Kamikaze

© Peter Blake. All rights reserved, DACS 2023. Image credit: Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

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Notes

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Kamikaze is an imaginary Japanese-American wrestler. The name Kamikaze is taken from the Japanese pilots of light bomber aircraft trained to crash their planes in suicide missions against allied ships in the Pacific War. This is supported by various collage elements including a toy Japanese ‘Zero’ plane glued to the support, a collage of photographs of Kamikaze pilots taken from magazines, together with a Kamikaze armband and a traditional Japanese wrestler mask sitting above the work, wearing a knitted mask made to match the painting. It exemplifies elements of popular culture of the 1960s including the use of comic strip style lettering. 'Kamikaze' was included in Robert Frazer’s seminal one-man exhibition of Blake’s work from 1965.

National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff

Title

Kamikaze

Date

1965

Medium

Cryla acrylic & collage on board

Measurements

H 78.7 x W 48.3 cm

Accession number

NMW A 28054

Acquisition method

purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund and the Derek Williams Trust, 2006

Work type

Painting

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National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff

Cathays Park, Cardiff (Caerdydd) CF10 3NP Wales

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