Although she has only recently turned 28, I am starting to think Tabaimo is one of Japan's most important artists. Here's why.
In the more than 10 years I have lived in Japan, I have gradually become acclimatized to an environment of pervasive cuteness. For example, the logo on my Asahi Bank cash card is not a strong, powerful image like a talon-baring eagle or towering mountain peak -- rather it is a line drawing of an upright bunny rabbit, dressed in a pink smock, out for a stroll with five little ducklings. And I find nothing wrong with this picture. I think it is normal, fun. But art should be another matter, shouldn't it?
I don't mean to pretend that art that is likely to appeal to children is necessarily immature. Consider Andy Warhol's floating silver helium "pillows" and his larger-than-life Brillo boxes; Roy Lichtenstein's big, bold, comic-book panels; Jeff Koons' cute ceramic Pink Panther statuettes -- these unabashedly fun works are all counted among the more important art of the 1960s-'80s.