December 2017 Unicorn Of The Month: Yoh Nagao

"Jumpman" Collage, Acrylic, Marker on Canvas / 2800mm-2000mm / 2017

Yoh Nagao is a pop collage artist from Aichi Prefecture, Japan. In our modern society, we are taking so many issues such as war, sickness, natural disaster, resource, environment, food and etc. The situation is getting harder and harder. The world is totally losing its balance, pursuing just economy and ideology can not manage our modern life any more in this planet. We even would lose the chance of recover, human will be collapsed if the situation continues the same way.

However, under this hard situation, Nagao believes that art can change our world better place.

In his art, he uses figures, animals and landscapes to expresses love, happiness, warmness, pleasure and elation such as invisible emotional feeling which is hard to describe in words. These are the senses which we are absolutely missing in modern society. He thinks these invisibleness contains are getting more importance for us now a days. They are also the key to live up in our society better. Nagao’s aim is to tell these thing to the people through his art which is not only his way of connection with the society, but also his mission as an artist.

"Searchman" Collage, Acrylic, Marker on Canvas / 1000mm-1000mm / 2017

After graduating from Nagoya Zokei University, he began working as a graphic designer and illustrator, while freely expressing his unique style as an artist. He gained prominence in Japan after receiving the Uniqlo Creative Award in 2005 (now UTGP), exhibiting at the International Poster Triennial in Toyama, and being selected for the SHIFT calendar design contest. These successes at international competitions led Yoh to expand his work overseas. After a successful first-ever solo exhibition in Hong Kong in 2009, he received an honorable mention in the collage category of the international competition ARTAQ Urban Art Award (France) in 2011. 

"Dove" Collage, Acrylic, Marker, Ballpoint / 420mm-600mm / 2016 /

He was invited to participate in the PICK ME UP Contemporary Graphic Art Fair held in London that same year, becoming a serious contender on the international art stage. Since then, his pieces were also showcased in numerous art fairs and events in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Zurich, Berlin, Paris, Angers, London, and Tokyo.

In 2008, his work was displayed in the famous boutique shop Colette in Paris. His work has also been published in high profile magazines such as Nakedbutsafe (Germany), Lodown (Germany), Dazed and Confused (England), and DPI (Taiwan). In the summer of 2014, in Isla Mujeres (Mexico), he collaborated with the project SEA WALLS by PangeaSeed (USA), creating an outdoor mural with the artist Aaron Glasson (New Zealand) that was showcased in The Huffington Post and The New York Times online.

Private Commission Work. Collage, Acrylic, Marker, ballpoint on Canvas / 515mm-728mm / 2017 /

He was also selected by the organization World Art Destinations as one of the 30 artists who took part in the Festival International de Arte Público in Cancún, Mexico, where he created an installation of a 100 multicolored paper planes that captivated the Festival's audience. Back in Japan, his art works were selected to depict the popular JRA Chukyo Racecourse in Japan for 2015, widely showcased in the subway network of Nagoya. 

Untitled. Collage, Acrylic, Marker, Ballpoint / 390mm-300mm / 2014 

Nagao’s pieces, exhibitions and artistic collaborations have steadily gained specialized but also wide public appreciation, confirming the rising value of his unique style and endless creativity, which is being recognized all over the world.

To view more of his work, visit his Website, Instagram, Twitter, FB Page, and Tumblr Page.