HISASHI TENMYOUYA (JAPAN, B. 1966)

Hisashi Tenmyouya is a self-taught artist, who invented a new genre of 'neo-nihonga.' This movement revives the deflated nostalgia of 'Japan-ness,' which is lost in the global socio-political and economic dynamics of modernity. Consistently rebelling on the politics of modernity that create exigencies for unique individualism, Tenmyouya reinvents Gundam into RX078-2 Kabuki-mono 2005 Version (Lot 200). Kabuki-mono was known as masterless samurais, notorious for their odd clothing, distinctive hair style and their long swords. They rebelled against local authorities and terrorised their surroundings. The gold leaf as a base backdrop illuminates the honourable and divine existence of RX078-2 Kabuki-mono 2005 Version with light glistening off the surface in majestic scale, standing as a shrine for glorification and worship. The quiet compelling aura of this painting speaks multivalent volumes of Tenmyouya's societal and political concerns for contemporary Japan.