Gajin Fujita
American, born 1972
Person TypePerson
BiographyGajin Fujita is a Los Angeles-based artist who incorporates traditional Japanese imagery associated with his heritage with the graffiti he was surrounded by and produced in his youth. Fujita was a member of KBS (Kids Gone Bad) and KIIS (Kill To Succeed), both respected graffiti crews in the world of tagging. He received his MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he studied with the prominent art and cultural critic Dave Hickey. Hickey encouraged his students that art must "violate" in some way. Gajin Fujita's imagery can be confrontational or graphic sexuality, and thus Fujita has interpreted the admonition to "violate" as a directive to shock the viewer out of his or her comfort zone in an attempt at re-contextualizing the contemporary world.