Japanese Print "McDonald's Hamburger Invading Japan: Chochin-me" by Masami Teraoka
Artist:Masami Teraoka
Title:McDonald's Hamburger Invading Japan: Chochin-me
Date:1981–1982
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Source:Worcester Art Museum
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Description:
Teraoka Masami developed a unique East-meets-West perspective by metaphorically blending the Japanese ukiyo-e ("floating world") painting and woodblock-print tradition with current social, environmental, sexual, political and cultural issues as well as references to western aesthetic traditions and daily customs. His work, he says, expresses the drama of contemporary life and its challenges to the human condition. Born to an artistic family of kimono-store owners in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, Teraoka studied art in Los Angeles before finally settling in Waimanalo, Hawaii. Tackling the issue of the American fast food and commercial, throwaway culture "invading" Japan, this lithograph is based on a painting in a popular series conceived by Teraoka in the 1970s. A McDonald's hamburger tossed to the elements, depicted close-up as if in a movie scene, becomes a poignant statement by its juxtaposition with the feet of a geisha, elevated from the street by high geta. Adding to the symbolism, she wears a kimono decorated with cherry blossoms-the delicate, cherished traditional national symbol of the beauty and fleetingness of life. The artist says that he shows "the beauty and ugliness of human activity and psyche thriving in a complex pictorial recipe."