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Picks is a monthly sampling of Japan's art scene, offering short reviews of exhibitions at museums and galleries in recent weeks, with an emphasis on contemporary art by young artists.
1 September 2010
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Eiji Yuzawa: REAL BONES
2 July - 8 September 2010
GÉODÉSIQUE
(Tokyo)
In this solo show by photographer Yuzawa, whose book BONES: Animal Anatomy and Functional Beauty (Hayakawa Publishing) came out in 2008, his close-ups of animal and fish skeletons resemble grand architectural structures. This reviewer was reminded of Cranium Architecture (1988), a photo series on a similar theme by Irving Penn.

Tabaimo: Danmen (Sectional Generation)
10 July - 12 September 2010
The National Museum of Art, Osaka
(Osaka)
This same exhibition came to the Yokohama Museum Of Art last year, but the Osaka layout is different, which (interestingly) creates an entirely different impression of the work itself. Tabaimo uses the medium of video to express changes in the relationship between the individual and the outer world as a progression from two to three dimensions. In the current venue her work appears even more idiosyncratic and persuasive.
Man Ray: Unconcerned But Not Indifferent
14 July - 13 September 2010
The National Art Center, Tokyo
(Tokyo)
Over 400 works by the celebrated avant-garde artist/photographer (1890-1976) are brought together in this ambitious retrospective. Unfortunately, the few paintings on display are overwhelmed by the huge quantity of relatively small-sized photographs. One thing's for certain, however: Man Ray himself cut a dashing figure as a man of style and taste.
Setouchi International Art Festival

19 July - 31 October 2010
Seto Inland Sea islands + Takamatsu
(Kagawa)
After picking up a press pass and guide map at the festival office near Takamatsu harbor, this reporter set off by boat on what turned out to be a multi-island art tour. The project is vast and perhaps a bit rash in scale, sprawling as it does across seven islands in the Seto Inland Sea (Naoshima, Teshima, Megijima, Ogijima, Shodoshima, Oshima, and Inujima) as well as the city of Takamatsu on Shikoku island.
Sensing Nature

24 July - 7 November 2010
Mori Art Museum
(Tokyo)
This is a big museum to fill with the work of just three artists (Tokujin Yoshioka, Taro Shinoda, and Takashi Kuribayashi), but all three have risen to the occasion with masterful presentations. Yoshioka's mass of wind-blown white feathers and Shinoda's triple-screen video and pool of blood are impressive. But what resonate most are Kuribayashi's remarkable installations, which render visible what we normally can't see: a vast forest of paper trees with holes cut in the forest floor for us to peep up through like subterranean creatures, and a sculpture of an island viewed from below the ocean surface.
MAM Project 012: Tromarama

24 July - 7 November 2010
Mori Art Museum Gallery One
(Tokyo)
An artist trio based in Bandung, Indonesia, Tromarama creates some truly unique animations -- one employs over 400 woodblocks, while another stop-motion work is made with massive quantities of buttons and beads. Their work is also indicative of the worldwide spread of animation as an artform -- and of its versatility.
Yusuke Asai: Botanical Feast

23 July - 4 September 2010
ARATANIURANO
(Tokyo)
A solo show by a painter who has suddenly entered the limelight of late. Asai is best known for his works on walls: "Masking Plant," which he drew atop masking tape affixed to a wall, and "Mud Painting," in which he painted a wall with mud of various colors gathered in the immediate vicinity. With their limited lifespan, none of these works sell, making Asai the bane of art dealers. Even when he paints conventional pictures, they tend to spill out of the frame and onto the surrounding wall.

Yuki Onodera: Into the Labyrinth of Photography

27 July - 26 September 2010
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
(Tokyo)
Onodera creates her photographic images by assembling bits and pieces extracted from the treasure chest of her memories and everyday experiences. These quotidian fragments undergo a process of ripening and fermentation in Onodera's imagination, reconfiguring themselves into enigmatic, labyrinthine structures. It is her twisty process of blending malice, sensuality and humor that is the artist's true forte.

Yui Usui: Before Tears

24 July - 4 September 2010
Contemporary Art Space Studio J
(Osaka)
Usui is known for the diversity of materials she uses in her art, which has included acrylic paintings on plywood and small objects made of candy wrappers. Here she introduces a series of works made of pottery shards produced by painting on unglazed plates and breaking them into pieces. Usui has her own distinctive take on the relationship between memory and the fading into obsolescence of material objects, and the creative means she employs to express it brings a number of stories to mind.
Art Court Frontier 2010 #8
25 June - 24 July 2010
ARTCOURT Gallery
(Osaka)
For this regularly held group show, several artists, curators, collectors and journalists are invited to recommend one participating artist each. The overall level of artistry is high, but of the twelve participants, the standout is Yukihiro Uzuhashi, who makes his living as a beekeeper. In his "Honeybee Installation," Uzuhashi fills the inner garden of the gallery with hives, enabling visitors to experience firsthand a space with bees flying back and forth. Poems and various objects arranged along the window enhance the lyrical mood of the pastoral setting.
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