The Art of Sushi and Sake
Gajin Fujita (Samurai of East L.A.)

By Nancy Uyemura

Graffiti is graffiti is graffiti, whether it is gang or hip-hop, but then there is Gajin Fujita, who puts a whole new meaning to graffiti with his work. To view a painting by Gajin Fujita is to be enveloped in layers of a dream. The floating world of L.A. – Tokyo – Las Vegas. From the Tokugawa period of feudal Japan to the gang infested streets of East Los Angeles the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, this artist has creatively managed to involve his audience in a trip through time and space. Visually attacking the viewers senses he pulls you into his work and transports you to that sensual place that touches a nerve, a cord that connects you with his life, his existence and all of our dreams.

Perhaps it was in the stars that Gajin was destined to be an artist. Coming from an artistic family, Gajin’s parents, first generation Japanese Americans, his father a painter and his mother restores Japanese antiques, they named their first-born Gajin (the kanji or Chinese characters for art and man). It seems he was predestined to walk that path of art. Instead of a sword he uses a can of spray paint to make his mark on panels of gold, silver and platinum leaf. The imagery he uses is an energetic mix of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, traditional screen paintings and Japanese textile patterns, symbols and references from Japanese tattoos, graffiti murals, sports team symbols and Abstract Expressionism and Chicano iconography. Sound confusing, challenging? Confusing, not really, challenging, yes, and visually very exciting. His paintings are entertaining, seductive, amusing and sometimes shocking, but always moving and on guard. (Like any good samurai from Boyle Heights would create.) He has successfully melded the street culture and his Japanese heritage together in a unique way that is all his own. The elements he uses have become his trademark, so to speak, compositions that are filled with graffitied backgrounds mixed with traditional Japanese textile patterns and iconography. Overladen with graphic images of samurai, courtesans, tigers, dragons, and the like, it is as if his little house in Boyle Heights was picked up in a tornado and dropped in the red light district of Edo, in feudal Japan and he’s taken us along for the ride. His use of color, graphic symbols and dense composition make the scenes of sex and violence all the more intense bringing us together with, his present culture of eclectic, multi-cultural L.A./Hollywood with that of the past, his Japanese heritage, art history and the human condition.

For those of you who have never had the opportunity to see a painting by Gajin Fujita up close and personal, the work is labor intensive and meticulously done. He uses specially prepared wood panels that are sanded and primed. He then applies gold, silver or platinum leaf. It is on top of this beautiful surface of precious metal that he then might have friends work on it applying their graffiti. The next layer Gajin will use stencils and paint, with the main medium of spray paint most always evident in the foreground. It is a complex combination of culture, heritage and an innate energy to survive and pay homage to those who came before that gives his work uniqueness and is a clear expression of where he’s come from.

Gajin went to one of the magnet schools in L.A.U.S.D. that specializes in visual arts, then on to Otis Art Institute. After graduating Otis he went to Las Vegas and there at U.N.L.V. under critic Dave Hickey received his M.F.A. and the rest is history. He still uses his mother’s house in East L.A. as his studio. He likes it; being on the lowdown, as he puts it, and if it’s not broke, why change it. This used to be his father’s studio when he was alive and Gajin’s roots our here. It’s interesting because many of Gajin’s father’s paintings were images of trees with an extensive networking of roots. Much of the time the root system was larger than the crown of the tree itself. Somewhere in the heavens Yoshi Fujita is smiling, knowing that his root system has made it to the top and is now reaching for the stars. Those of us who know Gajin personally are very proud of him and wish him continued success.

Gajin’s work is currently being shown in a group show in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Las Vegas Art Museum and he will have a one man show in London, England next year. Locally he is represented by L.A. Louver Gallery in Venice, California. There is also a feature article about Gajin in the latest issue of Juxtaposed magazine.

Omedetoo and Kampai to this lover of sushi and sake, the Samurai from Boyle Heights.



BACK ISSUES: The Art of Sushi and Sake
November • October • September • August • July •