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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.

1 June 2015

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Sayoko Yamaguchi: The Wearist, Clothed in the Future

11 April - 28 July 2015

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
(Tokyo)

Japan's first supermodel, Yamaguchi (1949-2007) was a multimedia superstar in her heyday. This show features everything from dolls, picture books and magazines that inspired Sayoko in her childhood, to works she created as a student at Sugino Dressmaker School, to posters and videos from her modeling career, to collaborations with playwright Shuji Terayama as well as works dedicated to Sayoko by Yasumasa Morimura, Fuyuki Yamakawa, and other artists she inspired. It seems unlikely the world will see another model like her anytime soon.

Jiro Takamatsu: Trajectory of Work

7 April - 5 July 2015

The National Museum of Art, Osaka
(Osaka)

This retrospective of the renowned avant-gardist Takamatsu (1938-98), who co-founded the Hi-Red Center group, traces his career through various series he developed, as represented in some 450 works: 90 paintings, objects and prints, 40 books and magazines, 40 photographs, and 280 drawings. The sheer quantity of the latter in particular offers a heretofore elusive overview of his output and should be a valuable asset to future Jirologists.

Koizumi Meiro: Trapped Voice Would Dream of Silence

21 March - 7 June 2015

Arts Maebashi
(Gunma)

In video/performance artist Koizumi's works he forces viewers to confront the fact that the actors are merely acting. Even when the subject matter is realistic and historical, he makes us aware that the world shown on-screen is contrived. Portrait of a Young Samurai, about a wartime kamikaze pilot, masterfully exemplifies this approach.

Time of Others

11 April - 28 June 2015

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
(Tokyo)

How do we go about collapsing the temporal and spatial distances between ourselves and the "other" we constantly encounter in our globalized society? How do we connect? This show brings together 18 artists from the Asia-Pacific region to address that theme. In her Erased Slogans series, Philippines artist Kiri Dalena whites out the slogans on placards in photos of political demonstrations from the 50s to the 70s, demonstrating that the power of such actions derives from their form, not their content.

Seductive Smiles: Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e Paintings from the Weston Collection

14 April - 21 June 2015

Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts
(Osaka)

These 130 ukiyo-e paintings selected from the collection of Chicago business magnate Roger Weston are rare indeed: unlike mass-produced woodcuts, each is a singular, hand-painted work. This exhibition presents an equally rare opportunity to see so many such pieces at one time, and is the first public showing of the Weston Collection in Japan.

Yoshihiro Ueda: A Life with Camera

10 April - 26 July 2015

Gallery 916
(Tokyo)

Some 240 photographs in a variety of frames fill the entire space of the high-ceilinged Gallery 916 in apparently random juxtapositions of size and chronology. In sheer quantity alone it is an impressive display. The show covers the map from Ueda's debut as a freelance photographer in 1982 at age 24, when he shot the Monte Carlo Ballet, to more recent works that defy photographic convention in both content and technique.

Naoki Tomita

18 April - 28 June 2015

Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery
(Tokyo)

Tomita's paintings are faithful reproductions of snapshots of utterly everyday scenery; you could call them photorealistic except that he executes them in rough, thick slabs of oil. Lately this approach has begun to seem a bit mannered, but the current show boasts an eye-catching display of some 40 small (18 x 14 cm) portraits of young people titled No Job. Both in format and subject matter, this series represents a promising new direction for Tomita.

Tamako Kataoka: The 110th Anniversary of Her Birth

7 April - 17 May 2015

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
(Tokyo)

A pioneer in the painting of Nihonga that deviated from the norm of delicate beauty, Kataoka (1905-2008) developed an unforgettable style all her own. There is plenty of interest to see here from her early period, before that style reached maturity, as well as the nude series of her late years and the sketches she drew on a daily basis. But ultimately it is her work from the 50s and 60s, when she was at the peak of her powers, that is most compelling.

Osaka Expo '70 Design Project

20 March - 17 May 2015

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
(Tokyo)

Two years ago MOMAT held a design show about the 1964 Tokyo Olympics; this one applies the same template to Expo '70, Japan's first world's fair. The exhibition confirms just how complete the mobilization of Japan's top designers, architects and artists was in the service of the Expo; their handiwork can be seen in its signs, furniture, public spaces, uniforms, and displays. One wonders if the 2020 Olympics will provide the impetus for a similar creative burst.

Isao Hishinuma: Kawatare

31 March - 12 April 2015

Totem Pole Photo Gallery
(Tokyo)

Sometimes we see young photographers suddenly undergo a quantum leap in expressive dynamism, and that appears to be the case with Hishinuma these days. Shot with a 35 mm camera, his Kawatare series is very much in the "I-photography" vein of personal, highly subjective work. Hishinuma appraises his subjects with a calm, steady gaze and creates decorous compositions that reflect his precise assessment of the light and air of each setting.

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