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Artist-in-Residence at Pasadena City College: Masami Teraoka (1998)

Research guide dedicated to the current Pasadena City College Artist-in-Residence, and an overview of past Artists-in-Residence.

PCC Artist-in-Residence 1998: Masami Teraoka

Masami Teraoka
1998 Artist-in-Residence Poster

31 Flavors Invading Japan Series
Today's Special (1982)
11in x 16.5in.
35-Color Woodblock Print
with Hand Watercolor

Masami Teraoka working at PCC

About Masami Teraoka

The paintings and prints of Masami Teraoka (b. 1936 in Onomichi, Japan) express a tension between ancient art techniques and contemporary social realities. Teraoka gained international prominence beginning in the 1970s for works that fuse the look of Japanese Ukeyo-e wood block prints with themes drawn from contemporary Western culture, such as his series of watercolor paintings McDonald's Hamburgers Invading Japan (1975), and his 1982 wood block prints 31 Flavors Invading Japan. In recent decades, after living in the west for many years (he now resides in Hawaii), Teraoka has adopted European painting traditions to depict contemporary social issues. He utilizes the triptych format of a gilded medieval altarpiece to address such subjects as airport security screening, pedophilia among Catholic priests, and the ethics of human cloning.

Masami Teraoka Artist-in-Residence video