Yoshitaka Amano's "Deva Loka" series embodies a new creative style and a unique artistic vision. The works in this series depict deities and demons, set against a sprawling, elegiac background. By integrating the narrative lexicon of animation with the otherness of "chaos space," Amano gives all of the varied inhabitants of the "Deva Loka" plane of existence their own place in the overall picture. The "Deva Loka" plane is a fountainhead of dreams and illusions, and also a place of limitless possibilities. In "Deva Loka Candy S-II," the work included in the present auction, the vivid, gorgeous composition spreads outward from the left-hand side of the canvas in a visual explosion of radiant beauty. The fairy-like being in the center of the painting is soaring through the firmament on a flying machine. Typical of the supernatural-seeming yet sweet female figures that characterize Amano's work, she looks out calmly and fearlessly at the viewer through large, wise eyes.

Unlike the traditional depiction of demons and spirits in Japanese ukiyo-e prints, or the way heroes are shown fighting the forces of evil in American comic books, the demons and monsters in "Deva Loka Candy S-II" are not depicted as destructive, aggressive villains with gaping mouths and rending claws. The monster on the right-hand side of the canvas is a clown-like figure whose body is decorated with a pattern of diamonds and who sports a bow on its head; it sticks out its tongue cheekily, like a child's toy. The painting uses luminous color combinations which reflect those seen in candy, and a lively, vibrant linear composition. The use of aluminum sheet and automobile paint creates a clean, visually-striking, futuristic atmosphere within which Amano is able to give free rein to his imagination. Here, the world of fantasy is no longer a battleground in which a lone hero struggles to save the world, but rather a hyper-real virtual playground, the scene of a mystical bacchanalia.