.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}@media all and (max-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{width:auto!important;clear:none!important;float:none!important))You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (February 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 3,691 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:永井博_(イラストレーター)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template ((Translated|ja|永井博_(イラストレーター))) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Hiroshi Nagai (Japanese: 永井博, born December 22, 1947) is a Japanese graphic designer and illustrator, known for his cover designs of city pop albums in the 1980s, which established the recognizable visual aesthetic associated with the loosely defined music genre.[1][2][3][4]

Biography

Nagai was born on December 22, 1947, in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan.[5][6] He was inspired to become an artist by his father who enjoyed oil-painted landscapes. Later, Nagai traveled to Tokyo, where he attempted to join art school, in which he was rejected.[7] After a visit to the United States and Guam in 1975, he was impressed by its scenery, which became the starting point of his subsequent style. Gaining an interest in pop art, he took inspiration from English artist David Hockney. Americana became a key component in his art.[8]

Starting in the 1980s, he created tropical and clear landscape illustrations as typified by the record jackets of Eiichi Otaki's A Long Vacation and Niagara Song Book [jp].

Nagai's work had an influence on the vaporwave style[4] and gained wider recognition in the early 2020s,[9] partially thanks to the YouTube era. In 2022, BroadwayWorld described him as a "legendary artist".[10]

References

  1. ^ Blistein, Jon (May 2, 2019). "City Pop: Why Does the Soundtrack to Tokyo's Tech Boom Still Resonate?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  2. ^ Russell, Stephen A. (September 24, 2020). "Dive into Japanese artist Hiroshi Nagai's pop art exhibition". Time Out Sydney. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  3. ^ Bloom, Madison (March 9, 2019). "Light in the Attic to Release Japanese "City Pop" Compilation". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Hiroshi Nagai: Paintings for Music at The Japan Foundation Gallery, Sydney". Broadsheet. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  5. ^ "NITEFLYTE – Hiroshi Nagai Art works". Japanese Creative Bookstore. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  6. ^ "Hiroshi Nagai: Paintings for Music". The Japan Foundation, Sydney. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  7. ^ "【対談】同じ道を、旅した2人の「時代と文化」（永井博 × 佐藤達郎）". 永井博 × デルフォニックス ｜ HIROSHI NAGAI × DELFONICS.
  8. ^ "HIROSHI NAGAI: Japan's Sun-drenched Americana". tokyo cowboy. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  9. ^ Raissi, Siavash (November 4, 2021). "Weekender: The revival of city pop: The soundtrack of 80s Japan". The Tufts Daily. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  10. ^ Major, Michael. "Light in the Attic to Release 'Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975-1987'". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved February 3, 2023.


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