EXCALIBUR Japan, b. 2006
Further images
Imagine Tokyo in pixels and you might head somewhat towards the mind of Excalibur: an artist collective from Tokyo, Japan, founded in 2007 by Yoshinori Tanaka.
The art of EXCALIBUR is strongly influenced by the graphic appearance of Nintendo in the 1980s and by the golden age of video games. As a base, they use the same 8bit pixel as the video games of that time, giving their work a strong sense of nostalgia.
The name EXCALIBUR comes from Final Fantasy. It is the strongest weapon one can get and it is a weapon everyone can share. Something Yoshinori aimed for with his collective: become a place where everyone can use the same tool.
One of EXCALIBUR's signature works is his exciting version of Ukiyo-e, a traditional genre of Japanese wood graving often depicting beautiful women, Sumo wrestlers and city scapes. EXCALIBUR uses the urban surrounding as an inspiration. In pixels Tokyo becomes a potential playground for gaming. They call it "Ukiyo.e".
These works are the modern landscape series drawn by the Dot-e (pixel art) methods,
that were once the drawing techniques of video games.
It is based on the traditional Ukiyo-e "One hundred famous views of Edo" by Hiroshige Utagawa.
Producing the places that were actually drawn at that time,
we are spinning daily life with symbiosis between modernities and traditions and between
realities and virtual realities.
Exhibitions
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