( Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2006 "Snow Fort 06" Gallery Hibiya ( Tokyo, Japan )
  • 2006 "現代的談話室" with Megumi Hirose SevenPoint ( Oita ,Japan )
  • 2008 “Anecy Animated Film Festival 05” ( France )
  • 2004 "DOTMOV Festival" Soso Cafe ( Sapporo, Japan )

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