The universe has been an artistic muse for humankind since, well, art began. Paleolithic cave paintings in France and Spain depict what scientists interpret as astronomical star clusters in the night sky. In Japan, the cosmos and a Chinese myth likely inspired "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" (Taketori monogatari), a 10th-century science-fiction narrative featuring the beautiful Princess Kaguya, who came from the Moon. more...
Flaming Youth: Art Informel and Its Influence on Japan
Christopher Stephens
A government white paper released in 1956 declared that "the postwar era is already over." This phrase, quickly embraced by the public, signaled that all of the efforts to rebuild the country over the previous decade or so had succeeded and it was now time to move into a new phase in Japan's history. A similar optimism took hold in the art world, prompted in large part by the French critic Michel Tapié. more...
Shades of Gray: The Photographic Alchemy of Kenro Izu
Alan Gleason
A massive, starkly modern concrete structure, the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (K*MoPA) looms incongruously above the forests of the Yatsugatake Highlands at the end of a narrow winding road, far from the nearest highway. Once a visitor enters, though, the building is a revelation. A vaulted, cathedral-like atrium lets in ample sunlight, and a terrace in back is shaded by trees that encroach from the surrounding woods, seemingly on the verge of overrunning the hard gray surfaces of the building. The effect is like stumbling across a Mayan temple ruin designed by Bauhaus. more...
