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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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| IMAYO - Connecting Past and Present |
| 4 April - 21 May 2017 |
The Shoto Museum of Art
(Tokyo) |
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| Imayo is an old Japanese word meaning "current style." Curated by art history professor John Szostak of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and initially displayed in Honolulu, this exhibition introduces six contemporary Japanese artists who employ traditional Japanese arts and crafts techniques, and places their works alongside examples of the traditions that inspired them. |
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| The Buddhist Master Sculptor Kaikei: Timeless Beauty from the Kamakura Period |
| 8 April - 4 June 2017 |
Nara National Museum
(Nara) |
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| Of 45 known extant works by Kaikei -- ranked with Unkei as one of the greatest Buddhist sculptors of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) -- this exhibition boasts 37, making it the most complete overview of his work to date. At once variegated, dynamic, and dignified, these masterpieces of Buddhist statuary merit leisurely contemplation.
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1,000 Years of Japanese Wooden Buddha Statues: From the Asuka Period to Enku |
8 April - 4 June 2017 |
Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts
(Osaka) |
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| Most exhibitions of Buddhist sculpture concern themselves with eras, styles, and artists, but this one is different. Here the theme is wood, a material prevalent in Japanese statuary from the Asuka period (538-710) to the early Edo period (1603-1867), and the changes that wooden Buddhist sculpture underwent during that millennium. Though metal and stone were also used, Buddhas of wood enjoyed particularly wide dissemination in Japan, where woodcarving craftsmanship was unparalleled. |
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| To Things Beloved: Shiotani Teiko 1899-1988 |
| 6 March - 8 May 2017 |
Shimane Art Museum
(Shimane) |
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| This massive treatment of one of Japanese art photography's trailblazers offers 313 prints, primarily from a major gift to the museum by native-son Shiotani's family. Most impressive are the astounding powers of concentration the photographer applied to the creation of every print. His painstaking development process is evident in compositions that resonate with his presence.
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| Terunobu Fujimori: Architecture with Nature, and "ROJO" |
| 11 March - 14 May 2017 |
Art Tower Mito
(Ibaraki) |
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| A solo show by a maverick architect known as the standard-bearer of "vernacular architecture" that utilizes the natural terrain and materials of its surroundings. Displays ranged from models and photos of Fujimori's most renowned works -- built and unbuilt -- to a series of photos commemorating his "ROJO" found-architecture project with the late avant-gardist Genpei Akasegawa and other kindred spirits.
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| Picture Scroll Enthusiasts |
| 29 March - 14 May 2017 |
Suntory Museum of Art
(Tokyo) |
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| The Suntory celebrates a decade at its Roppongi venue with a novel take on emaki, the picture scrolls favored in Japan since feudal times. Up to 60 cm wide, they are meant to be gradually unrolled by hand from right to left, but few of us today get to handle such treasures ourselves. This show provides a historical and vicarious perspective through the eyes of the wealthy and powerful patrons -- emperors, shoguns, and other aristrocrats -- who nurtured the emaki into a major art form.
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