Millions of people around the world have seen the work of Asao Tokolo, yet few would be able to produce his name or identify a single project to which he's contributed. Tokolo -- and that's the spelling he prefers for a surname usually romanized as "Tokoro" -- is the man behind the distinctive indigo checkered emblems for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Now, in a special solo exhibition opening this month at the Kyushu Ceramic Museum in Arita, Saga Prefecture, he's dishing up similar designs in blue and white that may point the way to new directions in Japanese porcelain. more...
Obsessive Observation: The Legacy of Maruyama Okyo
J.M. Hammond
Active in 18th-century Kyoto, Maruyama Okyo left a mark on Japanese art far exceeding the legacy of his own distinguished oeuvre. His activities extended to teaching and mentoring other artists and helping establish a new visual tradition in Japanese art. Taking a fresh look at Okyo and artists associated with him is a new exhibition, Legendary Kyoto Painting from Maruyama Okyo to the Modern Era, at the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts (after which it will be held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto). more...
Passing the Baton: Art and Community at the Nakanojo Biennale
Alan Gleason
Held in the mountainous Agatsuma River valley of Gunma Prefecture, the Nakanojo Biennale has grown from a virtually one-man undertaking into a sprawling event that rivals better-known festivals in scale as well as visitorship. Founded in 2007 by Tokyo-based designer Tetsuo Yamashige, the event celebrates its seventh iteration this year with a roster of 150 artists and art units -- 50 from outside Japan -- exhibiting at over 50 venues scattered across the steep hills and deep valleys of Nakanojo, a town whose 17,000 residents occupy barely a fraction of its 440 square kilometers. more...
