Yui Sakamoto

Yui Sakamoto (July 1981 – 20 August 2024) was a Japan-born artist who made Mexico his working home. The pictures pay homage to Mexican Surrealism the way Día de los Muertos does: colour first, then the dance. Demons caper. Whatever gloom is there has been asked to the festival, and it came dressed.

Yui Sakamoto, a Japan-born Mexican artist, is renowned for his expansive, vivid, and intricately detailed otherworldly creations that pay homage to the legacy of Mexican Surrealism. Leveraging his distinctive mixed cultural background, Sakamoto artfully fuses elements and symbols from Japanese traditions, Mexican folklore, pre-Columbian relics, and contemporary pop culture.

Born in Aichi, Japan in July 1981, Sakamoto spent his formative years in Nagasaki. In 2003, he relocated to Monterrey, Mexico, where he completed a degree in Art at the University of Monterrey in 2008. He later lived and worked within the Japanese expatriate community in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, until his death there on 20 August 2024. His artwork was featured in numerous exhibitions across Mexico, Japan, and China.