Hiro Yamagata

(Japanese, b. 1948)

“Many people say, ‘My art will heal the people.’ I always avoid ‘heal the people,’…
Of course, I help people, but it’s more about not harming people.
An artist to me is more about inner matter.”
— Hiro Yamagata

Hiro Yamagata is a famous, multi-talented contemporary artist. He is considered one of the most famous silkscreen artists thanks to his use of vivid colors, and is best known for his vibrant screen prints in the 1970’s, 1980’s, & 1990’s. The artist has also pioneered lasers in art, utilized holograms, painted vintage cars, contributed to films, and had a global impact, for example by attempting to holographically recreate the massive ancient Buddha statue destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 with lasers and solar power.

Born on May 30th, 1948 in Maihara, Japan, the would-be artist was the third of six children and his father ran a lumber business. While he was in high school between 1964 and 1967, he began using lights in his artwork and winning awards for them. He briefly studied under Masachika Sugimura before he moved to Tokyo in 1967, first working part-time there at an art supply store, then illustrating and designing at an advertising firm. He moved to Milan in 1972 to live with a girlfriend, but when it didn’t work out, he found a place and settled in Paris, and attended the École des Beaux-Arts. He had his first solo exhibition in 1973 in Wien, consisting mostly of watercolor and oil paintings. The next year, tapping into his passion for jazz music, he created an installation combining jazz and lasers at a Paris theater. Four years later, in 1978, he moved across the world to Los Angeles and began incorporating his signature bright silkscreen colors into his artwork. Over the decades he has produced personal work, been an official part of many notable events, and been a generous philanthropist.

Yamagata has moved between creating visual, two-dimensional artwork, laser/tech shows, and contributing to films, among other projects. Known through the 1980s and 1990s mainly for his astonishing success in the commercial print business as a master of Pop spectacle with brightly colored, highly detailed screen-prints depicting festival scenes and parades. His series New Golf in collaboration with world-class professional golfer Jack Nicklaus brought sports into his artwork. His exhibition Earthly Paradise revolved around him painting vintage Mercedes Benz cars, combining pop culture and the beauty of the nature,” and opened at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and was also held in Hakone, Venice, Monte Carlo, Montecatini, as well as Tirino in 1995, Stockholm in 1996, Vienna in 1997 and Rome in 1998.

A pioneer in using lasers for art installations, Yamagata has participated and held several laser & technology-embracing installation exhibitions. Among many other shows, from 1997 to 2006 he has had laser installations exhibitions almost every year, often multiple times a year, all over the world. He collaborated with NASA for the Art&SPACE, Hiro Yamagata and the world of NASA exhibition at Yokohama Seaport in 2003. Visitors at this exhibition put polarizing lenses on to see this piece, which was created by laser reflection of innumerable cubes hanging from the ceiling of two huge cubic structures, surrounded by holograms. In 2005, he proposed a large-scale holographic recreation of the destroyed statue of the Buddha at the Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan. The proposal used solar energy saved during the day to power a laser installation after sunset, and was projected to cost $60,000,000. He showed the laser installation at a gala at Geffen Contemporary Museum in L.A. He also participated in the Earth, Water, Fire, and Air Festival in the Castle in Cape Town, South Africa, where he experimented in a pentagonal shaped castle, installing nearly 200 mirrors, reflecting the lasers all around the building and the city.

He also played a role in the creation of multiple films. He was a production designer for two movies produced by his friend Franco Columbu. "Beretta's Island" in 1992 and "Doublecross on Costa's Island" in 1997. In 1994, Yamagata produced a feature documentary about the Beat Generation with Allen Ginsberg, The Source, and presented at Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and New York City. He also was involved in the creation of the series of “Eternity of the Silk Road,” and in 2005, he acted as executive producer for Sydney Pollack's documentary film Sketches of Frank Gehry, which was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.

The artist has also been an official part of several notable events, including the Air & Space Bicentennial (1983), the 1984 Olympics, the Statue of Liberty’s hundredth memorial anniversary (1986), the Australia Foundation memorial (1988), the hundredth anniversary of the Eiffel Tower (1988), and an official portrait of U.S. President Reagan (1988). In the 1990s, he created official art works for a celebration of 200 years of emigration to America (1990), the Freedom Campaign in Berlin (1990), the 500th Anniversary of Columbus's first visit to the New World (1991), the 3rd IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka (1991), the Barcelona Olympics (1992), Kyoto 1200 Year Celebration (1992), the Atlanta Olympics (1995), the 200th Anniversary of the White House Foundation, and he was designated as an official artist of Grammy Awards by the Grammy Foundation (2000).

Yamagata has turned out to be a generous philanthropist who supports multiple causes, including the arts, education, AIDS research, and disaster relief, among others. He established the Yamagata Foundation in 1987, and in collaboration with the Kennedy Foundation held a charity event for physically disadvantaged people. He donated all sales of his piece, “Fireworks,” to the International Red Cross Society for victims’ relief of the San Francisco earthquake. His good friend and Beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg steered him to provide fellow Beatnik poet Gregory Corso a monthly stipend in 1992, allowing Corso to live the rest of his life comfortably. While others only discuss problems, Yamagata takes action, and has earned admiration in exclusive circles of politics, society, show business and even at Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art and New York’s Museum of Modern Art, where he has funded major exhibitions. Yamagata lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. His work has been published in multiple books. He has been named an Honorary Citizen of the City of Warwick, Rhode Island, and an Honorary Citizen of the City of Los Angeles. His life as both an artist and individual continue to inspire generations to come.

American Fine Art, Inc. is proud to feature the original works and limited editions of Hiro Yamagata. Visit our 12,000 sq. ft. showroom in Scottsdale, Arizona or call today. Our website is offered only as a limited place to browse or refresh your memory and is not a reflection of our current inventory. To learn more about collecting, pricing, value, or any other art information, please contact one of our International Art Consultants. We look forward to giving you the one on one attention you deserve when building your fine art collection. We hope you find our website helpful and look forward to seeing you in Scottsdale soon.