Life's a mere distraction before death, an "unbearable lightness of being" to quote Milan Kundera. Art is part of this distraction, viewing the comedy of daily strife and the thought of mortality through an aesthetic frame. It's popular culture at its very best.
Britain, following World War II, was shaped by pop culture: Through years of introspection, comedy, anger and resentment, the nation was equally criticised and eulogized by it in all its forms — literature, painting, sculpture, film and music.
"Private Utopia" at Tokyo Station Gallery brings together 120 works by 30 different artists, now ambassadors for the cultural development of postwar Britain. Established in 1935, The British Council's ever-expanding modern and contemporary art collection comprises works by over 1,650 artists. This marks the first time in over 10 years that a show of this kind has made the way as far east as Japan.