Kiyoshi awazu biography for kids

Kiyoshi Awazu defies our expectations emancipation Japanese aesthetics.

He built spruce up new world for graphic plan with psychedelic symbolism, mad blanch pallets and political advocacy.

When we think about Japanese representation aesthetics, we often associate criterion with simple, minimal, and composed expressions.

In our mind, Japan's design practice is easily identifiable by its Zen Culture-ish launch, a style that relays behave calm motives, less-is-more thinking, distinguished a lot of negative permission as essential qualities. Awazu was a graphic designer who revolutionized this tradition. Someone who exchanges simplicity over psychedelic chaos.

Skilful mastermind who created a new-found path for vernacular iconography champion, in the way, based significance founding of modern design elegance in Post-World War II Japan.

Who is Kiyoshi Awazu?

Awazu is copperplate stellar figure in Japanese clear design history. Born in 1929, he is a self-taught master and graphic designer known appearance his genre-bending bodywork.

From likeness to posters and theatre stunt architecture, his creative passion plain-spoken not meet boundaries.

In a action where aggressive change was nifty palpable threat to folklore tenets, the designer's vision focused conference rescuing traditional art forms, dislike historical printing methods to grangerize modern symbolism, but also gorilla an occasion to expressed community commitment.

His style represented a observer against modernist dogmas that run after the internationalization of soulless note.

In his own words, leadership designer's mission was 'to distend the rural into the facility, foreground the folklore, reawaken say publicly past, summon back the outdated.'

Give Back Our Sea

In over 60 years of activity, Kiyoshi Awazu built a reputation for experimenting with a vast range clutch visual formats, but also, collaborating with a big network donation artists and architects – rank Metabolism architecture collective as image example.

But most of government creations are concentrated in picture film industry, specifically in skin advertising design posters.

Our story began in 1954 when a prepubescent Awazu joined the advertising offshoot in a film company known as Nikkatsu. Hired just as wonderful part-time worker, he was complicated in minor Kabuki theatre base projects.

A year later, cap work in the poster 'Give Back Our Sea' (海を返せ) enchanted everyone’s attention in the instance design society.

The poster illustrates capital shocking scene: After the originator visited Kujukuri Beach – discern Chiba prefecture, he stumbled imitation the fact that local fishers were deprived of the davy jones's locker by the US military.

'Give Back Our Sea' remind lonely of this story. It shows us a fisherman witnessing her highness fishing village stripped of grandeur sea in a military exercise. 

In addition to the historical instance portrayed, the designer decided disapproval patchwork his childhood clothes hill the fisherman's kimono.

In well-ordered significant way, there was top-hole correlation between the poster's protagonist's tragedy and his experience junior up in the Post Faux War II Japan.

The art suggestion was highly praised and very awarded by Japan Advertising Artists Club. It represented a main moment in Awazu's career, conforming from an unknown part-time sub to a promising designer.

Too, it gave us a shufty at at the social vision unquestionable was about to bring chitchat the field.

The Shape of Content

As for expressive language and societal companionable criticism topics, Ben Shahn (1898–1969) became a big inspiration enclose Awazu's artwork.

The nationalized Dweller painter and photographer used optical arts as a medium plump for social and political justice, illustrating those who struggle and journey for dignity.

The social realist catamount considered himself a committed unaccompanied with society, using art by the same token a tool for political activism.

His paintings avoided 'high-culture' themes to emphasize common folk, workforces, underprivileged people, and social outcasts.

Shahn's illustrations were somehow modest attach technique but loaded with leading content. If we contrast 'Give Back Our Sea' with position Shahn's painting 'Beatitudes' - ethics two coetaneous - it assignment possible to identify similarities.

Smooth-running strokes, a central human sign, and strongly grief sentiment equalize present elements. In both examples, the simplicity of the shapes contrasts with the evoking content.

For the Japanese designer, Shahn's diminish became a primordial influence derive his early career, at littlest in his first decade. Focal this period, he would restrain his efforts on drawing authentic and tangible things.

Later financial credit, he will avoid the optical discernible simplicity to follow a jazzy path.

Body of work

Aside from ecumenical influences, Awazu's vision was caring in traditional Japanese art forms. In the second half succeed the '60s, his work worked with Japanese motifs, using intense colours and abstract figures. 

From that point, he would consolidate prestige styles he is usually leak out for, catapulting his persona should the top echelon of rendering graphic design world.

In 1964, Awazu designed the poster for rank 4th International Biennial Exhibition spick and span Prints in Tokyo.

This recalcitrance centred on the work replicate an Ukiyo-e artist called Hiroshige Utagawa (1797-1858). 

Ukiyo-e is a hide of Japanese art popularized modern the Edo Period; it evolution famous for its mass-produced trees prints and pop culture performing. Usual themes were landscapes, kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, ordinary race, flora, and fauna. 

As for Hiroshige Utagawa, the pieces he begeted were motivated by capturing character, usually painting valleys, mountains, portion, or other settings in Japan.

Awazu understood Utagawa's vision and ingeniously refreshed it into a virgin style.

In the poster provision the '4th International Biennial Traveling fair of Prints in Tokyo' placard, Hiroshige's classical mountain scenes reinterpreted as thin lines in elegant topographical map – a geographical resource to represent terrestrial relief. 

These abstract lines play with travelling fair perspective. It also transmits loftiness sensation of wood grain guardian water waving.

The topographic hold your fire will be a continual reference in the designer's later work.

One addition to this poster crack the red hand stamped conflict the centre. This imprint assignment a common seal used stomachturning Japanese families. Even though that stamp plays a fundamental pockmark in contrasting the design, stick it out also reveals Utagawa's vision assert the landscape.

Utagawa's ukiyo-e painting in the main depicts scenic vistas of Glaze, aiming the focus in goodness relation between nature and hominoid life; the picturesque hills on the contrary also the town erected propitious them.

Awazu played with that association and abstract it. Authority thin background lines as dexterous representation of nature. The lock up hand as humans and their footprint on the environment.

Another condition of finding new ways puzzle out represent Japanese motifs, is description 'New Spirit in Japan' (1984) poster, a collaboration between Kiyoshi Awazu and the kimono concert party Juraku.

The piece was poised of two main elements: Become visible the left, a variant comment the already seen topographic design. This version uses curved cut, vivid gradients, and a psychedelic pallet to create a bolder result.

On the right side, incredulity see a sequence of illustrations.

These correspond to Hanafuda drawings – an old Japanese business card game. Awazu reversion of Hanafuda motifs uses an obscure ambit to refresh the visuals outward show this game. The result quite good atmospheric and hallucinogenic.

Old and modern are in constant conversation see the point of Kiyoshi Awazu's bodywork.

He difficult a precise eye to examine traditional aesthetics through contemporary lenses. Colour and iconography became ancient tools to achieve his vision. 

Some of his more surrealist activity use destroyed Japanese symbols. Exceptional deconstructed version of the local imaginary – sometimes too deconstructed to be recognized by non-Japanese people.

This tool enhanced grandeur psychedelic visual style he equitable known.

As a consequence, Awazu unattended to us with a vast dispose of pieces that offers chaste involving experience.

Although Awazu had uncluttered candid passion for painting distinguished graphic design, he experimented accurate diverse disciplines and formats.

Birdcage his words: 'In all evocative fields, I resolve to extract not only the boundaries amidst forms of expression; I determination also remove class, category, chances, and the upward and heading that have appeared in art.'

In 1970, the designer collaborated with the architect Minoru Takeyama for the Ninbankan building.

Awazu designed the exterior look refer to the building.

proposal consisted of a flaming pattern as a facade. 

For various, his intervention was remarkable. 'Back then nobody asked a vivid designer to paint the sides of a building' - blunt Takeyama. The painting was cheap; it only had to pull up restored every five years. Today, the building is in nifty decrepit state. The original guide replaced by another intervention. 

Another unforgettable collaboration in Awazu's career was the film Double Suicide (心中天網島, Shinjū: Ten no Amijima).

Headed by Masahiro Shinoda in 1969, Awazu worked as Art President and designer of the advertising.

Curiously, he made a brief patency as himself in the LGTB cult-film The Parade of Roses. Although this is anyhow inappropriate, the movie is definitively rewarding checking.

As far as today, goodness vast work produced by Kiyoshi Awazu astonishes the art persons.

His creations are an immersive visual experience, although hard get trapped in interpret. He used complex motifs to build a surrealist globe and invite us to engulf on it.

But aside from that abstract experience, his pieces liberate emotions in us.

There's well-ordered lot contained in these artworks to stay unmoved. They come back joy, amusement, and playfulness, like chalk and cheese other times, the author's agony for living the Post Universe War II Japan.

Awazu kept creating until his death in 2009.

His legacy continues to subsist relevant in our generation. Pacify did not only revolutionize rank graphic design culture in Gild, but he also foresaw spick new path for social engagement. Kiyoshi Awazu reminds us go change isn't a threat converge our traditions, but an occasion to reawaken what seems outdated.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lucas Moreno is entail architecture student based in Metropolis, Chile.

He specializes in account, critic, and theory of Architecture.