Hiroshi Naigai
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Hiroshi Nagai (Born December 22, 1947) is a Japanese graphic designer and illustrator, known for his seminal cover designs of city pop albums in the 1980s, which established the recognizable visual aesthetic associated with the musically loosely defined genre.[1][2][3][4] As city pop gained renewed interest at the turn of the century, and especially in the YouTube era, Nagai's work (having influenced the 21st century vaporwave style)[4] gained wider recognition,[5] to the extent that, in 2022, BroadwayWorld described him as a "legendary artist".[6]
Biography
Nagai was born on December 22, 1947 in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan.[7][8] He was inspired to become an artist by his father, who enjoyed oil painting landscapes. Later in life, Nagai traveled to Tokyo, where he attempted to join art school, but was rejected.[1].
After a visit to the United States and Guam in 1975, he was impressed by its scenery, which became the starting point of his subsequent style. From the 1980s onward, he created tropical and clear landscape illustrations as typified by the record jackets of Eiichi Otaki's A Long Vacation and Niagara Song Book. The jacket for A Long Vacation received a gold disc from CBS Sony as a "Special Award for Album Jacket".
He gained an interest in pop art and surrealism. [2]. Many of his paintings took inspiration from American and British artists like David Hockney. Americana became key components in Nagai's art.
References
- ↑ Blistein, Jon (2019-05-02). "City Pop: Why Does the Soundtrack to Tokyo's Tech Boom Still Resonate?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ↑ Russell, Stephen A. (2020-09-24). "Dive into Japanese artist Hiroshi Nagai's pop art exhibition". Time Out Sydney. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ↑ Bloom, Madison (2019-03-09). "Light in the Attic to Release Japanese "City Pop" Compilation". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Hiroshi Nagai: Paintings for Music at The Japan Foundation Gallery, Sydney". Broadsheet. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ↑ Raissi, Siavash (2021-11-04). "Weekender: The revival of city pop: The soundtrack of 80s Japan". The Tufts Daily. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ↑ Major, Michael. "Light in the Attic to Release 'Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975-1987'". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ↑ "NITEFLYTE – Hiroshi Nagai Art works". Japanese Creative Bookstore. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ↑ "Hiroshi Nagai: Paintings for Music". The Japan Foundation, Sydney. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
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