Since November 14 last year, an exhibition about a legendary designer has been held for three months at the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.
"Eiko Ishioka: Can blood, sweat, and tears be designed?"
As the opening exhibition of the New Year's Eve, the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo divides the exhibition into three parts, representing Eiko Ishioka
Before we meet a legendary master of art and design, Eiko Ishioka, let's get to know her.
Eiko Ishioka (1939-2012)
Born in 1939 in Tokyo, Japan, he began his career as a professional art designer after completing his studies at the Tokyo National University of Arts and Music. In her early days, she worked as an art director for advertising, shot commercials for Shiseido, the Japanese fashion department store Parco, and in 1977 did posters for Issey Miyake's catwalk in Parco. The personality is strong, avant-garde and visually impactful. In the 1980s, Eiko Ishioka moved her work base to New York, USA, and began to operate on the international stage.
In 1987, he won the 29th Annual Grammy Awards for his album cover design
In 1993, he won the 65th Academy Award for Best Costume Design for "Four Hundred Years of Thrills"
In 2002, he was awarded the Order of purple silk by the Emperor
In 2008, he served as the chief designer of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games
The Timeless Period: The Feminist Struggle
In the Japanese workplace of the 1970s, especially in the advertising industry, which was considered a "men's field", the desire for equal pay for men and women for equal work was as distant as a dream. However, Eiko Ishioka, who had just graduated from Todai University of Fine Arts at the time, showed a tough attitude towards Shiseido, who threw an olive branch at her.
She is a bold and cold person, and the Shiseido advertisement born from her hand changes the traditional Japanese impression of women and boldly reveals the beauty of women's bodies.
And, in the posters made for PARCO since then, her bravado is vividly revealed. For her, the least worthy fear is controversy.
Although parco department store now belongs to the fashionon in the minds of young women, in the 70s and 80s of the last century, PARCO was just an ordinary department store with unclear positioning and little popularity. It was Eiko Ishioka's design that firmly captured women's desire to break the status quo and pursue freedom, making PARCO a hit.
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Tokyo describes her as "a person who transcends the times and designs the times", which can be said to be very appropriate.
The Fearless Period: Let the world listen to Japanese women
After the 1980s, as Eiko Ishioka's fame grew, her range of activities gradually expanded overseas. Japanese women with a thin sense of presence on the international stage have been falsified by her own efforts.
In 1987, she designed the cover for Davis Miles' album TUTU, which won the 29th Annual Grammy Awards, creating a history of Japanese female designers.
Since then, she has appeared on the stage of various international awards, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the winner of the 65th Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
The movie "Four Hundred Years of Thrilling Love", released in 1992, has constructed the first impression of Dracula the vampire Count in the minds of countless Chinese people. The costumes made by Eiko Ishioka make a lot of embroidery with Oriental patterns and cuts derived from Kabuki stage costumes, adding a bit of mysterious interest to Dracula's image.
Borderless period: Art knows no boundaries
In her later years, Ishioka's design activities became more extensive, and the design firm moved to New York. This bold and avant-garde woman has never been afraid of new design fields and challenges, and has even left a strong mark in China's history.
In 2008, she worked with Zhang Yimou to become a costume designer for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. The exotic culture bursts out countless surprises under her interpretation, and the fusion of ancient meaning and modern art sense is just right, making people completely unaware that the designer behind it will be a complete foreigner.
Since then, she has been actively involved in the film industry. She not only served as a costume designer in Spider-Man, but also participated in the character design of supporting characters.
Eiko Ishioka's last work was to design costumes for Snow White's Magic Mirror, which was released in 2012. By then, she was suffering from pancreatic cancer.
"At that time, seeing her enthusiastic dedication to work, no one on the film scene found out that she was ill." Tomoko Mae, who is in charge of the exhibition "Ishioka Eiko: Blood が、 Khan が, 涙がデザインできるか" exhibition.
In her lifetime, Eiko Ishioka went through the most prosperous bubble economy in Japan.
From being the first to break the spell of ManOnly in the advertising industry, to stepping onto the international stage and leaving her own echo in the cultural history of the West and the East, her life is full of stars and dawn.