“Unplugged Kurt Cobain” painted by Kansuke Akaike ©Jet-Black Gallery
Japanese artist Kansuke Akaike has been getting more and more attention as an artist lately, as his custom sneakers were featured on the TV show “130 Million People’s SHOW Channel” with Sho Sakurai who is a member of the boy band Arashi.
Kansuke was also featured on the TV special “Tomoya Nakamura, Banksy and the Wall” where he created a portrait of the program host Tomoya Nakamura using stencils and spray cans live on the air.
Kansuke recently completed painting a brand new artwork entitled “Unplugged Kurt Cobain” using intricate stencils and an airbrush with acrylic paint. This is now available on our site. We have released two limited edition versions of this piece, including a regular one, and a special edition in which each piece uses a one-of-a-kind colour-way.
Custom sneakers for the TV show “130 Million People’s SHOW Channel” created by Kansuke Akaike. ©Nippon Television, Kansuke Akaike
Interest in Cobain Has Yet to Fade Away
Kurt Cobain, depicted in the piece “Unplugged Kurt Cobain” was the frontman of Seattle grunge band Nirvana.
The legendary band was involved in starting the grunge movement and became known worldwide with their second album “Nevermind”, released in 1991. Even though it’s been more than 25 years since Kurt Cobain passed away, he is still a highly relative and talked about subject in rock music.
Last year, YouTuber Funk Turkey made and released a new fake Nirvana song using A.I programming called “Smother” that has gotten over 77 million views on YouTube to date.
This year, a portrait that was hand-drawn by Cobain and six strands of his hair were auctioned off and both were bought for high prices at auction. One sold for $281,250 and the other for $14,145.
In addition, BBC Music has just celebrated the 30th anniversary of their great album, “Nevermind” with a new documentary film in September. Nirvana, especially Kurt Cobain, continue to be a popular subject even amongst the new generation.
The Portrait of Kurt Cobain
In May 2020, a portrait of Kurt Cobain was posted on Instagram as part of the “Stay home art project” that began with Kansuke’s yearning to create artwork to be a source of emotional support for people staying at home. This piece became the original idea for “Unplugged Kurt Cobain”. Kansuke captioned a post featuring this piece of art with the comment “Music always saves us”.
Looking back at the post on Instagram, we can see that Kansuke worked hard to create works of art that he thought would be a source of comfort for people in lockdown. “Unplugged Kurt Cobain” is a brushed-up version that was created with the same motivation as “Stay home art project”. We hope that Kansuke’s works of art will bring some comfort into your life.
Unplugged Kurt Cobain
Medium: Stencil, spray paint with acrylic paint on paper
Size: 507 × 393 mm (19.96 × 15.47 inch)
Edition: 5
Signed and numbered
COA: Exist
Year of creation: 2021
Sold Out
Unplugged Kurt Cobain (Blue)
Medium: Stencil, spray paint with acrylic paint on paper
Size: 507 × 393 mm (19.96 × 15.47 inch)
Edition: 1
Signed and numbered
COA: Exist
Year of creation: 2021
Sold Out
Unplugged Kurt Cobain (Pink)
Medium: Stencil, spray paint with acrylic paint on paper
Size: 507 × 393 mm (19.96 × 15.47 inch)
Edition: 1
Signed and numbered
COA: Exist
Year of creation: 2021
¥ 30,000
Purchase HERE
Unplugged Kurt Cobain (Yellow)
Medium: Stencil, spray paint with acrylic paint on paper
Size: 507 × 393 mm (19.96 × 15.47 inch)
Edition: 1
Signed and numbered
COA: Exist
Year of creation: 2021
¥ 30,000
Purchase HERE
Kansuke Akaike
Kansuke Akaike is an artist who was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1974. His stencil art, delicately depicting realistic expressions of his subjects has been showcased at solo and group exhibitions both within and outside of Japan. His first solo exhibition outside of Japan “Dogs and Drive” took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2007. He changed his base from Tokyo to Shizuoka in 2015. Kansuke then opened his solo show “The Sea for Everyone” in Kanagawa. This show had a theme of highlighting the issue of marine debris in our oceans. In addition to these shows, Kansuke designed posters for Wheelchair Basketball World Challenge Cup 2018 and the Hi-STANDARD x Sky Perfect TV #playthegift Campaign. He started his project “Stay Home Art Project” in April, 2020 where he has been posting portraits of celebrities requested by his Instagram followers
Kansuke Akaike official site
Kansuke Akaike Instagram
Reference：
・NME, “Strands of Kurt Cobain’s hair sell for $14,000 at auction
・NME, “Kurt Cobain self-portrait sells for over $281,000 at auction”
・NME, “BBC mark 30 years of Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ with new film about group’s time in UK”
・Hypebeast, “YouTuber Breeds Fake Nirvana Song With Artificial Intelligence”
・日テレ, 『増田貴久 世界に一足だけのスニーカーを櫻井翔にプレゼント！「1億3000万人のSHOWチャンネル」登場』
・BS日テレ, 『news zero カルチャー特別版 中村倫也とバンクシーと壁と。』