Kawaii

It is not a surprise that Western art has been influenced by Japanese art over the centuries. From the ukiyo-e woodblock prints of the 17th – 19th centuries to modern-day manga, the influence of Japanese art has filtered into the paintings of the Impressionists to modern Pop art. The earlier 19th century phenomenon which came to be known as Japonisme by 1872, saw a sudden rise in the interest of Japanese art after Japan recommenced trade with the West in 1853. As the influence of Japan on Western artists became more widespread, the center of influence shifted from Paris to New York during the birth of modernism. In the decades that followed, Abstract Expressionists found inspiration from the broad strokes of Japanese calligraphy. But the term kawaii, meaning “cute" or “adorable" has its origins in manga. The comic book illustrations and their animated forms (anime) swept across the globe in the 1990s, cementing a new drawing style in popular culture and its role as an influential art form. Though “cute" or “adorable illustration" are not genres that exist in Japanese art, kawaii is a style invented in the West. It refers to the illustration of characters that generate sympathy, have large heads, sparkling, round eyes and chubby bodies. In our selections, the likes of Yoko d'Holbachie and Potchi Moopp depict work in this western style that is inherently Japanese…