Description of the Artworks
Layla Yamamoto: After the Quake
18 - 30 Dec. 2021
15:00 - 20:00
1F, Fukushima Bldg., 1-5-3 Nihonbashimuromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Embedded Files
A rain of ruin, 2019
22x27.3cm
pastel, collage on a canvas board
平和の定義 (Definition of peace), 2019
22x27.3cm
pastel, collage on a canvas board
A Rain of Ruin is a drawing that depicts a mushroom cloud superimposed on images of newspaper articles reporting the atomic bombings, while Definition of Peace incorporates the imagery of stamps commemorating the speech "Atoms for Peace" by the 34th President of the United States, Eisenhower.
In 2011, following the Great East Japan Earthquake, Yamamoto sensed the transformation occurring in Japanese society and undertook the challenge of depicting the post-earthquake Japanese society by starting from Japan's post-war era as its pre-transformation state. "Atoms for Peace" was a slogan used by post-war America to promote the peaceful applications of atomic power for technological exports. It also reflects the political propaganda of Western countries deploying nuclear power at the forefront during the Cold War era to maintain their own superiority. The post-war era may have begun with the atomic bombings in Japan and has been sustained by nuclear power generation. This serves as the starting point of this series.
The latest news, 2019
22x27.3cm
pastel, collage on a canvas board
Drawing of waves on top of news images of the Fukushima nuclear power plant during the occurrence of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
birthday(blue), 2017
41x31.8cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
The image of a steam explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant is depicted.
青を覗く (Look into the blue), 2017
41x31.8cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
because you want it (Postwar is over), 2019
53x45.5cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
even you want it (Postwar is over), 2018
53x45.5cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
therefore I want it (Postwar is over), 2019
53x45.5cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
Referencing Yoko Ono and John Lennon's WAR IS OVER. While calling out that "the post-war era is over," if the post-war system in Japan was sustained by nuclear power generation, then the 2011 nuclear accident should have brought an end to the post-war system. However, contrary to this background, the relationship between Japan and the United States, including initiatives like the "Operation Tomodachi," has been strengthened. Socially, there has been a rightward shift, and with the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympics and the upcoming Osaka Expo, it seems as if there is an attempt to restart and reimagine the post-war era. In the present, with different economic and social structures, we are no longer in the post-war era. Just as WAR IS OVER. carried the hope of ending the Vietnam War, even though it had not yet ended, the artist's desire to create the next phase of Japanese society is encapsulated in the phrase "POSTWAR IS OVER.," symbolizing the wish to bring an end to the post-war era.
I don't care, I'd rather sink, 2019
53x45.5cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
The drawing portrays a child peacefully sleeping with a serene expression, despite being submerged in the midst of a tsunami. The image of the child symbolizes the future and freedom, yet at the same time represents a being who lacks autonomy and a sense of responsibility. Within this series, the presence of the child embodies Japan's own inability to assert itself against the overwhelming power of the United States, as exemplified in General MacArthur's statement that "the Japanese people are like 12-year-old children." Furthermore, the tranquil image of the child reflects a Japanese society that, rather than struggling and resisting against the immense waves brought about by social and political structures, tends to surrender resistance early on and harbors a desire to die without suffering while peacefully asleep.
キノコ雲と波 (Mushroom Cloud and Wave), 2017
100x80.3cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
The motifs that symbolize this series, such as mushroom clouds, tsunamis, and the face of a child, are intertwined. However, there are also references to elements that strongly represent "Japanese art" internationally, such as Katsushika Hokusai's iconic waves, which have become synonymous with Japanese art, Takashi Murakami's Time Bokan Series, which reconstructed post-war Japanese culture, and the use of elements from the works of Yoshihara Jiro, a member of the Gutai Art Association that emerged in post-war Japan, including Enso.
(Note: Gutai Art Association was a Japanese avant-garde group founded in the 1950s that aimed to redefine the concept of art.)
繰り返し押し寄せる波に (The Wave Surging Repeatedly), 2017
162x130cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
The drawing depicts the face of a child being engulfed by waves, utilizing the wave representation from Katsushika Hokusai's Kamimachi Festival Float Ceiling Painting and the composition of Roy Lichtenstein's Drowning Girl, influenced by Hokusai. The speech bubble contains a quote from the poem The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats. The accompanying Japanese text is provided by the artist.
原子力のジレンマを解決し (Solve the fearful atomic dilemma), 2018
162x130cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
The drawing depicts the face of a child within an explosion, referencing Roy Lichtenstein's Explosion. The speech bubble contains a quote from the poem "Insensibility" by Wilfred Owen. The accompanying Japanese text is derived from the Japanese translation of President Eisenhower's speech, "Atoms for Peace."
birthday(red), 2017
41x31.8cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
The image represents the "Trinity Test," the first atomic bomb test conducted by the United States. The numbers represent the date of the experiment.
ロスアラモスの女の子 (A girl in Los Alamos), 2019
30x30cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
The image quotes the figure of the daughter from a photograph depicting a mother and daughter shopping within the Los Alamos Laboratory, where the development of the atomic bomb took place.
Glory for peace, 2019
100x72.7cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
On top of a photograph of a celebratory atomic bomb cake created after the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests and the Operation Crossroads, an early American flag (Old Glory) is depicted. The flag is portrayed vertically, following the flag display method in conservative regions of America. The use of the flag as a motif also references the work of Jasper Johns.
American flag on a document of Trinity, 2019
22x27.3cm
pastel, collage on a canvas board
A drawing of the American flag is depicted on top of an image representing news articles reporting the Trinity Test.
8月の子供 (A child in August), 2019
27.3x22cm
pastel, collage on a canvas board
A photograph of the aircraft (Enola Gay) that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima is depicted, with a Japanese girl portrayed alongside it. The contrast between the girl from Los Alamos, exuding prosperity as she wears beautiful Western clothing, and the Japanese girl during wartime provides a glimpse into the disparity in national power between Japan and the United States during that time.
赤条と日章 (red stripes and sunburst), 2018
53x53cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
Before the war, the Japanese flag featured radial lines. However, after the war, as a result of the country's relationship with the United States, there might be red horizontal stripes behind the new Japanese flag.
赤を覗く (Look into the red), 2017
41x31.8cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
第二の故郷 (the second home), 2018
45.5x53cm
Acrylic paints on canvas
For Yamamoto, the country of America represents a nation with significant power dynamics in relation to her homeland of Japan. However, it is also a land where she has encountered many individuals and felt accepted. The artwork expresses Yamamoto's ambivalent feelings towards America as her "second home."
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