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Picks is a monthly sampling of Japan's art scene, offering short reviews of 20 exhibitions at museums and galleries throughout Japan over the past two or three months, with an emphasis on contemporary art by young artists. |
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1 November 2007 |
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| Namanamashiki Kuzo (Raw Visions) |
| 17 - 28 July 2007 |
Gallery Natsuka
(Tokyo) |
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| Tomoko Kashiki and Chizuru Sakamoto, the artists collaborating on this show, employ contrasting styles. Kashiki layers a hodgepodge of materials -- gesso, acrylic, pencil, carbon, cloth -- on wood paneling to produce her paintings, while Sakamoto creates large installations composed of long strands of latex. |
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| Izumi Kato: Dear Humans |
| 14 July - 11 August 2007 |
Arataniurano
(Tokyo) |
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| The figures in Kato's paintings and sculptures are often said to evoke loneliness or isolation, but what stands out in his art is the clarity and beauty of his colors. This exhibit represents the opening of Arataniurano, a new gallery in the Shintomicho district off-Ginza. |
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| Motoyuki Shitamichi: Pictures |
| 21 July - 3 August 2007 |
Shinjuku Ganka Garou
(Tokyo) |
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| Shitamichi first earned notoriety for his "Shapes of War" collection of photos of abandoned wartime bunkers around Japan. The present series consists of photos taken during visits to the homes and shops of people who have decorated their walls with works by the artist's grandfather, an amateur painter of some repute. |
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| Chiharu Nishizawa: For beautiful human life |
| 18 August - 1 September 2007 |
Tokyo Gallery
(Tokyo) |
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| Nishizawa's first solo show in Japan in a couple of years, this one features paintings in which images of monotonous high-rise buildings and built-for-sale houses are surrounded by the small, scattered figures of suited businessmen. The overall effect resembles that of pre-modern Japanese paintings. |
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| Ryo Hamada: Vacant Garden |
| 30 July - 4 August 2007 |
Ai Gallery
(Tokyo) |
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| Hamada has been best known for her technique of painting over color photocopies of out-of-focus photographs. In this exhibit, however, her subject is human faces, not "landscapes" as in the past. The effect is of being drawn into an environment one can only see by removing one's glasses. |
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| Friends of Tetsuya Ishida: Empty Identity |
| 30 July - 11 August 2007 |
Gallery Q
(Tokyo) |
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| Tetsuya Ishida (1973-2005) died at age 31, leaving an oeuvre of paintings that address the closed-off nature of contemporary society. His sudden death sparked a flurry of interest in his work, with several posthumous exhibitions, a book and a TV documentary all in the past year. This show features works by Hajime Ikegaya, Tatsuzo Hyakuda, and Ikuro Yamauchi as well as Ishida himself. |
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| Sachiyo Tsurumi: fig on the left eye, sun on the right eye |
| 3 August - 8 September 2007 |
Magical Artroom
(Tokyo) |
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| The works on display were produced by Tsurumi while she was in the Rising Artist Training Program of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Her pictures superimpose photographs and drawings on one another to form a single layer of imagery inspired, she says, by her dreams and memories. |
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| Imaginary Museum of the O-Collection: Magical Museum Tour |
| 7 July - 23 September 2007 |
Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo
(Tokyo)
| The Tokyo Metropolitan Government sponsors Tokyo Wonder Site as a venue for the works of young artists. This show features works in varying media by three artists -- Yuichi Higashionna, Daisuke Ohba, and Akiyoshi Mishima -- from the collection of contemporary art aficionado Satoshi Okada. |
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| Izumi Kon: A certain gardener -- a moment of plenitude |
| 10 - 31 August 2007 |
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
(Tokyo) |
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| Izumi Kon creates her paintings from collages of images -- objects, landscapes, designs, decorations -- culled from magazines. This more conceptual exhibition, which revolves around an idealized gardener, features a garden created within the museum's own Sculpture Garden, an indoor painting installation, and a "gardener's menu of sweets" at the museum cafe. |
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| Chiharu Mizukawa: Leftover Bathwater |
| 24 - 31 August 2007 |
BankART Studio NYK
(Kanagawa) |
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| Mizukawa produced these paintings by taking long hot baths, removing the bathwater (full of her own sweat, grease, etc.), setting it aside to evaporate, and applying the concentrate to paper, which she then exposed to flame. The images are, incidentally, of packages of the candy and soft drinks that produced the bodily fluids in the first place. |
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