Tomokazu Matsuyama standing against a bright patterned painting

Tomokazu Matsuyama

Energetic explorations of cultural identity in a post-internet age.

“The idea behind my work is to create a lens through which the viewer can study the hybrid condition of our culture.”

Matsuyama dismantles the rigid cultural parameters that he felt inhibited by growing up between Japan and America. His bright, complex images merge Eastern and Western art histories, from Pop Art, graffiti and Manga, to the Edo period, and the Kano School of Painting. Matsuyama’s canvases are rarely rectangular. Instead, they take on irregular shapes that often suggest the outline of an ancient Ja...

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Bio

Tomokazu Matsuyama was born in 1976 in Japan and is now based in Brooklyn, New York.

Studio

A New Yorker of more than two decades, Matsuyama cites the city's rich amalgam of cultures, values and visual codes as his reason for staying.

Did you know?

He used to be a professional snowboarder, which he compares to art as both pursuits present the opportunity to express himself.

Collaborations with Tomokazu Matsuyama

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