Harumi Yamaguchi

Harumi Yamaguchi

BornNationalityBased In
1941JapaneseN/A
Biography

A leading name in the world of Japanese advertising, she pioneered the highly dramatic but elusively flat airbrush aesthetic closely associated with commercial illustration. Harumi Yamaguchi’s practice places her in the vanguard of new painterly practices and as a celebrated documenter of an emerging feminist aesthetic from the 1970s onwards. Born in Matsue in the Shimane prefecture, Yamaguchi graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts in oil painting. She began her career as a freelance illustrator, spearheading the advertising for the renowned retail establishment PARCO. From its outset, PARCO was established to combine a commercial retail establishment with a cultural facility, combining platforms such as museums, theatres, and publishing in addition to retail. Yamaguchi’s role as engineer of the project’s mise-en-scène places her in the centre of art and design in Japan. As one of the original gyaru — commonly known also as “Shibuya Girls” rising from out ūman ribu or the feminist movements of the 1970s and generally applied to professionally-empowered but trend-conscious young women— Yamaguchi’s position at PARCO gave her license to portray an emerging cosmopolitan woman, liberated from the vestiges of traditional femininity and empowered through consumerism to define her own individuality. “Harumi’s gals” are often active and in motion — be it throwing a ball or swimming in a crystal blue pool — and returning the gaze of the viewer. As Chizuko Ueno noted in her essay published in connection to “Women of the 70s PARCO Poster Exhibition 1969-1986”, an exhibition that took place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, “while appearing to adhere to the scenario of male-tailored eroticism, Yamaguchi deconstructs male desire through her exaggerative depictions. As a consequence, the female body is idealised to a realm unreachable by male hands”. ...

Selected Artworks
Plastic Hose
Harumi Yamaguchi
Plastic Hose, 1976
63 x 65.7 x 3cm
Roller Skate
Harumi Yamaguchi
Roller Skate, 1977
51.5 x 65.5 x 3cm
Glass, Summer and Woman
Harumi Yamaguchi
Glass, Summer and Woman, 1979
74.2 x 104.2 x 3cm
Pink Sheets
Harumi Yamaguchi
Pink Sheets, 1978
43.8 x 98.4 x 3cm
Dripping
Harumi Yamaguchi
Dripping, 1974
51.4 x 71.2 x 3cm
Dryer
Harumi Yamaguchi
Dryer, 1977
46.3 x 65 x 3cm
Lying on Ice
Harumi Yamaguchi
Lying on Ice, 1979
59.8 x 51.5 x 3cm
Peeking Lady
Harumi Yamaguchi
Peeking Lady, 1980
50 x 70 x 3cm
Fight Mode
Harumi Yamaguchi
Fight Mode, 1976
51.5 x 69.8 x 3cm
Megaphone
Harumi Yamaguchi
Megaphone, 1975
45 x 61.7 x 3cm
Banana Picture with Lady
Harumi Yamaguchi
Banana Picture with Lady, 1982
42.4 x 60 x 3cm
Emerald Dream
Harumi Yamaguchi
Emerald Dream, 1981
51.5 x 72.8 x 3cm
Rita Hayworth
Harumi Yamaguchi
Rita Hayworth, 1980
51.5 x 36.4 x 3cm
Coca Cola
Harumi Yamaguchi
Coca Cola, 1976
47.3 x 64.6cm
Big Court
Harumi Yamaguchi
Big Court, 1985
51.5 x 72.8cm
Yagasuri (arrow pattern)
Harumi Yamaguchi
Yagasuri (arrow pattern), 1981
Soap Bubbles
Gallery Representation
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