Back Issue - 16 May 2022 -
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image image Roka Art Project: A New Destination on Naoshima
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Susan Rogers Chikuba
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"Build and they will come." That couldn't be truer of Naoshima, a small island of 3,000 residents in the Seto Inland Sea. In a span of 25 years, what had been a waning industrial outpost was transformed under the auspices of the Fukutake Publishing Company (now Benesse Holdings, Inc.) into a renowned art destination that's home to Benesse House (1992), the Art House Project (1998), the Chichu Art Museum (2004), and the Lee Ufan Museum (2010), among others. Today Benesse Art Site Naoshima includes two neighboring isles and is the center of production for the Setouchi Triennale, which welcomed 1.18 million visitors in 2019. As that event's fifth installment kicked into gear last month, Naoshima saw the launch of Roka Art Project, an independent endeavor led by the island's first luxury ryokan. more...

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image image Confusion Is Next: Artistic Reflections on the Contemporary Experience
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Christopher Stephens
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It all starts with confusion. After making your way down to the third basement of the National Museum of Art, Osaka -- a building located almost entirely underground -- you would normally find yourself in front of the entrance to the current exhibition. But things are a bit different with Range of the Senses: What It Means to "Experience" Today (on view through 22 May), a show featuring works by seven now active artists. more...

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image image The Colors of Monochrome: Kenro Izu at the Hanzomon Museum
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Alan Gleason
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Born in Osaka and schooled in photography in Tokyo, Kenro Izu emigrated to the United States in his early twenties and established himself as a commercial photographer in New York. But he didn't find his true calling, he says, until he visited the pyramids in Egypt. Since then he has devoted his career to photographing places of spiritual power across the planet -- notably in India, Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Indonesia -- seeking, he says, "that drop of shining essence that will someday emerge out of the coming together of serene observation and clear recording." more...

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Recent Articles
FOCUS
Roka Art Project: A New Hub for Well-Being on Naoshima
Susan Rogers Chikuba
16 May 2022
FOCUS
Confusion Is Next: Artistic Reflections on the Contemporary Experience
Christopher Stephens
16 May 2022
HERE/THERE
The Colors of Monochrome: Kenro Izu at the Hanzomon Museum
Alan Gleason
16 May 2022
PICKS
Toko Shinoda: a retrospective
16 May 2022
FOCUS
Little Pricks: Chim↑Pom's Cheap Cynicism and Flaccid Social Critiques
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FOCUS
Takamasa Yosizaka: Redefining Architecture at All Scales
James Lambiasi
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HERE/THERE
Digitizing the Floating World: An Immersive Ukiyo-e Experience
Alan Gleason
1 April 2022
PICKS
Is the Door Open? Tracing the 40-year History of MOMAS and Its Collections
1 April 2022
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