List of Works
Artist Bio
Joel Nakamura is an image maker, producing art for commercial clients and galleries. Projects include the 2002 Winter Olympics opening and closing program illustrations, Maxalt brand art for Merck Pharmaceutical, author and illustrator of Moonbeam children’s book silver award winning Go West! Nakamura has won numerous awards of excellence for his work in editorial, advertising , institutional art. In Santa Fe, Nakamura is known for his art created for Harry’s Roadhouse, Santa Fe film Festival posters Japan Festival posters, and exhibitions at the Tom Ross and the Pop Galleries. Nakamura has a long history in arts education, including Art Center College of Design, SFCC. SUAD, and the Artworks program.
Nakamura is an alumni of Rio Hondo Community College. He began taking night classes as a junior in high school.
About the Exhibit
In this exhibit, Nakamura explores his own fascination and inspiration from Yokai and its effect on Japanese Pop culture.
Yokai are mysterious monsters, spirits, supernatural creatures from Japanese folk lore.Yokai can be found in everyday life in which they take on many shapes and and forms. Yokai have transcended the borders of Japan to become a world wide fascination due to Japanese Magna and Anime. Yokai have always been a subject for artists in Japan as far back as the Edo period. Toriyama Sekien invented new Yokai taking inspiration from folk tales and myths.
