Art Story

The Japanese contemporary art bear the brunt of the eastern contemporary art, the unique cultural phenomenon of the coexistence of ancient and avant-garde culture and the post-war contemporary art influenced by the Western culture has become a topic worthy of study. Due to the geographical uniqueness of Japan, a unique cultural identity and special aesthetic psychology were formed for a long time, and the style of art formed in such aesthetic psychology must be bounded with a strong Japanese characteristics. Through the study of Japanese culture, it's found that although the art of Western civilization had been accepted by the Japanese, they are also deeply influenced by the traditional culture. For example, Bushido affects the way of doing things; Zen Buddhism impacts the aesthetics of the Japanese; Shinto gave the Japanese the characteristic of obedience; Ukiyo-e reflects the Japanese attitude towards life. The contemporary Japan is a Kingdom of animation for its developed animation industry. The Asian fashion is led by the Japanese pop culture, and the Japanese contemporary art is filled with epidemic cartoon features obviously, conversely the cartoon art phenomenon has a significant impact on the art area and fashion industry all over the world.Japanese contemporary art represented by Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, their works all included the characteristics of flat, cute, decorative, epidemic and self-contradiction. These contemporary arts have always been controversial for its hollow subject and neglect of technics. In my view, the guidance of the Western avant-garde art created the conditions for the formation of the Japanese cartoon contemporary art and the specific cultural environment of Japan is the fundamental factor for this phenomenon. Therefore, analysis of the essence of Japanese culture helps a lot to interpret Japanese contemporary art.This thesis analyzed the general mentality of the Japanese based on the study of the influence factors of traditional Japanese culture on Japanese spirit and ideas in combination with Japanese pop culture, and analyzed the contradictory nature of contemporary art in Japan through the analysis of the Japanese contemporary artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami, in order to explore the cultural roots and ideological foundation of their creations.