Hugo Yoshikawa is a French-Japanese artist born in Tokyo in 1986 to a Japanese father and French mother. Yoshikawa spent his childhood in London, Paris, Tokyo, Bangkok, and New York due to his father’s work. While living in Bangkok, he began reading popular French comics of the “bandedessinée” style including the adventure comics “Spirou et Fantasio,” which his mother bought for him. The sophisticated artistic quality of the comics made a strong impression on him and, at the age of ten, he decided to pursue a future in graphics. As the first step in this direction, he went to Great Britain after graduating from high school to attend Camberwell College where he majored in illustration. After graduation, he began his career as an illustrator in Madrid and Tokyo. Returning to London, he continued to develop his creative expression in works that transcend the genres of illustration, manga, and drawings at a studio in Dalston, where illustrators, artists, and designers gather from all over the world. As an illustrator, Yoshikawa chooses a diverse palette of media and techniques to give expression to his unique world including books and prints, hand drawing, and animation. He now splits his time between London and Barcelona.
Yoshikawa has exhibited in numerous countries including solo exhibitions Galerie Yoshii and Chanel Nexus Hall in Japan; Nidau Gallery in Switzerland; Couverture & The Garbstore in the UK, and many more. Yoshikawa's work has featured in Chanel Nexus Hall Press and Thema Press.
Hugo Yoshikawa's main source of influence lies in his diverse travel history. From the graphics of the NYC Deli's of his teenage years to Fine Art School in London, as well as the bootleg T-shirts of Bangkok of the 90s, can be seen in his visual approach.
He takes inspiration from the Franco-Belgian comics ("Bandes Dessinées") of his youth as well as Woodblock Printing from his Japanese roots. His obsession to draw like his comic book idols made him develop a drawing style in the vein of "La Ligne Claire" pioneered by Hergé, the creator of "Tintin".
He depicts everyday life objects and scenes with his unique twist from his day dreaming. He focuses on his favorite themes: Travels, Food, Drinks, Nature, and Architecture. Constantly trying to evolve, his pieces are executed mainly on paper with a flat 2D approach. Graphically, he concentrates on solid line work complemented by vivid block colors. He does, however, like to challenge himself in different mediums, switching from canvas paintings to prints, and to animations as he tries to incorporate and explore fresh angles into each of his new series of work. For a more universal approach, he tries to make his comic strips of life without the text, using colors and lines to convey emotions.
