What do embroidery, lacework, and sewing have in common with monumental steel sculpture and performance art involving self-inflicted bodily harm? Answer: with notable exceptions, we associate these practices with a certain gender. Does it matter that Shin Ikeda, whose technically exquisite, moving and hilarious work involves the former group of skills, is male? It shouldn't, though it undeniably adds a further wow factor to the 45-year-old artist's mastery of embroidery, as does the fact that he only took it up in his thirties. more...

Twentieth-century modernism in Japan is often considered something that the country imported wholesale. But the reality is not quite so straightforward, as Japan already exhibited much of the simple, elegant style that is the hallmark of modernism in the West, and the two, over time, became closely entwined. more...