Concepts

English / French

In this modern world, systems of computerization and distribution are developing with accelerating speed. On every aspect on locality and cultural matters, the unique color of each characteristic quality is fading, and everything is going to be averaged, which is accelerating globalization. Though there are some opinions pointing out its disadvantage and anxiety relating to it, it would be wonderful if we are actually able to feel that the all mankind is one big existence, not being divided by any national borders, as I think the developments for mankind have been derived from crossovers between activities through each own life and cultural developments, and from emergences of something new from those crossovers, repeated through the long history of human beings. john Bon is an artist who corresponds to such an era of the present time when the voltage of chaos is rising drastically, to show himself to go beyond his nationality.

The artist, john Bon is a human being primarily before having nationality. And he is a living organism as well as all other people. As john Bon agrees with the opinion that the origin of all the mankind can be basically track back to one source, his belief in his creation is to put the power of enchantment into his works evoking and recovering the primitive and wild instincts and emotions rooted in the common unconsciousness underlying the all the human beings. He sends out his essential messages, which can be easily understood by anyone, to the whole world to admire “living life” itself, which overcomes all the constraint and disparity, stress, obstruction, restraint, meaningless concepts on values, and different conditions laid upon the human beings of today.

There is a tinge of Latin blood running through john Bon’s body. His main theme is not Japonism. However, he should admit that irresistible influences of Japanese Pop Culture (subculture), comics, etc. are projected implicitly and explicitly in his works corresponding to the local and historical backgrounds he has passed through during his growth. Nevertheless, he avoid expression using stereotyped images cast by westerners, such as Fujiyama, Geisha, and rather new ones emerged nowadays, Manga, Otaku as much as possible, because he thinks that using those images without reflective thought is abject, cheap, unscrupulous, and blatant approach. This is the honesty and freshness of john Bon’s characteristic. He always thinks about the root of Japanese people. It was in the continent of Asia, tracked back through Silk Road and Eastern Europe, and furthermore, its ancestors can also be tracked back to Africa, the origin of all the peoples. The magnificent stream of time twining all those places and moments accumulated from ancient time till today. That is what he thinks of. The DNAs taken over from the ancient time definitely remain inside our bodies.

In this era of technology-driven world pervaded with infomation-suprematism, “eating and sex” which have been the most fundamental, essential, and primitive pleasures for “individuals” or “living existences” originally (though values of being those become more and more diluted), and “prayers” and “enhancement” for prosperity are his greatest motifs in his works In the world of his art, everything exists equally. The creative activity of john Bon can be rephrased as his own personal attempt to examine his idea that those things depicted in his motifs were not divided existences originally. The whole picture of such an idea cannot be grasped even by the most advanced scientific approach in the ultimate sense. His unreal world of imagination is derived from his own illusion and sexual fetishism, and he admires those images without reserve as mysterious wonders given from gods beyond mortal knowledge, not treating as negative factors, and expresses and inquires with full utilization of the wisdom and skills he has.

Vitality and prosperity. Having apprehension for the decline of production capacity of seminal vesicles of males of these days, john Bon seriously thinks about the possibility of blocking such a decline and recovering their vigor by using the power of visual images. Such decline is nothing but an attenuation of mankind itself. Based upon the awareness that such weakening of vitality is a critical problem for human race’s survival, john Bon’s works are expressed as a message to evoke and go back to primitive life and sexual style, and regain natural sense of respect and a melody of hymn toward everything related to “sex”, which can be leveraged for revitalization of our species. Description of nudity and exposures of private parts hidden in our ordinal life would attracts the eyes of viewers, but one would miss the essential qualities of his works if he or she is just focusing on such striking eye-catching parts. The parts of body are possessed by everyone, and their existences are nothing special and their forms are beautiful. I believe, “everything made naturally must be beautiful”. Whether or not to be able to accept such a message depends on each viewer’s flexibility and freedom of mind, and paradoxically speaking, his or her sanity in artistic appreciation.

No matter how much science will be advanced, the notion of “sex” is mysterious and ascientific thing, which is something like thinking about the edge and origin of the cosmic space. Why are we attracted by members of opposite (or same) sex? Why can’t species live alone? The visual avant-garde abstract images spread through john Bon’s works can be expressed as something like music. It cannot be explained by words, and just exists as one and only thing, called “it”, and emerges as a result of representing feelings aroused by “it”.

Artist who is afraid of taboo subjects cannot express anything. Even in the so-called “world of art”, those pieces in the “main stream” are created through calculations based upon marketing research, only pursuing values as merchandise to make profit. Those things are pretending as if they are made by the right-brain, but actually are produced by the left-brain. The top priority of those artists in the main stream can be virtually summed up in phrases like “worship of money” and “worship of social status”. That’s why it is hard to find works that directly appeals to viewers’ instincts. Accordingly, the world of contemporary art seems to fail in gaining its popularity naturally in the way it is today. Why cannot we expect an artist who stems from the innate vitality held by common people without thinking and from the senses as an entertainer natively acquired?

We want to share something everyone can understand with everyone. Commerce, art, and the persistent contradiction between both of them are the sources of energy of john Bon.