Exemplary Asian Art in Hakone: The Okada Museum of Art
Alice Gordenker
Imagine it was your dream to build a museum devoted to Asian art, and you had the drive, means and resources to fill it with outstanding pieces over a wide range of genres. That, in a nutshell, is the story behind the Okada Museum of Art, the newest venue for traditional art in the culturally rich mountain resort of Hakone. The sprawling five-story structure, which opened in 2013, houses the personal collection of Kazuo Okada, an entrepreneur who made his fortune in gaming machines. According to Forbes Magazine, Okada is currently one of the 50 richest people in Japan. more..
Bringing Photography Closer: The IMA Concept Store Gallery
Michael Pronko
Bringing photos into the lives of people in Tokyo is a challenge that the IMA Concept Store Gallery takes so seriously they made their slogan "Living with Photography." IMA magazine started publishing in 2012 and immediately garnered a reputation for the quality of its work and a respect for its mission of introducing young Japanese artists to a broader audience. The magazine, though, was not enough, the editors decided. To really bring artistic photographs into people's lives, they had to do more. more...
Metavoids: The Ceramic Art of Yo Akiyama at Musée Tomo
Alan Gleason
Yo Akiyama has literally turned the world of ceramic art inside out. His latest works, on view at Musée Tomo until July 24, bring to mind cataclysmic inversions of the Earth's crust. Deep fissures penetrate unwieldy masses of clay whose ravaged surfaces sink inward toward the core as magma erupts from below. If these were tectonic plates, we'd be talking about the end of the world as we know it. more...
