N°12, Circa 2023

Masayoshi Hanawa  

1981 – JAPAN

Masayoshi Hanawa is a self-taught artist. As a child, he grew up in an isolated house in the middle of the forest. His mother worked nights to ward off loneliness and fear of the dark, and the little boy drew what he still calls "my protective entities" today. Later, he learned to be a hairdresser at a technical high school. In 2005, while the salon that employed him closed, he painted on T-shirts that he sold on the street, along with some of his own drawings. Still accumulating odd jobs to earn a living, Hanawa draws and writes every day in his car: "gargoyles." Hanawa's world is similar to the Japanese postmodernist art movement Heta-Uma, characterized by a gesture "freed" from learned technique, a critical play on popular iconography, creating a form of non-academic pop art. The artist is part of the alternative collective Mograg Garage, formed in 2008 in a garage in the suburbs of Tokyo. His paintings, drawings, and sculptures are included in numerous private collections and are exhibited in galleries, art fairs, and museums throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. The artist lives and works in Hitachinaka-shi, Japan. He is represented in Europe by HEY! Modern Art & Pop Culture.