User:Neuf J/Nobuaki Kojima

Nobuaki Kojima (Kojima Nobuaki, 小島 信明, was born 1935, Fukui Prefecture) is a contemporary artist. His work is often understood through a dialogue with American Pop Art, although Kojima has rejected this identification.

His father worked making ceramic roof tiles. Kojima credits his junior high school art teacher, who introduced him to painters like Picasso and Matisse, with his interest in art. He entered Ono Highschool but transferred a year later to Osaka City Kogei Highschool because it emphasized arts education. After graduating in 1955, Kojima then went to Tokyo to study at the Tokyo University of the Arts.

He first exhibited at the 10th Yomiuri Independent in 1958 where he exhibited a painting inspired by surrealism and magazine imagery. By a few years later in 1960 and 1961, Kojima was focusing less on painting and more on sculptures using readymade objects. At the 14th Yomiuri Independent exhibition in 1962, Kojima stood on an empty oil drum draped in cloth during the exhibition’s open hours. Two years later this performance would subsequently inform his “Standing Figure” sculptures, for which he is recognized.

In the early 60s Kojima became acquainted with many of the young “avant-garde” artists of Japan. Particularly, he became close with Yasunao Tone and Takehisa Kosugi and other members of Group Ongaku.

In 1964 Kojima exhibited his “Standing Figure” works at Tsubaki Kindai Gallery. The show was visited by Jasper Johns and Yoshiaki Tono, who was touring Johns around Tokyo. The “Standing Figure” holds a red and white striped banner, which is typically taken to signify the American flag. The original material used, however, was an appropriated striped fabric often used in Japanese ceremonies. The figure in Standing Figure, resembling something like a Japanese salary man, was emblematic of Japan’s rapid postwar economic development under American reconstruction.

In 1966 his “Standing Sculpture” work was featured in the “New Japanese Painting & Sculpture” at the Museum of Modern Art. His work is also collected by the Fukui Fine Arts Museum. His “Untitled” standing sculpture was voted third favorite under the “Contemporary art, 3D, and photography” category during the Fukui Prefectural Museum‘s 30th anniversary survey. A untitled Standing Figure was prominently featured on the cover of New York Times’ Arts & Leisure section for the story “When The World Went Pop.”