Kawaii Friend or Mythical Beast. Dragons and Other Animals in the Art of Takano Aya

• Authors: Magdalena Furmanik-Kowalska

Title variants

JA

可愛い友達あるいは神秘的野獣。

Abstracts

JA

タカノ綾の芸術作品における龍とその他の動物」本論の目的は、日本のアーティストであるタカノ綾（1976年埼玉生まれ）の作品における、ある種の動物達と彼らの象徴的な役割を指摘することである。彼女の作品は、日本現代社会の中でも特にポップカルチャーに深く浸透している動物に対する姿勢を映し出していると解釈できる。そして彼女の芸術作品は、「カワイイ」少女的美学と同時にスーパーフラット・ムーブメントに合致する。タカノの絵画には、犬、魚、猫、そして兎など多くの可愛いペットのイメージが、女性のキャラクターと共に、日常的な活動や非日常的な瞬間の中に描かれる（Doggy Drive, 2005; The Buildings Shone, 2007; Crane Island, 2009）。彼女の絵画の中には、日本の古くから伝わる芸術に頻繁に見られる神話的な動物もまた現れる。鶴、虎、龍（Rising Dragon (Rainbow) with Lucky Omens, 2015）といった動物達はタカノによって、ペットと同様のスタイルで表現されているのである。

EN

The aim of this article is to indicate the kinds of animals and their symbolic function in the works of the Japanese artist Takano Aya (b. 1976, Saitama). Her works may be interpreted as illustrative of the current attitude towards animals prevailing in contemporary Japanese society, especially its part that is deeply permeated by local pop culture. After all, her art fits into the Superflat movement and the girly aesthetics of kawaii at the same time. Takano’s paintings are full of images of cute household pets: dogs, fish, cats and rabbits, which accompany the female characters in both everyday activities and extraordinary moments (Doggy Drive, 2005; Summoning Her Owls, She Looked Yonder. The Buildings Shone, 2007; Crane Island, 2009). In her paintings there are also mythological animals, which were so commonly represented in the ancient artwork of Japan. Takano depicts cranes, tigers and dragons (Rising Dragon (Rainbow) with Lucky Omens, 2015) in the same style as household pets.

Keywords

EN

mythical animals; dragon; kawaii; contemporary art; paintings; manga; anime

JA

神話的動物; 龍; カワイイ; 現代美術; 絵画; マンガ; アニメ

• Publisher: Polskie Stowarzyszenie Badań Japonistycznych
• Journal: Analecta Nipponica
• Year: 2018
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 123-134

Dates

published

2018

Contributors

author

Magdalena Furmanik-Kowalska

• Polski Instytut Studiów Nad Sztuką Świata

References

• Azuma Hiroki 2009. Otaku. Japan’s Database Animals, trans. Jonathan E. Abel, Shion Kono. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Baudrillard, Jean 2005. Symulakry i symulacja [Simulacra and Simulation], translated by Sławomir Królak. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sic!.
• Dubino, Jeanne 2014. Introduction. In: Jeanne Dubino, Andrew Smyth (eds.) Representing the Modern Animal in Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Eberhard, Wolfram 2007. Chinskie symbole. Słownik [Chinese symbols. A dictionary], trans. Renata Darda. Kraków: Univeritas.
• Favell Adrian 2011. Before and After Superat. A Short History of Japanese Contemporary Art 1990–2011. Hong Kong: Blue Kingfisher Limited.
• Flood, Gavin 1996. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: University Press.
• Furmanik-Kowalska, Magdalena 2012. “Ikonografia jenotów, lisów i innych japonskich demonów w filmie „Szopy w natarciu Pom Poko” Isao Takahaty [iconography of raccoon dogs, foxes and other Japanese demons in Isao Takahata’s Film ‘Pom Poko’]. In: Joanna Zaremba-Penk, Marcin Lisiecki (eds.) Studio Ghibli. Miejsce filmu animowanego w japonskiej kulturze [Ghibli Studio. The place of animated film in Japanese culture]. Torun: Kirin.
• Furmanik-Kowalska, Magdalena 2015. Uwikłane w kulture. O twórczosci współczesnych artystek japonskich i chinskich [culture trouble. The contemporary art of Japanese and Chinese women]. Bydgoszcz: Kirin.
• Hasegawa Yuko 2002. “Post-identity Kawaii. Commerce, Gender and Contemporary Japanese Art.” In: Frank Lloyd (ed.) Consuming Bodies. Sex and Contemporary Japanese Art. London: Reaktion Books.
• Higgie, Jennifer, ***. http://www.perrotin.com/text-Aya_Takano-15.html [Accessed 25 July 2013].
• Kinsella, Sharon 1995. “Cuties in Japan”. In: Women, Media and Consumption in Japan, Lise Skov, Brian Moeran (eds.). Oxford: Routledge, pp. 228-230.
• Korpalska, Anna 2015. Lis w kulturze Japonii [fox in Japanese culture]. Warszawa-Torun: Polski Instytut Studiów nad Sztuka Swiata & Wydawnictwo Tako.
• Majewicz, Alfred F. 1991. Dzieje i wierzenia Ajnów [history and beliefs of the Ainu]. Poznan: CIA Books-SVARO.
• Malik, Farah 2008. “Manga and Anime Fan Culture.” In: Claudia Mitchell [&] Jacqueline Reid-Walsh (eds.) Girl Culture. Studying Girl Culture. A Readers’ Guide. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press.
• Matsui Midori 2002. “The Place of Marginal Positionality: Legacies of Japanese Anti-Modernity.” In: Frank Lloyd (ed.) Consuming Bodies. Sex and Contemporary Japanese Art. London: Reaktion Books, pp. 149-150.
• Miki Akiko, Toward Eternity, http://www.perrotin.com/text-Aya_Takano-15.html [Accessed 25 July 2013].
• Sato Tomoko 2010. Sztuka japonska [Japanese art], trans. Joanna Kolczynska. Warszawa: Arkady.
• Sato Tomoko 2008. Japanese Art. East Sussex: Ivy Press Ltd..
• Sawaragi Noi 2000. “Japonia wobec współczesnosci sztuki…[Japan and the modernity of art].” In: Maria Brewinska (ed.) Gendai. Sztuka współczesna Japonii – pomiedzy ciałem i przestrzenia [gendai. Japanese contemporary art – between the body and the space](exhibition catalogue). Warszawa: Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski, pp. 83-85.
• Screech, Timon 2006. Erotyczne obrazy japonskie 1700-1820 [Japanese erotic pictures]. Kraków: Universitas.
• Screech, Timon 1999. Sex and Floating World. Erotic Images in Japan 1700-1820. London: Reaktion Books Ltd..
• Shamoon, Deborah 2008. “Situating the Shojo in Shojo Manga. Teenage Girls, Romance Comics, and Contemporary Japanese Culture.” In: Mark Mac Williams (ed.) Japanese Visual Culture. Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime. Abibgdon: Routledge, pp. 137-154.
• Takano, Aya 2001. Hot Banana Fudge, Kaikai Kiki Co..
• Takano, Aya 2002. Space Ship EE, Kaikai Kiki Co..
• Wetzel, Alexandra 2013. Chiny. Od ustanowienia cesarstwa do dynastii Ming [China. From the establishment of the empire to the Ming dynasty]. Leksykon Cywilizacje [Lexicon Civilizations] series, trans. Maria & Ksenia Zawanowska. Warszawa: Arkady.
• Yamane Kazuma 1986. Hentai shojo moji no kenkyu [anomalous teenage handwriting research]. Tokyo: Kodansha.
• Yang Xin, Richard M. Barnhart, Nie Chongzheng, James Cahill, Lang Shaojun, Wu Hung 1997. Three Thousand Years of Chinese Paintings. New Haven & London, Beijing: Yale University Press and Foreign Languages Press.
• http://bananajuicecosmix.blogspot.com/2015/03/art-basel-hong-kong.html [Accessed 5 May 2017].
• http://english.kaikaikiki.co.jp [Accessed 16 July 2013].
• http://sailormoon.channel.or.jp/chara/index.html [Accessed 25 July 2013].
• http://www.skarstedt.com/exhibitions/2009-11-05_aya-takano [Accessed 24 July 2013].

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

1597318