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Picks is a monthly sampling of Japan's art scene, offering commentary by a variety of reviewers about exhibitions at museums and galleries in recent weeks, with an emphasis on contemporary art by young artists.

1 August 2016

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The Voice Between: The Art and Poetry of Yoshimasu Gozo

7 June - 7 August 2016

The National Museum of Modern Art,Tokyo
(Tokyo)

A reassessment of the career of "body poet" Yoshimasu (b. 1939) through his voice and his artwork, ranging from "voice notes" and handwritten manuscripts to "road movies." The sheer volume of material gathered here is impressive, particularly the multiple exposures and other photographic experiments with which he works the same eccentric magic seen in his better-known copper-plate prints.

DOBOKU: Civil Engineering

24 June - 25 September 2016

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT
(Tokyo)

Anyone expecting a showcase of "cool" public works designs is in for a refreshing shock, for the exhibition's emphasis is, if anything, on "fun." Interactive installations and a variety of other gimmicks successfully conspire to draw visitors into the world of civil engineering. A surprising treat in its own right is the construction industry's cultural journal, BLUE'S MAGAZINE, copies of which can be found at the venue.

Yoshinori Marui: Point-flash

6 June - 10 August 2016

PGI
(Tokyo)

Marui brings a contemplative attitude to his photography. The series on display here focuses on ordinary scenery -- plants, the reflection of light on water, and so on. Often the subject is blurred beyond recognition, opening it to diverse interpretations. With their intentional deflation of tension and refusal to define the observer's position, the images veer close to the realm of theoretical studies of photography.

Hisachika Takahashi by Yuki Okumura

4 June - 4 September 2016

Ginza Maison Hermès
(Tokyo)

In this study of how interpretations of self and other can fluctuate, a younger artist, Okumura (b. 1978), attempts to identify with conceptual artist Takahashi (b. 1940), who has been active since the sixties -- impersonating Takahashi in a video interview, for example. The two artists transcend mere collaboration as they dismantle notions of the self as subject and author.

Painting Beyond the Picture Plane: Installations and Nihonga

23 May - 10, 20, 21 August 2016

Musashino Art University Museum & Library
(Tokyo)

The museum, a facility that would be the envy of any university, introduces installations by Hideaki Idetsuki, Asami Yoshiga, and Takashi Kuribayashi -- three Musabi graduates who studied Nihonga there but now work with three-dimensional space. Idetsuki has created three huge propellers in a triangular configuration, while Kuribayashi has suspended two translucent blue walls from the ceiling for the visitor to walk between. Definitely not a 2D experience.

Ah, Shinjuku! The City as Spectacle

28 May - 7 August 2016

Waseda University Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum
(Tokyo)

A look back at the cultural ferment of Shinjuku in the sixties, viewed through the lenses of theater, art, film, literature, and architecture. All manner of creative characters thronged the bohemian district on Tokyo's west side where street-theater provocateur Shuji Terayama and his ilk performed for unwitting spectators. Indeed, it was the passersby who stumbled upon these happenings that fanned Shinjuku's culture into full flame.

Toeko Tatsuno Exhibition

5 July - 19 September 2016

BB Plaza Museum of Art
(Hyogo)

A retrospective of the artist who died in 2014, extending from her early silkscreen prints of grids and stripes to later paintings and drawings. Whether it was rows of rectangles in diamond patterns or languid S-shapes floating over fields of color, viewers never forgot her work. This show is an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with it.

400 Years of Architectural Challenges -- Takenaka: Master Builder in Japan

23 April - 19 June 2016

Setagaya Art Museum
(Tokyo)

An edifyingly thorough look at the venerable construction company's achievements over four centuries, from feudal times to the present. No wonder Takenaka has won commissions for big-ticket projects like the National Theatre. There is much to peruse here -- models, blueprints, a complete set of the house journal approach, pamphlets and paintings of buildings -- to the extent that the exhibition seems a bit cluttered.

Kana Sato: Transparent Border

27 May - 24 June 2016

The Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Company Gallery
(Tokyo)

Sato paints collage-like assemblages of plants and animals -- deer, horses, goats -- in Nihonga fashion, sans backgrounds. Here and there the paint drips or coagulates; elsewhere parts of flowers or bodies are embroidered. Works like these, which tell a story through juxtapositions of delicacy and roughness, seem to be proliferating these days -- a sign of the spirit of the times, perhaps.

Sentimental Journey - The Complete Contact Sheets

25 May - 23 July 2016

IMA Gallery
(Tokyo)

Nobuyoshi Araki commemorated his four-night, five-day honeymoon with a self-published photo collection that immortalized him and his bride. Sentimental Journey took Japan's photography world by storm. This show introduces 18 rolls of film containing shots that didn't make it into that remarkable volume. The contact sheets offer glimpses of Araki's passion as a photographer, his uncanny eye for selecting images, and the genius that went into producing his book.

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