Enter the hidden world of Nihonga art in this one-of-a-kind memoir blending West and East. Hidden deep in the heart of Tokyo, a small shop sells something hardly known to the outside world. A coveted permanent pigment infused with minerals and gemstones, this rare paint has been used for centuries by Nihonga masters and few others. Nihonga, a living tradition of Japanese painting known for its blend of naturalism and abstraction, fine, delicate lines, and ethereal beauty, is a world wrapped in mysticism, inaccessible even ...
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Enter the hidden world of Nihonga art in this one-of-a-kind memoir blending West and East. Hidden deep in the heart of Tokyo, a small shop sells something hardly known to the outside world. A coveted permanent pigment infused with minerals and gemstones, this rare paint has been used for centuries by Nihonga masters and few others. Nihonga, a living tradition of Japanese painting known for its blend of naturalism and abstraction, fine, delicate lines, and ethereal beauty, is a world wrapped in mysticism, inaccessible even to most Japanese people. For American artist Allan West, finding the permanent pigments to use for his burgeoning art career became an obsession. Against all advice, Allan moved to Japan to seek out the hidden world of Nihonga and unlock its secrets and profound beauty. His quest took him from Carnegie Mellon and the safety of his Western roots to the bustling streets of Tokyo to learn from the masters. Driven by an unwavering commitment to his passion as an artist, West was not prepared for the challenges of being a barbarian in a culture steeped in tradition and formality. Blending culture clash, determination in the face of obstacles, and triumph over what's never been done, They Hang Me in Tokyo is the amazing true story of Japanese customs, art secrets, and a foreigner's relentless quest to belong. When West rejected modernism to study with one of the five reigning "mountains" of traditional Japanese painting, he took on a transformative journey of struggle and acceptance spanning continents and gaining him worldwide recognition. They Hang Me in Tokyo is a vivid tapestry of contrasting cultures that shows the boundless creative possibilities when passion meets perseverance. Enter the mesmerizing world of Nihonga in this captivating memoir of acceptance.
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Add this copy of They Hang Me in Tokyo: A Barbarian Artist's Life to cart. $24.45, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2024 by Bankroft Books.
Add this copy of They Hang Me in Tokyo: A Barbarian Artist's Life to cart. $31.33, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2024 by Bankroft Books.
Not many shops in America will throw you out because you lack high credentials in your field.
But it happens in Japan. It happened to Allan West when he tried to purchase pigment for a color he sought to mix for his painting. The shop owner prohibited West the pigment, saying he wasn�t qualified. Saying he needed certification from the emperor. And noting he was obviously not Japanese.
This event pretty much set the tone for Westââ?¬â?¢s career as a fine artist in Japan as presented in Allan Westsââ?¬â?¢ memoir, ââ?¬Å"They Hang Me in Tokyo: A Barbarian Artistââ?¬â?¢s Life-Changing Journey to Master Nihonga, the Traditional Art of Japan.ââ?¬Â? By now itââ?¬â?¢s been a long career, or perhaps rather a long struggle. An American by birth and upbringing, but an artist by calling, West somehow could never silence the siren call of the Japanese aesthetic.
In particular, he wanted to study Nihonga, a traditional Japanese painting style that uses ink, and mineral and organic pigments on silk or paper. To do so he needed to immerse himself in a very Japanese world of ancient custom, family dynasties in pigment production, national judgment of his technique, and what Americans not as polite as West would almost certainly call racism. (The word appears nowhere in his book.)
Yet the artist persisted. He faced Japanese motorcycle gangs and battled wits with the yakuza, the Japanese mafia. He became fluent in the language and married a Japanese woman, though even this translated into a challenge to his painting talent.
He opened a studio and grew close to the neighbors in his little block. He experimented with technique and dressed in the local way. He became a master painter in the Japanese style, to the point where he may now credibly lament the slow weakening of Japanese painting traditions, as pigment-producing families die out and customs fade.
ââ?¬Å"They Hang Me in Tokyo,ââ?¬Â? at 292 pages, never demurs in relating Westââ?¬â?¢s defeats, which have been numerous, but it also never complains. Rather, setbacks are related with the neutral calm of a police report, as the early rejections slowly gave way to acceptance and even celebration and eminence. After 40 years in Japan, West has exhibited all over Europe, Japan, and America, including at the Smithsonian.
ââ?¬Å"I lived for art,ââ?¬Â? says the artist. And indeed, he still lives, in Tokyo with his wife and three children. His book, arranged in vignette-sized chapters around the major questions of his life, ought to interest anyone who has ever set off across the desert known as the artistââ?¬â?¢s journey, or in fact anyone who has ever faced reversals.
Itââ?¬â?¢s an often lonely trip, and not everyone arrives somewhere pleasant. But often the most difficult journeys make the best stories, and Allan Westââ?¬â?¢s book ââ?¬Å"They Hang Me in Tokyoââ?¬Â? seems to prove that. He makes travail, and its subsequent triumph, a pleasure to read.
