"MADSAKI's work is the culmination of his attempts to understand his bicultural identity growing up in America. Or more specifically, in New Jersey, right on the border of those hallowed grounds of the Bronx and Manhattan — the holy grail of not only graffiti history but the entire world of fine-art institutions and blue-chip-gallery culture. His paintings, 'serious; spoofs of the most famed artworks in the Western world, rendered with a spray-can aesthetic, perfectly capture the sense of an artist at a distance and unsure of what the rules are supposed to be. What is art? What is graffiti? Where does a lack of inclusion in the traditional art world meet the desire to vandalize? That sort of rule-breaking led to MADSAKI's recent output, where tags like MADSUCKY WUZ HERE make their way onto fine-art canvas, a balance of frustration between being an outsider and making fun of one's creative roots."

These words came from Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco, written about MADSAKI's work, which was published recently in the Beyond the Streets catalog, yet still relevant and apt when discussing the Japanese painters newest show, If I Had a Dream, running from July 17 through August 17, 2019, at Perrotin in Hong Kong. As someone born in Osaka, raised in New Jersey, formative years spent in NYC and now back in Tokyo, MADSAKI is constantly playing a balancing act of cultural identity. From what Perrotin notes, the majority of MADSAKI's latest exhibition consists of works inspired by Andy Warhol, along with a selection of paintings depicting stills from Hong Kong cinema classics like Kung Fu Hustle and Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood For Love. And these dichotomies get to the heart of MADSAKI: East and West, High and Low, all mashed together with a signature style that is playing with the perception of what the meaning of art culture really is in 2019.

Today we share a preview of If I Had a Dream, and in the next few weeks will release a Radio Juxtapoz podcast conversation with MADSAKI.  

All images Courtesy MADSAKI/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.