Matsuyama City Exterior Wall Painting
The multidisciplinary work of Brooklyn-based Japanese artist Tomokazu Matsuyama—more widely known by his street tag name Matzu—can be found across the globe, from murals at the renowned Bowery Mural wall in Manhattan to a large-scale public sculpture stationed outside Harbour City in Hong Kong. The mirrored 'Sky Is The Limit' sculpture—which 松山市 外壁塗装松山市 塗装業者 designed in partnership with LeBasse Projects—appears to hover just above the Ocean Terminal's grand staircase, referencing the blurring of worlds in which East and West meet. The sculptural piece references a number of art-historical subjects including 19th century oil paintings of Napoleon Crossing the Alps and Hokusai's woodblock print of a kirin, while also employing elements from modern Japanese anime and American Playmobil toys.
A sculptural installation of fluttering birds also appears in Matsuyama's large-scale shaped canvas painting Desktop Utopia (2020). Here, a man sits in an interior fitted with pastel blue wallpaper and wooden flooring, while his laptop flies over a swarm of butterflies. The fluttering bird motif, which can be traced back to Matsuyama's interest in the idea of migration and travel, can be seen throughout his paintings.
Matsuyama's eponymous hometown is a sweet respite from Japan's frantic global cities, brimming with hot springs, Buddhist temples and shrines and traditional craft industries like pottery and indigo dyeing. It is also home to an iconic castle built during the Edo period that combines a medieval defensive fortress with Japanese and European elements. Matsuyama's works reflect a desire to explore the fluidity of culture and the blurring of worlds, as well as our ability to overcome calamities and disasters.
