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Filled under: Stencil
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snAwk
-Stencil artist-

snAwk is Tokyo-based stencil artist.
snAwk moved to Vancouver, Canada at the age of 15 by himself and then enrolled into Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design to study art. The reason why he was strongly influenced by Andy Warhol, he sticks with to use stencils and spray paints. Those seems very simple and so low-tech ways of creating art pieces, but these tools make his art works very colorful and come across pop style. His ideas come up from anything in ordinary life something like TV programs, street cultures, musics or from the shape of a coin.

snAwk chose beloved V.I.P Yukichi Fukuzawa’s portrait, which is printed on most valuable bank bill in Japan, as the main subject for the series of works. Actually he created them with full ironic intent.
snAwk says in his official statement,

“Yukichi Fukuzawa is such a pop icon. Here in Japan, there is no other portrait that is so popular and loved. Apart from his historical achievements, the power of his portrait is enormous today. Everyone wants and cherishes the pieces of paper with his portraits printed. It could make your life wealthy, or it could mess you up. We are all obsessed by Yukichi Fukuzawa. Even the global depression has been said for a long enough, the government has just changed here in Japan and signs of economic recovery have emerged. The stock markets and exchange rates are uplifting. This is the resurrection of the Japanese economy. Our future is bright. From now on Yukichi Fukuzawa will bring more happiness to us Japanese citizens. It’s a welcome endeavor.”

Besides a being stencil artist, snAwk is also a gallerist. He own his gallery name, The blank GALLERY, at Harajuku, Tokyo where the well known for the forefront of Japanese fashion and cultural trends. snAwk opened his own gallery for two reasons below;

① Providing young Japanese artists a place to express themselves, and introducing them.
② Introducing overseas artists, who haven’t been introduced to Japan yet.

The blank GALLERY specializes in edgy graphic and pop arts. The artists who was selected and introduced by snAwk, are commonly ignored by the major gallery and art scene in Japan. The blank GALLERY is the only place in central Tokyo to dig up obscure artist.

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【The blank GALLERY】
HP: http://www.the-blank-gallery.com/index.html
Address: 3-21-6 3F Jingumae Shibuya, Tokyo
Open: 12:00-19:00
Closed on Thursday
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