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 referring to some features of Japanese art such as a traditional line as well as its decorative, symbolic and playful ones. 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 age 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