A Transcendence of Boundaries: An Interview With Meguru Yamaguchi
Throughout history, Japan has produced some of the most exciting, and thought-provoking artists the world has seen.
This sentiment most definitely rings true for contemporary art as well. Meguru Yamaguchi, an artist born and raised in Tokyo but now based out of New York is part of this revolutionary new guard of the art world. More recently, you may have seen his work in collaborations with Uniqlo and X-GAMES or as a mural on the historical Seibu department store in Tokyo’s equally-as-iconic Shibuya district. His style, self-described as “OUT OF BOUNDS” emphasizes the transcending of boundaries, with each brushstroke being done in three dimensions and going above and beyond the restrictions of the canvas and takes inspiration from European and Japanese traditions.
Meguru also leads an art studio called GOLD WOOD ARTWORKS in New York. The studio-slash-collective takes inspiration from the subcultures of the members involved and is all-encompassing, representing styles from street to abstract art and is involved in mediums from paintings to sculptures.
To know more about what he has been up to recently and get a deeper dive into the art scene from his perspective, Sabukaru chats with Meguru to know more about the philosophy of his work, his influences, and what the future holds for him.
Hi Meguru, can you give our readers a quick introduction on yourself and your works?
My name is Meguru Yamaguchi. I currently run an art studio called GOLD WOOD ARTWORKS in Brooklyn, New York. The signature of my work is the “OUT OF BOUNDS” series, in which the canvas has disappeared and the brushstrokes themselves are exposed, transcending the frame.
This might sound simple but what were some of your earlier inspirations, perhaps from when you were much younger?
When I was young, I was influenced by my father and US pop art and street art such as Basquiat and Warhol. In high school, I became more into Tokyo street culture during the Urahara Golden Age.
We heard you were influenced by a particular Japanese art movement [Gutai] in the 50s, can you elaborate on that?
When I first saw Kazuo Shiraga's [painter and member of the Gutai Art Association] works in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo when I was a ronin*, I felt an indescribable energy.
Kazuo Shiraga via Whitestone Gallery
Van Gogh's brushstrokes were fresh and amazing, but Shiraga's work, no matter what anyone says, was tremendous, and I was impressed as if a lump of human energy was directly thrown at me from the painting. When you look at Shiraga's art books and films from that time, you will see that Shiraga was working in a Japanese house with blood splattered paint, using an unbelievable amount of oil paint [which was expensive at the time] with his wife in a kimono next to him, wearing denim and with no top half on. I still feel that he was the only one who floated, or rather transcended the times and even the space. I felt that he was a person with originality, a person who strikes at the essence. His work transcends time.
*ronin in this case means a high school graduate that has not entered yet university.
They had an emphasis on freedom, how is this concept essential to your work as an artist?
Jiro Yoshihara via the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka
It applies to my own work as well, but I think true freedom is to know the constraints and transcend them. This is a slight tangent from the question, but the philosophy of Jiro Yoshihara, chairman of the Gutai Art Association, is "Don't imitate others. Make something that has never been done before”. This was coincidentally the same phrase my father used to say to me when I was a child. My father used to say to me whenever he had a chance: "Make something original”. Even as a child, I wondered what expression no one had ever seen before, what originality meant, but the answer was not always so easy to find. Before I could make an original work, I had to know that there are many different styles and forms of work that exist in the world.
First you have to know and study what kind of work exists in the world, and then create something completely different from what you have seen before. That is what a free work of art is.
Much like us here, We also know you really enjoyed the urahara movement — does that play a part in influencing your work?
I don't know if there is a direct influence on my work, but I was influenced by the backstreet culture. My own father had the brands Ozone Rocks and Hysteric Glamour, and my mother is still a fashion designer with the brand 0008. I grew up in a family where both my parents were creators, so there was always a lot of "that's cool, this is not cool..." I think there was always a lot of "that's cool, that's not cool". My parents both liked cool things, cute things and things I had never seen before, and their favourite artists and fashion designers, the furniture and interior design of their house, the art books they had in the house and the music they played, all of these things were definitely influenced by my parents and nurtured in me.
What were some of your favourite brands during that golden-age of the Urahara movement?
The now-defunct HEIGHT storefront at Ebisu
I liked many brands, but because my home town was Ebisu, I used to line up at HEIGHT a lot. I really liked the staff, the atmosphere and the music at Concentrate, where AG was located.
Is there perhaps any similarities between the world of underground avant-garde art in 1950s Japan and the Urahara culture?
I wonder if there is anything in common? [Laughs]
I think they share a certain kind of freedom.
We’ve also heard you originally studied traditional calligraphy, in what way does it influence your work?
The spirit of calligraphy, which concentrates on each letter and pursues the beauty of the line, has been passed on in the expression of my brush strokes today.
How did your personal style develop?
I was walking along Bedford ave on an early summer evening in 2015 when suddenly the image of a Van Gogh or Kazuo Shiraga's brushstrokes without a canvas to make them three-dimensional fell into my mind.
The image was of a vast gallery space that I had never seen before. Based on this image, I told my idea to Rei Nakanishi [now a member of GOLD WOOD ARTWORKS], who had just arrived in New York at the time, and we talked about how we wanted to give shape to this kind of thing, and we began various trial-and-error processes. I was not concerned with digital or analogue, just the image that poured into my head, and at the time, he and I searched desperately for a single stone on an unexplored sandy beach where no one had ever been, forgetting that our fingernails would come off.
In 2016, "OUT OF BOUNDS" was born, in which the brushstrokes themselves became three-dimensional, transcending the square framework of the canvas. At that time, I thought I had finally created a 'real original' that was not an imitation of anyone else. I had been drawing since I was a child and it had already been 30 years. I was not able to join an art college or a company. I could not return to Japan for 10 years. I thought daily about the borders and boundaries that divide the country. The streets of my hometown that I dreamt of, my family, my friends, but those days full of regrets were the motivation for my work that transcended 'frameworks/conceptions'. The parts that I thought were negative for me were transformed into positives when I passed them through the filter of art.
What made you want to make the switch towards living in New York?
I wanted to become a painter in Japan, so I went through three or four waves trying to get into the Tokyo University of the Arts. I still have a vague memory of how many years I really wasted because of the trauma. [Laughs]
At that time, I was doing the basics of oil painting, drawing and plastering every day, the basics of classical still-life painting, self-portraits and image assignments. I was like, "What is it that I want to paint in the first place?" When I was around 21 years old, that was probably the time when I was most troubled. In the spring when I failed my third or fourth art college, I saw Kristin Baker's exhibition “Surge and Shadow” at the Deitch Projects in SoHo, which I visited for a change of pace, and it really hit me over the head with a sledgehammer. After leaving the gallery, I clearly remember the brick pavement of SoHo in April, when it was still chilly, glistening after the rain. It shattered my entrenched preconceptions. It was there that I decided to live in this city after such an encounter with art.
How does it feel to be a Japanese contemporary artist based in the west?
It sounds glamorous when written down, but in reality, it is a simple, unassuming day-to-day life. I think my attitude is the same wherever I am in the world. To continue to create better work that has not yet been seen. That's all I can do.
Moving to a completely different country and basing your creative works there is a big undertaking, could you share some words of wisdom to our readers hoping to also take in that big step?
In this day and age, thanks to the internet, we are blessed with opportunities to present our work wherever we are in the world. Even in these times, I think it is still very meaningful to leave your home country and live in a different country. The younger you are, the better. After I decided to go to New York myself, there was a period of two or three years when I couldn't take the plunge. I think the important thing is to go quickly, just as if you were going to a different county. [Laughs]
Recently you did some live-painting for the X-Games in Chiba, can you tell us more about that partnership?
Originally, Yuki-san from CHARI&CO brought BMX rider Yohei Uchino to his Bronx studio when he was in New York, and then introduced me to Kono-san, the chairman of the X-GAMES organising committee. Kono-san came to my exhibition in Japan and saw my work and decided to use it as a key visual.
Are there anything that made the piece you did for the X-Games event special or particular?
The XGAMES works are the same as usual, but there are time constraints and various other restrictions, and on top of that, due to the nature of drawing outdoors, we had to work in the rain and wind, which is an experience that we wouldn't normally have if we were drawing in a studio under a roof. Last year, in particular, there was a process of painting that could not be done until dark, so we waited until 3am, when the last staff member left, and from there, in the middle of the empty, dark ZOZO Marine Stadium stadium, Rei Nakanishi and I were able to work together in a super-high state. It is a memory that will stay with me forever. [Laughs]
Do you have any words of advice for any young artists that are reading this interview?
I did not end up going to an art college, but I am not in any way belittling art college. I seriously tried to enter an art college, and I was thoroughly trained in oil painting, sketching and the history of painting at a prep school in Japan. At the time, I wondered if such basic training and knowledge was really meaningful, but now I think that those days as a ronin were what made me who I am. On the other hand, this is probably because I never entered an art college, but it is not everything to go to university. There are as many arts as there are people, and there are as many right answers as there are people. For those of you who are thinking of going to art college now, I want you to pursue "work that has never been seen before" and "original expression". I think that is more important than surviving in the scene as an artist. I sincerely hope that you will become great artists.
THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR TIME!
Interview text by: Avian Massie
Photographs by: Adianto Tanata
