Painter. Born in Tokyo in 1969, Yamaguchi grew up in Kiryu city in Gunma prefecture. In 1996 he graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School (Painting Department) with an MA in Oil Painting. In 2013, his book “Hen-na Nihon Bijutsushi” won the 12th Kobayashi Hideo Award.
Besides his bird’s eye view paintings of cities or battlefields, he traverses a variety of methods of expression including sculpture, manga and installation.
His major solo exhibitions include ‘TOKIORE(I)MIX” (Maison Hermès 8F Le Forum, Tokyo) and “Yamaguchi Akira: Stepping Back to Seek the Underneath” (Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito) amongst others.
In 2012, he dedicated a fusuma painting to Shoin of Yorin-an, Byodo-in Temple, Kyoto, and the work was placed on special public view.He has further developed the wide range of his practice through public artworks at locations including Narita International Airport, on Tokyo’s Fukutoshin Line at Nishi-Waseda station, and at Fujisan World Heritage Center in Yamanashi Prefecture as its symbolic central painting. He has also created illustrative work and cover art for a variety of serialized newspaper stories, novels and so forth, continuing his prolific practice across a broad range of fields.