Yoshio Yoshimura — Self-Portrait of A and Un

Yoshimura Yoshio — Aun no Jigazō (Self-Portrait: Aum), 2011

Yoshimura Yoshio (1950–2013) was a contemporary artist from Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture. He is known both for large-scale pencil drawings in which he painstakingly copied entire newspaper pages by hand—including letters, photographs, and advertisements—and for series in which he drew or printed self-portraits on actual newspapers.

"Aun no Jigazō" takes its title from the syllables "a" and "un" — the Japanese equivalent of alpha and omega, the all-encompassing sounds of the Buddhist cosmos. Just as the Niō guardian figures at temple gates stand as paired expressions of creation and dissolution, Yoshimura mapped these forces onto his own face. In this 2011 work, the self-portrait is silkscreened on an actual sheet of newspaper. A daily record of society and the artist’s repeatedly examined face occupy the same surface.

Yoshimura's work is held in major institutional collections, including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and the Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum. His posthumous recognition continues to grow internationally.

• Artist: Yoshimura Yoshio (1950–2013)
• Title: Aun no Jigazō (Self-Portrait: Aum)
• Year: 2011
• Size: 54.5 × 43.0 cm
• Medium: Silkscreen on newspaper
• Condition: Unframed, excellent condition
• Edition: 1/1

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