"TADANORI YOKOO - Japanese Culture: The Postwar Years 1945–1995", Japanese Contemporary Art Poster, Original Offset 1995, Ultra Rare, Size (c.73 x 103cm)
This is an original Japanese offset poster printed in 1995. This poster is ultra rare and is displayed in the world`s most prestigious galleries such as MoMA in New York City. It is very difficult / almost impossible to find in any condition.
Japan Poster Shop has acquired a substantial and unique collection of original Tadanori Yokoo posters from one of the most prolific collectors in Japan. This individual has a very colorful life story, having invested and dedicated many decades to his love for Tadanori Yokoo`s vibrant designs.
This is the original B1 offset-printed exhibition poster created by renowned artist Tadanori Yokoo for the landmark 1995 exhibition Traces of Postwar Culture, held to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. The large-scale exhibition took place from April to November 1995 across four major Japanese venues, including the Meguro Museum of Art. It explored Japan’s postwar visual culture through collaborative research by leading historians and curators, spanning fields such as art, photography, architecture, design, and fashion.
Yokoo’s poster served as the official visual identity of the project and was a central feature in Part IV of the exhibition—“Before the Dawn: The Formation of Mass Culture in the 1960s.”
Visually, the poster is a powerful collage of memory and metaphor:
A central figure in fatigues walks a red carpet into a dreamlike composition, surrounded by elements of rebirth and ruin.
Iconic motifs like rising sun rays, disembodied ears, puppet-like figures, and post-nuclear cityscapes reflect the collision of trauma and reinvention.
The bold banners read JAPANESE CULTURE IN THE POSTWAR YEARS, punctuated with flags and surreal anatomical imagery.
Signed in plate TADANORI YOKOO 1995, this is a rare and significant work by one of Japan’s most visionary artists, commemorating a pivotal cultural moment. It is an essential collectible for connoisseurs of postwar Japanese art, political graphics, and Yokoo’s legacy as a cultural chronicler.
Yokoo is a celebrated graphic designer whose iconic posters and album covers for artists like The Beatles, Miles Davis, and Carlos Santana left a lasting impact on global pop culture. His psychedelic designs blended traditional Japanese elements with influences from Pop art, Surrealism, and American graphic design, foreshadowing the poster styles of 1960s San Francisco. Yokoo’s work was featured alongside artists such as Frank Stella and Andy Warhol in the 1968 MoMA exhibition "Word and Image." Known for pushing visual boundaries, he provocatively incorporated symbols of Japanese imperialism — such as the rising sun, Mount Fuji, and bullet trains — often juxtaposing them with crude or controversial imagery. His graphic style was rooted in Japanese ukiyo-e printmaking and collage, and a transformative journey to India deepened his fascination with mysticism, inspiring his use of Buddhist symbolism in his art.
Please refer to the imagery (both front and back) as this is the exact poster that is for sale.
It is over 30 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
