Kenichi Yokono

Kenichi Yokono is a Japanese artist born in 1972 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa. He is best known for his woodcutting, often created with very bold colors, usually red. He is a member of Geisai, and

Biography

Yokono graduated from the Kanazawa College of Art in 1997. He had started creating works in 1996, and has quickly moved from painting to woodcutting. He started using bright colors in 2003 when he started gaining popularity. Though his work is popular in Japan, much of his work is showcased in Los Angeles and other American galleries.

Artistic Style

While he began with painting, especially self portraits, Yokono is well known for creating wooden cut outs, usually red and white, and often in the form of various body parts that had the ability to be placed together and were often related to horror imagery. These people often look like they are hanging, sometimes with what appears to be blood on their shoes. Many of Yokono’s works appear to be bleeding or have some substance dripping from their bodies.

Yokono has been working in the wooden print medium since 2003, and it is the style of his best known works.

Awards

Yokono has won the Eriko Osaka Prize as well as the Tom Eccles Prize.

External Links

• Official Homepage, Kenichi Yokono