YOKOO TANADORI (1936-) [POSTER FOR A KABUKI ACTOR]. 1974.

40 1/2x28 inches.
Condition A-: minor tears in margins. Paper
Yokoo can be credited as the artist who introduced pop art to Japan. He was also the first to mix the style of western, old master painting with Japanese iconography in a unique East-meets-West style that utilizes collage, photomontage and cartoon style graphics to create extravagant fantasies. Thanks to the attitudes of Japanese clients who allowed artists creative freedom, Yokoo produced a tremendous amount of graphics in all fields of communication. At the beginning of his career,Yokoo was heavily involved with avant-garde theater in groups such as the Tokyo Gekijo and the Tenjo Sajiki Troop, and he always maintained a connection with this world. This poster is primarily a portrait of an actor, who must certainly have been a friend of the artist, with images of traditional Kabuki theater on the bottom. This cartoon-like drawing style is one Yokoo primarily used during this period for numerous magazine covers and illustrations.
ref: All About Tandori Yokoo and his Graphic Work, Kodansha, Tokyo, 1989, no. 1080, p. 260.