Rolling Cherry Blossoms: The Big Bomb for Tokyo ころがるさくら・東京大空襲

OKAMOTO Shinjiro (1933-2020) is an artist, who since the early 1960s, has pursued the style of painting with acrylic on canvas. Employing a technique of painting the contours in thin lines and applying even layers of bright colors, he depicts a wide range of subjects, from the memories of his childhood in downtown Tokyo, to myth, religion, and war. Okamoto had sought his loquacious picture planes overflowing with images and text, to function as “paintings to be viewed,” “paintings to be read,” and even “paintings to be laughed at.” Rolling Cherry Blossoms: The Big Bomb for Tokyo is a panorama, which the artist, who remembers his childhood experience of the 1945 March 10th air bombings, had taken on the challenge of producing in his 70s. Seen to the left is the Ueno Subway Store, with the slope of Kudanzaka in the center, and Asakusa Matsuya Department Store and Battleship Yamato to the right, depicting a world in which these become scorched and burnt to dust, as well as an apocalyptic world of future space. Okamoto treats all myths, history, folk elements and personal memories as equal through is cool mindset and sophisticated handwork. By excessively filling the space of his paintings with imagery and words, he creates a highly critical painting that encourages various ways of viewing and interpretation.