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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 March 2018

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Akira Yoshimura: THE ROUTE Busan - 1993

12 - 28 January 2018

Gallery Yocto
(Tokyo)

The photography of Yoshimura, who died in 2012, is now enjoying a critical reappraisal. These somewhat faded prints, which were found preserved and organized in his room, give a sense of his struggle to find some new direction in his work as he wandered the streets of Busan, South Korea. Most are low-angle, no-finder snapshots, and many of the images are tilted. Their precariousness suggests a state of mind beset by alienation and anxiety.

Chaos*Lounge New Art Festival 2017: 150 Years of Solitude

28 December 2017 - 28 January 2018

Zitti and other venues near Izumi Station
(Fukushima)

After a cup of coffee I was handed a letter and a map, which I followed on a course through the neighborhood surrounding Izumi Station. The route juxtaposed two traumatic historical events: the anti-Buddhist movement of the late 1800s, and the failed attempts at "recovery" since the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster of March 2011. As I strolled the streets around the station, what struck me was the absence of any vestiges of pre-modern history. In that respect, the area exemplifies the "invisible disaster" that has overtaken every region of Japan.

Kazuki Akira: AKIRA; Kazuki Akira + Sadaharu Horio: Yuki

8 - 20 January 2018

Gallery Ami-Kanoko
(Osaka)

AKIRA is the artist of the same name's homage to a seminal influence from his student days, Gutai artist Akira Kanayama. In full-scale copies of Kanayama's line drawings, Akira makes the movement of his own hands follow the mechanical tracings of the lines. In Yuki, superballs agitated by an electric fan fly around the room while visitors outfitted with protective glasses and shields participate in direct "appreciation" of the installation. Here the motion of the balls automatically generates and deconstructs a "line drawing" in three dimensions.

Masahiro Kodaira: "I am that I am"

13 January - 17 February 2018

Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film
(Tokyo)

The rows of monochrome prints span a wide range of subjects, from landscapes and buildings to objects and human figures. However, the overarching impression is of a deliberate focus on "fragments" in close-up. While Kodaira maintains his usual stance of shooting whatever happens to catch his eye, one senses that he has recently begun to engage in a conscious construction of the photographic process.

Atsushi Okuyama: Garden and Esquisses

24 - 30 January 2018

Ginza Nikon Salon
(Tokyo)

When he was 25, Okuyama began taking pictures of Benzo Inoue, a solitary painter living a self-sufficient life in Hokkaido. Since then he has made frequent visits to photograph Benzo and the "garden" of woods and fields surrounding his log cabin. Since Benzo's death at age 92 in 2012, Okuyama has continued to depict changes in the garden as well as the many sketches the artist left behind, preliminary drawings for his paintings. The expressive power of Benzo's life and work permeated this exhibition.

Akiko Isobe: Landmark

6 January - 3 February 2018

G/P gallery
(Tokyo)

It's a little-known fact that Isobe has shot covers for the irreverent monthly Cyzo. Those shown here favor scantily-clad models, flesh smooth and shiny under high exposure, posed with surreal objects against primary-color backgrounds. The mood and texture of the images make for a charming documentation of the fetishes of Japan in the 2010s.

Akira Otsubo Exhibition: Shadow in the House

6 January - 18 February 2018

Art Lab Aichi
(Aichi)

Otsubo's recent "Shadow in the House" series not only portrays the interiors of houses imbued with traces of historical memory; it also represents a collaboration with dancer Yuki Furukawa, whose movements the photographer captures in long exposures that yield ephemeral shadows of a human presence in these rooms. Through their work together the two artists have reincarnated ghostly "memories of place."

The Tampei Photography Club: Toru Kono, Sutezo Otono, Osamu Shiihara

6 - 28 January 2018

MEM
(Tokyo)

An amateur photographers' group formed in Osaka in 1930, the Tampei Photography Club played a significant role in the Kansai region's New Photography movement and remained active until the 1940s. Though leader Nakaji Yasui's work is frequently shown, there have been few opportunities to view the output of other members of the club. Each displays an independent streak that gives full play to the freedom from constraint that is one of the strong suits of amateur photography.

Akina Tokiyoshi Exhibition: Number One

10 - 26 January 2018

Guardian Garden
(Tokyo)

Though these works earned the artist the 16th "1_WALL" Graphics Competition Grand Prize, they are actually made of photos, so she could just as easily have won in the photography category. Her methodology is to snap her subjects (dogs in this case) from various angles with her smartphone camera, print the images on copy paper and cut and paste them into life-size 3D collages. The doggies look real, but close inspection reveals glitches and distortions that add an amusing incongruity to their demeanor. That intentional effect makes for a most entertaining viewing experience.

Kenji Chiga Exhibition: Suppressed Voice

30 January - 16 February 2018

Guardian Garden
(Tokyo)

The work that won Chiga the 16th "1_WALL" Photography Competition Grand Prize was a documentary on the problems young people in India face getting an education. A year later, this recent show focused on the story of one boy the photographer met during that project who suddenly disappeared from school. Provided the boy's cell-phone number by his mother, Chiga was eventually able to track down his whereabouts. The photos, videos and other materials produced during that quest made up this unique exhibit, which may well represent a new, multidimensional style of photojournalism.

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