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Picks is a monthly sampling of Japan's art scene, offering commentary by a variety of reviewers about exhibitions at museums and galleries in recent weeks, with an emphasis on contemporary art by young artists. |
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4 November 2014 |
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| Murano Togo: His Architectural and Interior Design Works |
| 3 September - 13 October 2014 |
Osaka Museum of History
(Osaka) |
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| Osaka-based architect Murano (1891-1984) designed many of the best-known structures in Japan's second city. This retrospective has three sections: an introduction to Murano's personal life (e.g. his study of tea ceremony, and the well-designed souvenirs he brought home from abroad for his grandchildren); a display of furniture and reassembled furnishings, such as handrails, that he designed; and a detailed look at works of his associated with Osaka. |
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| Ikushun: LOVE. It's just LOVE |
| 14 - 28 September 2014 |
Fukugan Gallery
(Osaka) |
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| Interspersed among a number of rather unpleasant photographs are just enough shots with the requisite charm or lovely coloration to balance things out. Still, there's no question that Ikushun's brilliance lies in his ability to capture moments of discomfort. |
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| Chiharu Shiota |
| 30 August - 2 October 2014 |
Kenji Taki Gallery
(Aichi) |
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| Though she lives and works in Berlin, installation artist Shiota has been picked to represent Japan at next year's Venice Biennale. This show focuses on her maquettes. The rooms (i.e. boxes) are filled with webs of red or black thread, setting off such items as children's clothing and paper money. One eye-grabber is a space filled with stacks of window frames. |
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| Nana Kakuda: Young Mango -- Blown By a Vietnamese Wind |
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Photographers' Gallery
(Tokyo)
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| Kakuda began traveling around Vietnam in 2010, snapping pictures as she went. In the process she developed her own style of portrait photography. Her desire to face her Vietnamese subjects head-on is tangible, and no doubt a source of emotional strength. |
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| Sei no Motode -- lifescape |
| 5 September - 12 October 2014 |
Shiseido Gallery
(Tokyo) |
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| Yoshiro Suda, guest curator of this eclectic show, chose to parse the Japanese title as meaning "seed funding for life." Appropriately enough, one of the participants, Christiane Löhr of Germany, does indeed make art from seeds. Also featured: Shuho, flower master at Kyoto's Ginkakuji temple; dye artists Fukumi and Yoko Shimura; and LED artist Tatsuo Miyajima. |
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| The 4th Sanpai Summit |
| 12 July - 17 August 2014 |
Plus Showroom
(Tokyo) |
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| True to its title (sanpai means "industrial waste"), this open-entry exhibition showcases art as well as products made from materials normally consigned to the dustbin. Subtitled "a design show that doesn't make excuses for trash," it is sponsored by Nakadai, a waste-processing company, with the objective of "reexamining the value of things, how we dispose of them, the way we live our lives today, and the creative possibilities to be found there." This year 80 artists were selected to exhibit. |
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| Hiroshi Sugimoto: On the Beach |
| 21 August - 30 September 2014 |
Gallery Koyanagi
(Tokyo) |
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| While shooting his Seascapes series over two decades ago, Sugimoto found a large number of automobile parts washed up on a beach in New Zealand. These prints, which were exhibited for the first time in Paris this year, contrast the evanescence of civilization with the eternal expanse of the sea. The underlying theme is the corrosion wrought by time. |
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| Yutaka Mukoyama: "Field of Sand - Message from Animae" |
| 8 - 27 September 2014 |
Galerie Tokyo Humanité
(Tokyo) |
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| Mukoyama uses oils to paint jellyfish, fungi, and other vaguely sinister life-forms. Sometimes the depictions are specimen-like, other times they resemble diorama landscapes. Though always meticulously rendered, the images are more fantastical than real; cosmos flowers surround a saury fish, or a chicken bathes in a hot springs, visible only from the neck up. |
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