# Tenmyouya Hisashi

Tenmyouya Hisashi (天明屋尚, born 1966 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese contemporary artist.
Tenmyouya's unique style, he calls Neo-Nihonga, revives Japanese traditional painting as a contemporary art. In 2000 he also created the new-style "Butouha" which resists the authoritative art system through his painting.
In 2010 he proposed a new Japanese art scheme named "Basara" which is extravagant and extraordinary and embodies a Samurai aesthetic like "Basara" in the Nanboku dynasty era and Kabuki-mono at the end of the Sengoku era.

## Neo Nihonga (Neo Japanese-style painting)

"Neo Japanese-style painting" is an art concept founded by Tenmyouya Hisashi in 2001. It is the antithesis of a modern Japanese-style painting. He thinks a modern Japanese-style painting whose role as an opposite concept of a modern Western-style painting ended keeps to traditional painting materials such as mineral pigments, glue and ink. On the other hand, Neo Japanese-style painting uses modern media like acrylic paint while retaining features of the Japanese art style. As for subjects, it quotes traditional Japanese essence to make real Japanese contemporary art.
Neo Japanese-style painting is a suggestion, inspecting the concept of "modern Japanese-style painting" which was made and twisted artificially in the Meiji era. It offers yet another possibility for a Japanese contemporary art history.
Moreover, in Neo Japanese-style painting, classic Japanese paintings and styles before the Meiji period are respected and modernized. In short, Neo Japanese-style painting takes the spirit of Ukiyo-e and other Japanese classic painting and develops them further.

## Basara

"Basara" is an art concept which Tenmyouya developed in 2010. The term "Basara" refers to the family of beauty that with innovative unprecedented beauty, includes the basara of the Nanbokucho Period, the kabukimono of the end of the Warring States Period, the ukiy-o-eshi of the end of the Edo period and Japanese recent youth culture with bad and decorative (kitsch) tastes. He regards the culture as standing on the opposite end of the spectrum from wabi sabi and is incompatible with Otaku culture. Also with this aspect he aims to connect Japanese culture and history more directly to make an original Japanese art story.
As for "Basara", he deliberately avoids being too introvert since he thinks of it as a weakness of Japanese art and often quotes Japanese historical elements. Indeed, Basara covers a wide range, referencing ancient culture, samurai culture and contemporary Japanese youth culture. Especially, Basara focuses on today's street culture as well as samurai culture at the end of the Warring States Period or the end of the Edo period which has been considered low culture for a long time.

## Influences

Avant-garde artist, theorist and intellectual Tarō Okamoto (b.1911) once separated Japanese art into the two categories of "Yayoi-like" art characterized by grace and delicate features, and "Jomon-like" art characterized by dynamic and innovative features. The term "Basara" is an adopted and developed version of Taro's concept of "Jomon-like" art, which is excessive in beauty yet innovative. Implicitly Tenmyouya's art criticizes a conservative attitude which just receives an established value blindly and avoids taking a risk for new, unique things.

## Publishing

Tenmyouya published an art book BASARA Japanese art theory crossing borders: from Jomon pottery to decorated trucks, which has more details along with lavish photos and both Japanese and English texts.

## Personal life

He currently lives and works in Saitama, Japan and is represented by the Mizuma Art Gallery in Tokyo.

## Selected solo exhibitions

* " Japanese Spirit " at Harajuku Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2000
* " Tenmyouya Hisashi Exhibition " at PROGETTO (Tokyo, Japan), 2001
* " NEO Japanese Paintings " at Depot (Tokyo, Japan), 2002
* " Gakyo " at Nadiff (Tokyo, Japan), 2003
* " Tenmyouya Hisashi " at the reed spase.(New York, U.S.A), 2003
* " Kabuku " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2003
* " Deceptive Spirits of the Mountains and Rivers " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2004
* " Bunshin " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2005
* " MADE IN JAPAN " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2006
* " NEO Japanese Paintings " at Roppongi hills art design store space A+D (Tokyo, Japan), 2007
* " Fighting Spirit " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2008
* " FURYU - EXTRAVAGANT " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2009
* " G-tokyo 2011" Mori arts center gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2011
* " Rhyme " at Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), 2012
* " Rough Sketch and Print " at TENGAI GALLERY (Tokyo, Japan), 2013
* " Process through to the original - Sketch" Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery(Tokyo, Japan),2014
* " Rhyme II " Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan),2014
* " Ippitsu-Nyuukon Exhibition" Parco Museum (Tokyo, Japan),2014

## Selected group exhibitions

* " One Planet under a Groove : Hip Hop and Contemporary Art " Bronx Museum (New York, U.S.A), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, U.S.A), traveled to Spellman College Art Museum (Atlanta, U.S.A), Museum Villa Stuck (Munich, Germany), 2001
* " Kyosai plus one, Kawanabe Kyosai and Tenmyouya Hisashi " Kawanabe Kyosai Memorial Museum (Saitama, Japan),2002
* " 6th Exhibition of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art " Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki (Kanagawa, Japan), 2003
* " The American Effect - Global Perspective on the United States, 1990-2003 " Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, U.S.A), 2003
* " Japan : Rising " Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art (Florida, U.S.A), 2003
* " Astonishment house house exhibit space" PARCO Museum(Tokyo, Japan), 2004
* " Asian Invitationa " Frey Norris Gallely (San Francisco,U.S.A), 2004
* " GUNDAM, Generating Futures " Suntory Museum (Osaka, Japan), traveled to The Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo, Japan), Sendai Mediatheque (Miyagi, Japan), traveled to Kawara Museum (Aichi, Japan), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo (Hokkaido, Japan),Generating Futures " Kyoto International Manga Museum (Kyoto, Japan), 2005
* " MOT Annual, " Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan), 2006
* " Berlin - Tokyo " Neue Nationalgalerie (Berlin, Germany), 2006
* " HEROES IN WARRIOR PAINTINGS " Nagano Prefectural Shinano Art Museum (Nagano, Japan), 2007
* " neoteny Japan " Kirishima Open-Air Museum(Kagoshima,Japan), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo (Hokkaido, Japan),Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo (Hokkaido, Japan),The Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo, Japan),The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art(Niigata, Japan), Akita Museum of Modern Art(Akita,Japan),Yonago City Museum of Art (Totutoriken, Japan), The Museum of Art, Ehime (Ehime, Japan), 2008
* " Go Game, Beijing! " German embassy(China,Beijing), 2008
* " Vision of East Asian 2008 " national library exhibition room in China(China,Beijing), Fine Art Hall of Henan Art Centre(China,Zhengzhou), 2008
* " AIDA Makoto+TENMYOUYA Hisashi+YAMAGUCHI Akira" Takahashi Collection Hibiya (Tokyo, Japan), 2010
* " 17th Biennale of Sydney " (Sydney,Australia), 2010
* " BASARA " Spiral Garden(Tokyo, Japan), 2010
* " TDW-ART JALAPAGOSU Exhibition " Meiji Jingu Gaien(Tokyo, Japan), 2010
* " SugiPOP! " Portsmouth Museum of Art(New Hampshire, U.S.A), 2010
* " Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art" japansociety(New York, U.S.A), 2011
* " Request top 30 — Step of the past 10 years " Takahashi Collection TABLOID GALLERY(Tokyo, Japan), 2011
* " ZIPANG " Nihonbashi Takashimaya(Tokyo, Japan),Osaka Takashimaya(Osaka, Japan),KyotoTakashimaya(Kyoto, Japan),The Nigata Bandaijima Art Museum (Nigata, Japan),Talasaki Museum of Art (gunma, Japan), 2011
* " Taguchi Art Collection GLOBAL NEW ART " Sompo Japan Museum of Art(Tokyo, Japan), 2011
* " JALAPAGOSU Exhibition " Mitsubishi-Jisho Artium(Fukuoka, Japan), 2011
* " TDW-ART ITO JAKUCHU INSPIRED " Meiji Jingu Gaien(Tokyo, Japan), 2012
* " Wonderful my art - Artists of the Takahashi collection " KAWAGUCHIKO MUSEUM OF ART(Yamanashi, Japan), 2013
* " Ikeda Manabu and Tenmyouya Hisashi " Chazen Museum of Art(Madison, U.S.A), 2013
* " Soccer exhibition - Whereabouts of the image" Urawa Art Museum(Saitama, Japan),2014
* " Taguchi Art Collection TAG-TEN" Matsumoto City Museum of Art(Nagano, Japan),2014
* " Garden of Unearthly Delights: Works by Ikeda, Tenmyouya & teamlab" Japan Society (New York, USA),2014
* " Winners of the Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art" Taro Okamoto Museume of Art (Kanagawa, Japan),2014

## Awards

* 11th Japan Graphic Exhibition, Winning judge Prize, 1990
* JACA'97, Winning special prize, 1997
* URBANART#8, Winning Lichtex Prize, 1999
* 8th Lichtex Biennale, Winning encouragement Prize, 2001
* 6th Exhibition of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art "Winning excellent prize, 2003
* The only Japanese artist selected for the FIFA World Cup Germany Poster, 2006

## Public collections

* The Museum of Fine Arts（Houston, U.S.A）MFAH
* Chazen Museum of Art（Madison, U.S.A）
* Takamatsu city museum of Art (Takamatsu, Japan)
* Takahashi Collection（Tokyo, Japan）
* Taguchi Collection（Tokyo, Japan）

## Books

* Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "Japanese Spirit" (Published by Gakken Co., Ltd.), 2003
* Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "Kabuki-mono" (Published by PARCO Co., Ltd.), 2004
* Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "Tenmyouya Hisashi" (Published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Publishers), 2006
* Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "KAMON TENMYOUYA HISASHI" (Published by KING OF MOUNTAIN), 2007
* Written by Tenmyouya Hisashi "BASARA Japanese art theory crossing borders : from Jomon pottery to decorated trucks"(Published by Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, Co., LTD), 2010
* Tenmyouya Hisashi art catalog "Masterpiece" (Published by Seigenshiya, Publishers), 2014