A man can't fly anymore 1996

Curator: The oppressive mood hits you right away, doesn’t it? The stillness, the palette...it feels like something is fundamentally broken. Editor: Absolutely. And I think that sense of brokenness is precisely what Tetsuya Ishida wanted us to consider with "A man can't fly anymore" from 1996. It's a poignant piece rendered in oil paint, part of his broader commentary on the disillusionment of contemporary Japanese society. Curator: I see that so strongly in his merging of human and machine. It feels deeply dehumanizing, doesn’t it? Look at how the protagonist, for lack of a better word, is essentially trapped within this rusted, dilapidated contraption— a fairground ride perhaps? Editor: Yes, a Flying Ship. It’s evocative of failed upward mobility. We need to contextualize this piece against the backdrop of the 1990s in Japan, what’s often called the "Lost Decade," a period of economic stagnation following the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble. The collective optimism of earlier decades had soured into anxieties about employment, purpose, and identity. Curator: Ishida perfectly encapsulates that feeling. The yin-yang symbol on the boat is oddly unsettling and might suggest the tension between tradition and the pressures of globalization at the time. Editor: Exactly, and think about the formal elements. The muted color palette, primarily browns and grays, contributes to a sense of dreariness. The figure is not centered, not heroic, but slumped, almost defeated, as if giving up the possibility of "flying." Ishida consistently portrayed these liminal characters; they capture a sense of social alienation felt by many in modern capitalist societies across the world. The artist even included the flying ship trademark along the wheel with his classic mascot adding another dimension to the dark nature of this piece. Curator: You're right; the symbolism is layered and complex. The painting is a stark reminder that progress and success are not always guaranteed. What does remain however, is our shared condition as beings caught up within these kinds of structures. Editor: Absolutely. And to that point, even decades later, this oil painting forces us to confront our contemporary anxieties.