Kikuji Yamashita was a Japanese Surrealist painter associated with the postwar avant-garde art movement in Japan.
13 Facts About Kikuji Yamashita
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Kikuji Yamashita's artworks were featured prominently in the 2010 documentary film ANPO: Art X War by American documentary filmmaker Linda Hoaglund.
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Kikuji Yamashita was born in Miyoshi city, Tokushima prefecture on October 8,1919.
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Kikuji Yamashita was sent to Ogochi village along with Yutaka Bito, Hiroshi Katsuragawa, and others.
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Kikuji Yamashita was supposed to paint kamishibai paper plays to inspire and galvanize the farmers into forming a militant resistance movement against the dam.
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In June 1960, at the height the massive Anpo Protests against the US-Japan Security Treaty, Kikuji Yamashita joined with philosopher Takaaki Yoshimoto and others to form the "June Action Committee" to rally protesters against the treaty.
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In 1970, Kikuji Yamashita penned an essay in which he admitted to his wartime role in murdering a Chinese prisoner, and spoke of the guilt he still felt at his actions.
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In 1974, Kikuji Yamashita founded a new artistic collective called "Hitohito", with which he remained until his retirement in 1984 due to ill health.
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Kikuji Yamashita was a bird lover, and kept several owls as pets in his home.
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Kikuji Yamashita died on November 23,1986, at the age of 67.
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In 1976, Yamashita was the subject of a documentary film, The Crumbling Swamp: Painter Kikuji Yamashita, produced, directed and edited by Shinkichi Noda.
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In 1996, a major retrospective solo exhibition of Kikuji Yamashita's works was held at the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art.
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In 2010, Kikuji Yamashita's paintings were prominently featured in the documentary film ANPO: Art X War by American documentary filmmaker Linda Hoaglund.