Yoh Nagao

Starting with a solo exhibition in Hong Kong in 2009, he has exhibited his works in Switzerland, London, France, Berlin, New York, Spain, Tokyo, Miami, Los Angeles, Mexico, and other places around the world. Received an honorable mention in the collage section of the Urban Art Award (France). He is active globally, holding workshops to foster young people around the world and creating murals. In 2017, he returned from Berlin, Germany, where he had been based for five years, and is currently active in Japan and overseas based in his atelier in the suburbs of Nagoya.

He creates works by collaging photos cut out from fashion magazines and different materials such as cloth and shoelaces, and then layering paintings with acrylic paints and markers. The theme is the relationship between Japanese ancestors and modern people. Materials are purchased on Amazon and printed on a copy machine at a convenience store. The themes are demons, lion dances, tengu, and other idols that have long been handed down in local beliefs throughout Japan. Fashion icons are collaged there. Here, there is a sense of crisis that the economy and global events are forced to take place due to the corona crisis, while local festivals and ceremonies are forced to be canceled or postponed, and history and traditions are fading. From there, materialism and mammonism spread, and in an age of rapid change, what can we leave behind for our future descendants? I ask.