Hiro Ando

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About the artwork

Hiro Ando's "Monology Pandasan Blue" conflates olden and present-day Japan by recontextualising and reformatting Japanese icons by conflating traditional icons with kitschy modern Japanese symbols, combining "Hello Kitty" with traditional Samurai Warriors, Manekinekos and in this case, the Panda. The work plays with ideas of luxury and status by combining tradition with kitsch, mixing together high and low art to create something uniquely Ando's own.

About the artist

Acquiring his degree from the University of Art, Hiro Ando began his prolific career in 1995 in Tokyo, depicting its nighttime urban landscape. With a lot of inspiration, the streets proved to be an endless source of material for his narratives which often included the red fish in addition to the urban background. The act of the red fish in his paintings greatly reminds of the ancient Japanese watercolor paintings, thus making his work permeated with both a contemporary and traditional feeling. With his artistic beginnings tied to illustration, he would draw several sketches before actually working on the canvas, and his practice has since spread to video material, digital support, and sculpture.