Lounge of Psychedelia

Lounge of Psychedelia (2020) is a large-format art book by the Tokyo graphic artist Keiji Ito (b. 1958), built around an invented record shop of the same name that anchors his collage-driven, psychedelic visual world.

Published by G/P+abp as part of the Fuji Xerox-supported NEOTOKYOZINE (NTZ) series, the softcover volume unfolds Ito's fictional "Lounge of Psychedelia Records" - a shop perched beneath a smoking volcano, its porch lined with lounge chairs and houseplants - through the dense, hand-drawn collage of pattern, line, and pop iconography that runs through both his commercial and gallery work. At 31.8 x 23.6 cm, the book gives that imagery room to read as much like poster art as illustration.

Ito founded the Tokyo studio UFG (Unidentified Flying Graphics) and teaches at Kyoto University of the Arts. His art direction and collage-based illustration run through the 2005 Aichi Expo's official poster, NHK title sequences, and campaigns for Coca-Cola, SoftBank, and Converse (Tokyo ADC Award, 2001), alongside a 1999 New York ADC Gold Medal and CD-jacket work for Japanese musicians including Bonnie Pink and Orange Pekoe.