Chiho+Aoshima

Chiho Aoshima
Chiho Aoshima is a Japanese pop artist who often works with computer graphics and animation to create surreal dreamlike fantasy worlds and creatures. Though she has had no formal art training she is a member of Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki Collective; which is an art production company/workshop much like Andy Warhol’s. Its goals as an enterprise include the production and promotion of artwork, the management and support of select young artists, general management of events and projects, and the production and promotion of merchandise. Most of the artwork in this production company, including Chiho Aoshima’s, falls into the postmodern art movement called Superflat. Just like Kaikai Kiki Collective, the Superflat movement was also founded by Takashi Murakami. This Movement is influenced by Japanese manga and anime as well as Japanese wood block prints.

One of Chiho Aoshima’s most popular art series is //City Glow//, which has an ecological theme and addresses environmental issues. With the collaboration of animator Bruce Ferguson, Aoshima created a seven minute long video titled //City Glow. // //(clip of City Glow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/northerncontinent/4184347860/)// This is a cycling narrative that begins with an exotic garden scene that slowly transforms into a modern city with futuristic living skyscrapers. This video continually cycles through the gradual transformation from day to night and from an urban to rural landscape. It can be seen as a commentary on the threat of global warming but also offers a promise of hope and regeneration. One could have also found Aoshima’s //City Glow: Mountain Whisper// at London’s Gloucester Road Underground station from 25 July 2006 until 25 January 2007.

//City Glow:Mountain Whisper// Exhibition at Gloucester Road Underground Station (left). screen capture of //City Glow// video (right)

(Julia Napolitano)

Bibliography:

Darling, Michael. “Plumbing the Depths of Superflatness.” // Art Journal // 61 (Spring 2001): 76-89 Kandel, Susan. " [|Oops, I Dropped My Dumplings] ." ARTEXT, May/July 2001, pgs. 40-45 Myers, Terry. " [|Little Boy Boom] ." MODERN PAINTERS, April 2005, pgs. 54-59 Proctor, Minna. " [|Tunnel Vision] ." ART REVIEW, June 2005, pgs. 80-85 Tucker, Annie. " [|In a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Chiho Aoshima's Parallel Universe] ." JUXTAPOZ, January 2006, pgs. 64-67