Usugrow

Usugrow started drawing in 1993 by creating punk rock flyers. Now, as well as still being hugely successful as a commercial designer for album covers, fashion brands & skate companies, the Japanese-born artist has been exhibiting his fine art in galleries all over the world and his black and white illustrations have become instantly recognizable. Heavily influenced by Los Angeles ‘Cholo’ style graffiti fused with the spiritual skills of Asian calligraphy.

In his work he very often beautifully portrays opposing elements such as delicate lines and unique lettering style, skulls and flowers, yin and yang and of course his palette of black ink on white paper. He believes that this is everyday life and living proof that these opposing elements can exist together.

http://www.usugrow.com/

Chiho Aoshima

In the past 10 years Chiho Aoshima has made quite a splash in the world of Japanese pop art. Her large scale fantasyscapes frequently depict surreal nature scenes incorporating images of young women and otherworldly beings. She has no formal art training, but is a master of her computerized techniques. Her technologically dependent style of image making falls directly in line with the Japanese pop art aesthetic, and her complex layering of color, culture, and cuteness combine to create truly enchanting and twisted views of the world.

Her work is printable on any surface; from canvas bags to giant wallpaper installations. “My work feels like strands of my thoughts that have flown around the universe before coming back to materialize,” Aoshima states.

Chiho Aoshima is a member of the Kaikai Kiki Collective of artists. http://english.kaikaikiki.co.jp/

Kenji Hirata

Kenji Hirata is a New York based painter from Nagasaki, Japan. In his paintings, he incorporates water, fire, metal, wood, and soil, fusing a complex narrative out of the five elements. Hirata moves confidently between compositions of layered density and vast areas of open fields and clean forms. In his words, his work "attempts to reveal something deep within the spirit of things." He is guided by the Buddhist idea that emptiness is everything eternal. He says his work engages in the world and attempts to reveal something deep within the spirit of things.

Hirata is an artist who creates work in an impressive variety of situations, from huge colourful public murals, to more personal paintings, from animated works for film to illustrations for books. Both his solo and collaborative works have demonstrated Hirata to be a well respected, innovative, and important member of the New York art and film communities including the Barnstormers.

The Barnstormers group came together after an encounter in Cameron, North Carolina, USA., in 1999 where they painted houses, tractors and miscellaneous agricultural equipment. Although, the artistic expressions they turn to are varied, this group experience gave them a taste for murals of great scale, which they continue to create.

Hirata has created large scale murals in public spaces in New York, Miami and Tokyo.