Daruma Veliki , akrilik i list platine na platnu postavljenom na ploču “Daruma The Great”, acrylic and platinum leaf on canvas mounted on board
Rekao bih da je Pikaso bio umetnik koji je dao oblik radosti, dok su Van Gog i Munk oličili tugu. Ja uglavnom patim i žalim život dok stvaram
I would say that Picasso was an artist who gave form to joy, while Van Gogh and Munch embodied sorrow. In my case, more often than not I’m suffering and lamenting life while I create
ist was utterly unnecessary in the Ameri- can and Western European contemporary art world. I came up with the catchphrase Superflat after desperately thinking of a way to make Japanese contemporary art relevant and necessary when it was con- sidered inconsequential. Your art exudes with joy, but address- es serious phenomena of the mod- ern world, such as sexual fetishism. Are you sure that the public can un- derstand that? - Compared to when I was a child, where you draw the line between mor- al and immoral behaviour has now shift- ed considerably. So, I think moral values will continue to change: I wonder wheth- er what is considered immoral now may seem like nothing in a few decades. What is the main characteristic of contemporary art? - Appreciating contemporary art re- quires distinctive grammar. This grammar
but then I wonder if you would get killed when you change the world too drasti- cally. I can only think at this childish level. Is art still considered as having reached its end? - In Japan it hasn’t even begun, so I was surprised to hear that some people consider that it has ended. What are the reasons for your partic- ipation in Belgrade’s October Salon? - When I worked with Gunnar Kvaran in the past, I enjoyed the experience, so I was happy to work with him again. There are many curators out there who only cu- rate to satisfy their own ambitions, some of whom have completely turned me off. But Gunnar is great: he is very patient and willing to understand what is at the bot- tom of an artist’s creative expression, he has the political savvy to effectively navi- gate the gap between the museum and the artist, he is even-handed, has a big heart and great mind.
doesn’t fit well in Japan and therefore not many people really un- derstand contemporary art. But each coun- try has various common cultures within. For example, the grammar of Japanese manga may sometimes be difficult for the Western audience to grasp; especially in the past ten years, literary manga has been hard to comprehend. Do you expect to change the world and in which way should it be changed? - I think there are times when art can change the world, like John Lennon did,
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