Capturing supernatural beings who inhabit our world
" Signs in the City "
BY BRUCE HELANDER
Almost every culture seems to have its own version of the celebrated papyrus Dead Sea scrolls, which were discovered in the dry Judean desert caves of an ancient settlement in the West Bank. These rare, invaluable documents allowed histo- rians and scholars to piece fragments of the past together, providing great historical, religious and linguistic significance. As early as 50,000 BC, during the end of the Paleolithic era, there is clear evidence of primitive people recording their aspirations and traditions on cave walls in caricature cartoon fashion, which were among the very first communicative “storytelling” graffiti and whose primary purpose was to share information through invention and imagination. These early tribes often would illustrate a veritable parade of human subjects and spirits, along with a circus of beasts, from bison to tigers to hybrid or exaggerated fantasy animals that offered archaeologists clues to these ancient civilizations, and in some cases to their daily lives. As mankind developed more sophisticated alternatives to recognizable scratches and carv- ings on interior cave walls and outdoors on flat rocks, the secretive drawings became a permanent form of interaction, from the gold-embellished illustrated manuscripts of biblical times to the comic strips published in early newspapers. Many societies around the world have offered mythical fairies of all types and varieties. Chinese legends portrayed grotesque creatures, and Japanese fairy tales are saturated with super- natural beings known as yokai. Many of these mischievous spirits have become popular characters, such as hitotsume kozō (one-eyed goblins) or konaki-jijii, who misleads people by imitating the familiar sound of crying babies, and still other yokai appear as bizarre phenomena, whose popularity has found their way into frightening fairy tales, animated films and full-length feature films. This intriguing subject joins other significant categories of picture-making that for centuries served as a resourceful method of connecting and preserving traditional fables.
Takashi Taruya Exhibition Art Book
" art-icle " Japanese Art & Culture Monthly
Takashi TARUYA Exhibition
YOKAI ◆ Tsukumogami
Takashi TARUYA, who just had a sensational debut last November, and on the fi rst day,
he sold almost all the pieces in his fi rst solo-exhibition, the second solo-exhibition was soon scheduled.
The Exhibition Director: Taisuke Morishita / Producer: Ayumi Katsuyama (Bunkajin Production)
Recently specters are booming in the United States and the word Yokai has been introduced as English like the words Otaku and Kawaii. An exhibition of Shigeru Mizuki held in Washington two years ago was also well-received; however, Takashi TARUYA’s fi rst solo-exhibition in last November, artworks were almost sold out on the fi rst day. The exhibition was echoed from foreign countries as well, and an art magazine in New York, COOL has featured TARUYA and used his artwork for the magazine cover. The charm of “TARUYA’S YOKAI” is becoming widespread both internally and internationally. Tsukumogami is the gods that reside in old tools and domestic animals. Since the artist thought they are exactly the specters of ecology, he brought Tsukumogami from traditional paintings to modern lives as Yokai, with his own special viewpoint and techniques. In respect of gold leaves referred as “TARUYA’S GOLD”, his technique such as the color uses, pasting method of gold leaf to the coating that increases the glitter of the leaf, has exceeded the level as a painting and literally reached the level as a craftwork.
Takashi TARUYA 1974 Born in Kagoshima / 1997 Graduated from Kyoto University of Art and Design, Department of Art / Since his student days, he has executed enormous mural and ceiling painting both in domestic and overseas. His creation of magnifi cent artworks produced with his unique color sense has a great response / 2009 Held the fi rst solo-exhibition at GINZA ART LAB as a painter who inherits the world view of animism that is continuously handed down orally among painters from ancient times. Has attracted attention in and outside the country as “TARUYA’S YOKAI” and “YOKAI ARTIST”.
" COOL " BiLingual Art Magazine
interview with Takashi TARUYA
Japanese hobgoblins / spirits / supernatural beings have attracted considerable attention in the U.S. and a Japanese word for hobgoblins, “Yokai,” has also gradually gained popularity in English just like “Otaku” and “Kawaii.” Following the success of the solo exhibition of Shigeru Mizuki, a Yokai painter, in New York, a new Yokai artist had a debut in Ginza Art Lab in Tokyo and gained attention from public.
COOL Magazine: Your works feature many “Tsukumogami,” a type of Yokai originating from artifacts. Is there a reason for your choice?
Takashi TARUYA: Japanese people used to believe in Ko-shinto, the original Shinto practice and a type of animism, which tells that any item would acquire spirit when a certain amount of time passes. Such an item with spirit is called “Tsukumogami” and became an object of worship. I think such practice developed as a result of the combination of morals such as, “treat tools and domestic animals with care,” and the appreciation to tools and domestic animals. It can be seen as a forerunner of the ecology movement of the present day.
C: When items are used with care for 100 years, they become “Tsukumogami.”
T: Yes.
C: You also features Yokai of modern age such as Tsukumogami of a deli and vending machine. What is your intention in such modern Yokai?
T: Many artists have been describing Tsukumogami for hundreds of years, and I wanted to join this tradition. And I thought Tsukumogami today would appear in urban environment.
C: I think that this modern-day mass production/mass consumption society is the result of madness of the American-led global economy. Do you intend to draw Tsukumogami to warn of the status of this present-day economics?
T: I’m not saying, “Don’t be a part of mass consumption.” Rather, I suggest to people ways to use goods wisely without wasting and with recycling. That’s why I draw Tsukumogami not as a fearful god but as a friendly and humorous spirit.
C: You studied oil painting at Kyoto University of Art and Design. You have been working on wall paintings, and this time, you had a debut as a fine artist at Ginza Art Lab. You have various approaches for painting. Why did you choose Nihonga, J a p a n e s e - s t y l e paintings?
T: When I worked with wall paintings in New Zealand and Australia, I drew We s t e r n - s t y l e paintings. But people in those countries asked me why I did not draw in a Japanese style, and I began to think about my Japanese identity. Since two years ago, I have always thought of bringing Japanese pictures and cultures into my art.
C: I think your work is a modern art version of “Hyakki Yagyou,” the night parade of a hundred spirits. “Hyakki Yagyou” is a folk tale that took place on Ichijo Street in Kyoto. It is a story of a man who witnessed a parade of Yokai at around 2 o’clock at night.
T: Ichijo Street has always been a street of tool shops, and the abandoned used tools from this street were carried into nowfamous flea markets in To-ji temple and Kitano Tenmangu temple. From this time on, the artists included Tsukumogami in the paintings of Hyakki Yagyou.
C: Do you have any relationship with Kyoto other than your university?
T: Kyoto is my hometown. My relatives live there.
C: I think the spiritual center of Japanese art has always been in Kyoto, even though its physical center has moved to Tokyo ever since Meiji era. For the past century and a half, Japanese art has developed in Tokyo by absorbing Western culture, and as a result, modern art in Tokyo seems to have reached its limit. Do you think it is possible that a new wave will arise from Kyoto? Your work is successful at relating its structure to these of Soutatsu and Kourin of the Rimpa school. At the same time, your twodimensional and traditional painting structure is in the context of contemporary art. How do you think about Takashi Murakami’s “Superflat?”
T: When I lived abroad, I felt that my existence was very small. If I couldn’t have acquired any skill, I wouldn’t be able to survive in the world. I think “Superflat” was born out of Tokyo culture, and I have no relation to it. My identity as Japanese is in Kyoto.
C: The letters you draw in your paintings such as “Yokai” and “Tsukumogami Yagyouzu” are written in the exact ratio and balance whether it is small or large. This is also because of your training?
T: Yes, I also studied the lettering when I was in high school. I practiced drawing letters and lines every single day.
C: You drew those accurate 70-cm straight lines, curves, and circles without a ruler or a compass.
T: My family was very poor during my childhood in Kagoshima. I used to go to the beach to eat seaweed. When I was in high school, I realized that I needed to acquire skill to earn money, so I worked for a sign painter. I was not thinking about art school at that time. The reason why I can draw straight lines and circles without a tool is due to the training at a sign painter’s.
C: It is great to see your childhood experience in your artwork at present. Compared to your works, the works of other “former art school students” look fluffy and lack the power of persuasion.
T: I wish I could be a fluffy art student. C: You also pay great attention to materials. You use a genuine gold leaf from a wellestablished shop in Kyoto. I’ve heard it was very difficult for you to have a connection with this shop. T: In Kyoto’s red-light district, there was a high-class Japanese restaurant called “Ocha-ya,” and upon the customer’s wish, they let Geisha come and play with the customers there. But in reality such a thing rarely happened, since Kyoto merchants had a philosophy that they did not do business with a new comer. Such philosophy was commonly shared among Kyoto merchants, and that might have been a reason why I had such difficulty purchasing gold leaf in the beginning. Historically such a philosophy was developed among Kyoto merchants in order to protect their regular customers. I could eventually buy gold leaf through the referral from my friend, and since then I have often visited the shop just for greetings. By the way, I intend not to paste gold leaf uniformly or cleanly on my works. I place an importance in accidental lines and scratches as well as yellowing and oxidation due to moisture in the air, an attitude that parallels what I’ve learned from Kyoto merchant’s philosophy. My gold leaf shines as a result of these efforts.
" COOL " BiLingual Art Magazine
" The YOKAI ART of Takashi TARUYA"
art critic Taisuke Morishita
Just over seven years ago, I was researching reproductions of artistic masterpieces. During my research, I became aware of an artist who was creating twenty to thirty meter wall paintings in Osaka. The paintings so perfectly resembled Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" and Michelangelo's "Sistine Chapel" that it seemed as if the original artists were actually in Japan. In fact, it was the work of Takashi Taruya. He began to work on wall paintings while still attending the Kyoto University of Art and Design, and thus lived by his brush for over ten years. Now, fully developed as an artist, Taruya has made his artistic debut. In the Japanese written language, the characters for drawing a painting referred to a picture. That is to say, looked at from the western idea of 'Painting,' which is the modern meaning of art, the Japanese phrase contains a strong implication of copying a picture that already exists. Taruya seems to be a part of this traditional Japanese idea of painting. Taruya expresses his identity through 'Tsukumogami,' which are a part of the Yokai, or spirits, of Japanese animisim, and the hundreds of years of history and tradition of these creatures in Japanese art deepen the meaning of his work. Most famous amongst Japanese art using Tsukumogami are "The Night Parade of a Hundred Spirits" picture scrolls by Mitsunobu Tosa in the Daitokuji and Shinjuan temples of Kyoto. The myth of the Tsukumogami originally comes from the tale that the spirits of household items over 100 years old would rise up by night and parade along Kyoto's Ichijou Street. There are many different types of Yokai in Japan, but the Tsukumogami that Taruya draws are not demons, devils, or ghosts, but a kind of god in Japan. "The Night Parade of a Hundred Spirits" scrolls that can be seen at Daitokuji date from the Muromachi period (1336-1573), but, according to research, Mitsunobu himself copied the images from an already existing work. Therefore, the Tsukumogami must date back even further, to the Kamakura era (1185-1333), or even the earlier Heian era (794-1185). According to recent research, a scroll at the International Center for Japanese Cultural Research is even closer to the original than the one at Shinjuan Temple. Regardless, the Yokai have roots tracing back to rituals of ancient Shinto involving deceased spirits and communion with the gods. In the Heian period, when worship was entrusted to special priests, Abe-no-Seimei created a picture scroll called "Fudouriyakuengi," (14th century, in display at the Tokyo National Museum) as a part of his work as such a priest. In the work, Seimei uses a Shinto prayer to stop demons, gods, and even a group of gods of plagues from doing evil. Since Kyoto is such an important location in the history of Yokai, this runs through Taruya's blood. Therefore, his DNA is naturally programmed to lead him toward this part of Japan in his art. Two reasons why Taruya is unique amongst modern artists are explained below. First, he is aware of himself as the next in a long line of artists, tracing back through the Meiji, Edo, Momoyama, Muromachi, and Kamakura eras, who have drawn the same Tsukumogami. In this way, he is pulling back from the unusual direction Takashi Murakami took in his own art. With Japanese art as a base, Murakami developed his 'super-flat' style, which merges the use of outlines to control space so central to Japanese art and manga with the pop sensibility of Frank Stella and Roy Liechtenstein and the concrete objects of Donald Judd. That is to say, where Murakami's work expounds upon Japanese art by melding American images with Japanese anime, Taruya's art follows naturally from traditional Japanese picture scrolls, books, caricature, and ukiyoe (an art style which attempted to depict the ephemeral nature of life). However, with the current popularity of anime, his work automatically brings pop culture to mind. For this reason, Taruya's works are often read as giving the art of Sharaku and Hokusai, or the portrait of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, the same treatment that Andy Warhol gave to European art. The thesis of art historian Tsuji Nobuo's "Genealogy of the Peculiar," that the essence of Japanese art is that modern manga is the same as traditional 'Giga,' or caricature, justifies this interpretation. In this postmodern age of information, the historically different visions of art of the east and the west have dissolved and merged, making it possible for Taruya's work to be both deeply steeped in tradition and a product of the modern age. Second is the issue of the Tsukumogami. The idea that a household item that lasts a hundred years becomes a god ties into an important sense of beauty cultivated in Japan. The value of holding even an ordinary item dear, and taking such good care of it, ties in to the modern value of ecology. Also, in polytheistic Asia, from deep in the past until the present, gods like this have been living side by side along with people. Taruya's Tsukumogami parade through a scene of a convenience store and a vending machine, a gas station, or ultrahip Shibuya because they want to send a message to our modernmass product ion, massconsumption society. And that message is a warning to us from the gods.
" art-icle " Japanese Art & Culture Monthly
Takashi Taruya
The old tools change to a god after a long time. And they confuse people’s heart. They are called Tsukumogami.
自然環境保護と付喪神( つくもがみ ) Ecological God Tsukumogami 自らを「黄金の国に生まれた貧乏児」と称す樽屋タカシが、金箔画に 魅了されるまでには多くの時間と経 験が費やされた。毎日のように借金 取りが土足で家に上がり込む子供時 代を過ごし、空腹を満たすために海 岸からワカメと貝を集めたり、水道 や電気を止められるのも日常茶飯時。 必然的にハングリー精神を養った樽 屋は、必死で手に職を求めるように 美大に入るが、もうその頃から、国 内外で店舗内装を中心とする巨大壁 画や天井画の制作を職業として営む ようになり、その独自の色彩感覚に よる壮大な空間作品づくりが大反響 を呼ぶ。 さまざまな国で制作を繰り返して いくうちに、樽屋は日本人としての アイディンティティーを何度も追求 され、森羅万象には八 やおよろず 百万の神が宿 るとするアニミズム的な世界観「古神道」を精神的ルーツとする自国を 客観的に見つめるようになる。「需 要と供給が成り立つ一方、進まない 自然保護への意識レベルの低下。」こ れが外から見た黄金の国と言われた ジパングの姿であった。この頃から、 樽屋は日本古来の伝承文化とそこに 宿る精神への探求をはじめ、日本の 輝かしい伝承文化である金箔にも手 を出すようになる。 「付 つくもがみ 喪神」とは、年月を経た道具や 家畜に宿るとされる神々のことで、 人々に畏怖の念を抱かせ、ものを大 切にする精神に立ち返らせてくれる 存在。人間の欲求によって大量の資 源消費を繰り返してきた今、付喪神 たちに学ぶものがあると思い、室町 時代より絵師達が繰り返し模写して きた伝承を、樽屋は独自の視点と、自 然環境保護にまで配慮した技法で現 代に蘇らせた。 パネルは、大気汚染の原因となる 準揮発性有機化合物（TVOC）1% 未 満の接着剤を使った木製の総桐パネ ルで、作品を長く楽しんでもらうた めに表面湿布するコーティング材に は、天然ヒノキチール配合の水性エ コ塗料を使用。金箔は贅沢に2回重 ね、意図的に均等かつ綺麗に貼らな いようにして、年月を経たかのよう な趣をだしている。
本展ディレクション Ginza Art Lab ／プロデューサー 勝山亜唯美（文化人プロダクション）
" art-icle " Japanese Art & Culture Monthly
ARTcollectors'-動物から妖怪まで大集合-
" KWAI " YOKAI Magazine
21世紀の妖怪絵師 ー樽屋タカシの妖怪画図ー
異形の付喪神や鬼たちが愉快なパレードの如く さんざ喚きながら、巫山戯(ふざけ)、飛び跳ね、駆けまわる・・・ 百鬼夜行図は室町時代から連綿と描きつづけられてきた。 文明開化と街灯に追い払われた、暗闇と妖怪たちだが 無念の妖怪絵師の筆が九十九年を経て魂を得たのか 妖怪絵巻の伝統を継ぐ絵師が、超新星のように画壇に現れた。 現代の百鬼夜行図、付喪神夜行図を描く樽屋タカシの新作を紹介する。
個展はこの春で三回目ですが、すべて妖怪を描いたものばかりです。とはいえ、僕としてはそれぞれテーマがあるんです。
最初の個展は妖怪と向き合って描きました。妖怪は一種の神だと僕は思っているので、神を扱う仕事をするからにはと、絵の中に神を宿すことに集中したんです。目が妖怪にしか向いていませんでしたね。
なので、昨年の個展ではなにか違うことをやろうと。それで、妖怪の絵巻物に出逢えたことをイカすために、現代の自分にできる百鬼夜行図、付喪神図を描こうと思って街の風景を取り入れました。 数年前まではプロの画家になろうなんて大それたことは考えませんでした。ただ、小さい頃から絵が大好きで、チラシの裏に家族や友だち、故郷の鹿児島の海や山を描いていました。毎日飽きずに描きまくっていたからか、僕にはとにかく「絵」しかないという自覚が芽生えたと思います。絵を描きつづけていたい、自の妄想の世界にただ浸っていたいという気持ちです。
高校、大学と絵が評価されて、推薦で合格できましたが、裕福でなかったこともあって、僕には「生活」するということが、大きな問題でした。自分には「絵」しかない。だが、美大とはいえ、アーティストになれるのはほんの一握り。でも、「絵」から離れたくない。出した結論が、「職人」でした。「街の看板屋さん」もいいなと。とにかく「絵を描く」生活がしたかった。それと、裕福でないのに美大に行かせてくれた父に納得してもらいたかったんです。
だから、レタリングやデザインも勉強しました。フリーハンドで直線も真円も描けます。絵で食べるために、「描く技術」を身につけ、「ものを見る目」を養うことに専念した学生時代です。
妖怪とつきあうようになったのは京都の美大(京都造形芸術大)に入ったことが縁かもしれません。作品にしたのは最初の個展からです。日本人の伝統を僕なりに受け継ぎ、表現するための妖怪です。 きっかけは、在学中、海外で天井画を描く仕事を頼まれ、西洋画を描いたら、「おまえは日本人なのに、なぜこんな絵を描くんだ」と言われたこと。日本の「絵描き職人」としてのアイデンティティとはなんだろうと考えました。それで卒業制作に浮世絵を選んだんです。でも、二十一世紀に生きている僕が描くのだから、江戸の浮世絵を模倣してもつまらないでしょう。そこで、ラッカー塗料で描いてみました。浮世絵を看板風にてかてかにしてみたら面白いかと狙ったんです。
妖怪画も同じ流れのなかで描いていますが、真珠庵本の百鬼夜行の作者だという土佐光信ならどう描くだろうといつも考えています。数ある百鬼夜行絵巻のな蚊でも、僕はアレが一番好きなんです。妖怪たちが生き生きとしていますからね。先輩絵師への尊敬もありますが、伝承していくことに意味があると思っているので、僕は妖怪の姿形は崩していません。ただ、もし土佐光信がいまの時代にいたら、コンビニやガソリンスタンドやらの現代の町の風景を取り入れるだろうと思うんです。もともと百鬼夜行が現れたのは京都の市中なのですから。 妖怪絵巻は当時の絵本だったのではないでしょうか。だから、描き継がれてきたのだと思います。ということは僕の百鬼夜行も、子供にも伝わるものにしないと描く意味がないし伝承もされない。誰もが見入ってしまう絵を描きたいですね。 昨年の個展で、多くの人たちに見ていただいてわかったのですが、みなさん妖怪に対して怖がったり、神様みたいに崇めたりと、プラスもマイナスもいろいろな印象をもっているんですね。だから、妖怪はちゃんと扱わないといけない、自分の分身じゃありませんが、キャラクター化してはいけないと気づきました。それもあって、妖怪には室町期の姿のままで活躍していただいているわけです。 でも、その舞台は現代。背景になるものは、今の時代を象徴するものですね。ハイブリット車とか太陽光発電などのエコ的なものや、コンピューターやスマートフォンなどの再先端商品。流行と付喪神たちで、今の時代を後の世に伝えたいんです。 いつか僕の作品も土佐光信たちと並んで平成の百鬼夜行図となるかもしれない、と想像すると、うれしくなります。 前二回の個展では百鬼夜行から付喪神だけを抜き出した作品だったのですが、今度は一連の絵巻のように長く続くものをお目にかけます。六場面で構成された平成版「百鬼夜行図」の連作です。三回目でようやくです。まだ土佐光信は遠い存在ですけど、僕も妖怪絵師の１人として、この先も伝承と進化を重ねていこうと思います。まずは、見て楽しんでいただけたらと思っています。 それと個人的なことになるのですが、ずっと好きなことをやらせてくれた父には感謝しています。絵の職人から作家になって個展をやろうと決めたのも、絵を描いてきた自分の成果を父に見てもらいたかったことが大きな理由です。完売したと報告したら、「おまえの絵がなぜ売れるのかわからん」といいながらも喜んでくれました。老齢で、からだの調子もよくないので、東京までは出てこれそうもありませんが、絵を描くことで恩返しできたらと思っているんです。