Hiro Yamagata (artist)
Encyclopedia
Hiro Yamagata is a painter/artist, based in Los Angeles, California.

He has been considered as one of the most famous silkscreen artists because of his use of vivid colors in his pieces. However, he has been known as a contemporary artist using laser and hologram technology recently. He is recognized as a pioneer of contemporary laser art.

Life in Japan

Yamagata is the third child and has five siblings. His father ran a lumber business. Whilst at high school between 1964 and 1967 he won awards and began to use lights in his work. in 1967 he became a student of Masachika Sugimura before moving to Tokyo, where he worked part-time at an artist’s material shop and later as an illustrator and a designer for an advertising company.

He established JIM with Yuhji Itsumi, Youichi Sai, and Takeshi Shino in Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....

, Tokyo in 1972.

Life in Europe

In 1972 he moved to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 to live with a girlfriend. When the relationship ended he decided to move to Paris and settled there. His first solo exhibition was held in Wien
Wien
Wien is the German language name for Vienna, the city and federal state in Austria.* Wien , in Vienna, Austria* Theater an der Wien, a theater in Vienna located at the former river WienWien may also refer to:...

 in 1973. Most of his works in the mid 1970s were paintings in water and oil colors. He became fascinated with Jazz music and organized Jazz events, at his own expense. In 1974 an installation work using lasers was shown at a theater in Paris.

1980s

In 1978, Yamagata moved to Los Angeles and started to use bright silkscreen colors in his work.

In the 1980s he produced work for the Air & Space Bicentennial (1983), the 1984 Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

, the hundredth memorial anniversary of the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...

 (1986), the Australia foundation memorial (1988), and the hundredth anniversary of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...

 (1988). In 1988 he produced an official portrait of U.S. President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 and started a series of work about golf in collaboration with Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...

. He participated in a charity art project, "Very Special Arts" and an exhibition of his work toured Tokyo, Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, Nagoya, Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

, and Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...

, Japan. He published a book of his work in 1987.

In 1987, he established the Yamagata Foundation and in collaboration with the Kennedy Foundation held a charity event for physically disadvantaged people. He donated all sales of his piece, “Fireworks,” to the International Red Cross Society for victims’ relief of the San Francisco Earthquake.

1990s

A book of the artists work, “YAMAGATA”, with texts written by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

, was published in 1990.

In the 1990s Yamagata created official art works for a celebration of 200 years of emigration to America (1990), the Freedom Campaign in Berlin (1990), the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the New World (1991), the 3rd IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka (1991), the Barcelona Olympics (1992), Kyoto 1200 year celebration (1992) and the Atlanta Olympics (1995).

At the prompting of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

, Yamagata started giving poet Gregory Corso
Gregory Corso
Gregory Nunzio Corso was an American poet, youngest of the inner circle of Beat Generation writers...

 a monthly stipend in 1992, which allowed Corso to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

He held a solo exhibition at Mexico City National Museum of Art in 1990 and participated in a "Very Special Arts" charity art event in 1993. He exhibited “the new Golf series”, made in collaboration with Jack Nicholas.

In 1994, Yamagata began making a documentary film about Beat Generation with Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

. He exhibited his painting on a vintage Mercedes Benz car as a description of beauty of the nature, “Earthly Paradise,” at Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. This piece was named by the art critic Sam Hunter. Glen Ginsberg wrote a description of the car as “Hiro Yamagata’s spirit, the automobile of the 20th century” for the exhibition. (You can also see the process of making the Earthly Paradise on a movie director, Jonas Mekas’s HP.) In this year, “Hiro Yamagata’s all prints collection” was published. The “Earthly Paradise” exhibition was held in Hakone, Venice, Monte Carlo, Montecatini, and Tirino in 1995, Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 in 1996, Vienna in 1997 and Rome in 1998. In 1997 Yamagata held an exhibition, “Element-A Laser Installation,” at Fred Hoffman Fine Art Gallery. He showed a work from “Earthly Paradise” incorporated with laser for the décor of the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball at the Oscars. In 1998 He had an exhibition of laser installation, “Sculpture of Light,” at the First St. Bridge in Los Angeles. In this year, Yamagata had an interview by NHK and made his first trip to China. In this trip, he produced a piece which was influenced by Taoism. Also, in this year, he began a piece themed for Japanese spirit, “the Essence of Japan.” He designed a set of 80-yen stamps, “Omotya no Cha-cha-cha,” issued by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in Japan.

In 1999, Yamagata's “American Lips” exhibition was shown at Marlborough Gallery in New York. He also produced a movie which is related to “Beat Generation,” a major feature documentary, “The Source,” and presented at Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A. and N.Y. He held laser installation, “Laumeier Lights” at Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis, Missouri. Also, he produced an official piece for the two hundredth anniversary of the White House foundation. In this year, he visited Tibet because of an interview of Asahi TV station. Then, he started creating the series of “Eternity of the Silk Road.” Also, a PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...

 game which Hideki Tougi took charge of its music part, “YAMAGATA Digital Museum,” was released.

2000s

In 2000, Yamagata participated in a laser installation group exhibition, “An Active Life,” at Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. In this year, he held “the Solar System Installations, Project 1” at Yamagata Studio in Malibu. He was designated as an official artist of Grammy Awards in 2000 by the Grammy foundation.

In 2001, Yamagata held a laser installation, “NGC6093” at Ace Gallery in New York. He held a laser installation, “Photon 999,” at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The...

 in Spain.

In 2002, Yamagata held an exhibition of laser installation, “Quantum Induction” at Pepperdine University. His exhibition at Ace, New York in 2002 was described as "stunning" by Art in America.

In 2003, Yamagata held an exhibition which was collaborated with NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, “Art&SPACE exhibition-Hiro Yamagata and the world of NASA,” at Yokohama Seaport. His piece in this exhibition was held indoors and made by laser reflection of innumerable cubes hanging from the ceiling of two huge cubic structures which was surrounded by holograms. Visitors at this exhibition put polarizing lenses on to see the piece. However, the exhibition was ended sooner that it should have been because of the number of visitors did not increase as much as expected. It was to say that people thought they would see Hiro Yamagata’s print works in the exhibition; the description of this exhibition was not appropriate so that they were disappointed. Later on, Yamagata held a laser installation exhibition, “Super Nova 3” at COSI Columbus Science Museum in Ohio. Also, he participated in an event, the “300th anniversary of Sankt-Peterburg municipal government, a Night of Sound and light,” to show his laser installation. In this year, he also held an exhibition, “Hiro Yamagata Original Pictures” in Okinawa

In 2004, Yamagata held a laser installation, “Quantum Field X3” at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain. In this exhibition, the laser which was coming from a disk shaped object set upon a hill aside the museum reflected and lightened up two cubic buildings’ walls surrounded by holograms which were set outside of the museum. Starting from the exhibition in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

, Yamagata’s world of laser installation began to expand in scale.

In 2005, Yamagata proposed a large-scale holographic recreation of the destroyed statue of the Buddha at the Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley
Buddhas of Bamyan
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters...

, Afghanistan. The proposal included using solar energy saved during the day to power a laser installation after sunset, and was costed at $60,000,000. In this year, he showed his laser installation at a gala party which held at Geffen contemporary museum in L.A. Also, Yamagata participated in a collaboration event of laser installation and electrical music, “METTRIPPIN” and presented his work, “Theory Six.” He also participated in the “Earth, Water, Fire and Air Festival” in the Castle in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, South Africa were he experimented in a pentagonal shaped castle, installed nearly 200 mirrors and reflected laser all around the building and the city. Also in 2005 he acted as executive producer for Sydney Pollack
Sydney Pollack
Sydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...

's documentary film Sketches of Frank Gehry
Sketches of Frank Gehry
Sketches of Frank Gehry is a 2005 American documentary film directed by Sydney Pollack and produced by Ultan Guilfoyle, about the life and work of the Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. The film was screened out of competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Pollack and Gehry had been...

, which was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.

In 2006, Yamagata held an exhibition, “Air” at the Los Angeles Torrance Art Museum. Also, he held his installation, “Sculptor of Light,” at Buschlen Mowatt Galleries in Palm Desert.

In 2007, Yamagata held an exhibition, “Transient” at Gehry Partners, in Los Angelos. The work consisted of India ink
India ink
India ink is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comic books and comic strips.-Composition:...

 drawings on canvas.

Honorary citizenships

  • Honorary Citizen of the City of Warwick, Rhode Island
    Warwick, Rhode Island
    Warwick is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. It is the second largest city in the state, with a population of 82,672 at the 2010 census. Its mayor has been Scott Avedisian since 2000...

  • Honorary Citizen of the City of Los Angeles
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