Masami Teraoka
Masami Teraoka, born in 1936, is a contemporary Japanese artist. He studied Aesthetics in Kobe, Japan and then moved to the United States in 1961. He received his B.F.A and M.F.A. in Los Angeles. Today, he has had solo shows and public collections all over the world.
His early works are mostly water-colour painting that reflect the clash of two cultures, East and West. Later, he produced narrative work about social and political issues, including gay marriage, international tourism and terrorism, cloning, internet culture and so on, while his recent large-scale paintings are inspired by Renaissance paintings.?He uses them to express his opinions on the modern world.
雅美寺岡
當(dāng)代日本藝術(shù)家雅美寺岡生于1936年，早年在日本神戶學(xué)習(xí)藝術(shù)，1961年移居美國，在洛杉磯攻下藝術(shù)學(xué)士與藝術(shù)碩士學(xué)位。如今，他已在世界各地舉行過獨(dú)立畫展和公眾展覽。其早期作品多數(shù)是反映東西方文化碰撞的水彩畫。之后他轉(zhuǎn)而創(chuàng)作反映社會(huì)與政治事件的敘事性作品，主題包括同性戀婚姻、國際旅游業(yè)、恐怖主義、克隆技術(shù)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)文化等。他近期創(chuàng)作的大規(guī)模繪畫則是從文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期的作品中汲取靈感。雅美寺岡通過它們表達(dá)自己對現(xiàn)代社會(huì)的想法。
31 Flavours Invading Japan/Today’s Special (Ready to Lick)
《31種味道入侵日本之今日特色（準(zhǔn)備舔一口）》
1975 35.89 cm HIGH x 53.97 cm WIDE Style: 20th Century
Today’s Special, from his series 31 Flavours Invading Japan, is one of his early work that were done after his arrival in the United States. It has two important features:?
《今日特色》這幅作品選自雅美寺岡《31種味道入侵日本》系列，是創(chuàng)作者遷居美國之后創(chuàng)作的早期作品之一。它體現(xiàn)了這一系列作品共有的兩個(gè)顯著特點(diǎn)：
1. It mimicks the flat, bold qualities of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. This is a water-colour painting with these elegant flow of strokes and traditional ninon colour and patterns, as well as the calligraphy.?
第一，它重現(xiàn)了浮世繪木刻版畫扁平如一、鮮明大膽的質(zhì)感。作為水彩畫，線條優(yōu)雅流暢，并采用日本傳統(tǒng)色與花紋，兼有書法寫就的題文。
2. Unlike conventional ukiyo-e prints, Masami chose unexpected modern products as subjects, such as ice-creams or hamburgers, or even bikinis.
第二，與傳統(tǒng)浮世繪不同，雅美寺岡出人意料地選取現(xiàn)代產(chǎn)品作為中心對象，例如雪糕和漢堡，甚至還有比基尼。
These two points lead us to the theme - the sharp contrast behind the seemingly harmonious image - the collision between Japanese tradition and American consumerism.
這兩點(diǎn)向我們揭示了作品的主題——看似和諧的畫面中隱含的強(qiáng)烈對比——日本傳統(tǒng)文化與美國消費(fèi)主義的沖突。
In noting Teraoka's undercurrent of lusty imagery, Asian art expert Howard A. Link refers to his "snake-like tongues devouring ice cream cones." His works are said to "create absurdist parodies of consumerism, pollution and greed", “a rich, sensual and humorous art practice that blended reality with fantasy, humour with commentary and history with the present.”
在談?wù)撗琶浪聦r明意象背后的深意時(shí)，亞洲藝術(shù)學(xué)家Howard A. Link特別提起他畫中“伸向雪糕甜筒的蛇一樣的舌頭”。他的作品被稱作“對消費(fèi)主義、污染和貪婪進(jìn)行荒誕夸張的模仿”，“現(xiàn)實(shí)與想像交織、幽默與評論共存、歷史與今日相融的豐滿、直觀、詼諧的藝術(shù)品”。
By combining Japanese ukiyo-e with symbols informed by Western culture, Masami Teraoka successfully expressed his concern about the global homogenisation and showed cultural and social sensitivity and expressiveness of his artwork.
通過日本浮世繪與西方文化標(biāo)志的巧妙糅合，雅美寺岡表達(dá)出自己對全球一體化的思慮，也展現(xiàn)了自己對文化、社會(huì)問題的敏銳覺察力和作品的強(qiáng)大表現(xiàn)力。
（節(jié)選自Communicating in English課個(gè)人演講，主題是介紹藝術(shù)作品）
