Hiroshi Nagai, born in rural Tokushima in 1947, is renowned for his abundant collection of pop-style paintings, which became synonymous with the City Pop movement of late 1970s and 1980s Japan.
Raised watching his father paint in oils, Nagai developed a deep passion for art. Moving to Tokyo in his youth with aspirations to attend art school, he faced rejection from all his applications. To make ends meet, he initially worked as a set decorator for a Tokyo artist. As his reputation grew, he transitioned into creating illustrations.
Inspired by American pop art and influenced by British artists like David Hockney, Nagai focused on reimagining the American landscape of the 1950s. Drawing from predecessors, he depicted deep blue skies, serene seaside scenes, and tranquil urban landscapes throughout the late 1970s. His work gained momentum in Japan around the early 1980s, coinciding with the emergence of City Pop.
City Pop, loosely characterized in Japan as music with an ‘urban feel,’ drew heavily from Soft Pop and Sunshine Pop genres originating from Southern California in the 1960s. These genres, often likened to elevator music, epitomized America’s post-war economic boom and resonated with Japan’s thriving economy in the 1980s.
Nagai’s Californian cityscapes and leisurely poolside scenes seamlessly complemented the musical vibe of City Pop. He became a prominent figure in designing album covers for City Pop artists throughout the 1980s, significantly shaping the movement’s visual identity.
Continuing to create art today, Nagai’s prints have recently gained popularity within the vaporwave movement—a modern genre nostalgic for Japan’s bubble era. This cyclical borrowing of styles underscores the enduring influence of Nagai’s adaptation of 1950s aesthetics, now mirrored in contemporary art scenes.
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