Tag - art

 
 

ART

Masahide Miyasaka, a visiting professor at Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University, says he appreciates the ordinary world painted by Kawahara Keiga.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 4, 2024
Renewed attention on Edo-era artist offers window into Japan's past
The ordinary world painted by Kawahara Keiga, in a Dutch-influenced style, serves to capture life in Japan around 200 years ago.
“True View of Mount Asama” by Ike Taiga
CULTURE
Mar 1, 2024
Ike Taiga's revolutionary act of capturing natural beauty
Idemitsu Museum of Arts showcases the Edo Period painter's realistic landscapes at the first retrospective of his work in Tokyo in 13 years.
Eleven portraits of Ainu chieftains, completed in 1790, are now held by the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology in Besancon, France. There were originally 12 paintings in the original set, collectively known as the “Ishu Retsuzo,” but one has disappeared.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Feb 26, 2024
The ongoing mystery of the Ainu portraits in France
A former Hokkaido journalist is hoping to find out how portraits of Ainu chieftains from 1790 made it to Europe.
“Transfer to my Account” shows dozens of "furikomi" stubs from deposits that Yasuko Toyoshima made to her own bank accounts
CULTURE / Art
Jan 14, 2024
Yasuko Toyoshima creates delight from the quotidian
A new Tokyo exhibit of the conceptual artist’s works presents a cohesive worldview about the interaction between a life of rules and deviation.
Watanabe has made shapes of (from left) a monkey, an elephant and a giraffe by folding oak leaves with his hands.
CULTURE / Art / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jan 8, 2024
Kumamoto artist embodies re-evaluation of 'outsider art’ in Japan
Dubbed a "genius autistic paper cutout artist," Yoshihiro Watanabe's works are now being alongside those by trained artists.
A colorful coral reef made out of wool to raise awareness about climate change, at a museum in Baden-Baden, Germany, in January 2022
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Dec 31, 2023
The art world's big planetary problem
Over the last five years, it’s become increasingly clear to major art institutions in Japan and around the world that the sector has a sustainability issue.
The Dvorak Dreams project leveraged AI to retrieve, synthesize and extend the legacy of an earlier cultural pioneer.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 28, 2023
The AI question we should be asking
Artists working with AI can map out a path for the technology’s role across society more broadly.
A participant writes during a New Year calligraphy contest in Tokyo on Jan. 5, 2023.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2023
Japan to propose nation's calligraphy for UNESCO heritage list
In response to a Cultural Affairs Council recommendation, the government will submit a proposal to the U.N. body by next March.
Visitors in the last gallery of “Yves Saint Laurent, Across the Style” at the National Art Center, Tokyo, view designs inspired by fine art.
CULTURE / Art / 2023 in Review
Dec 16, 2023
Eager crowds congested Tokyo’s biggest art museums in 2023
Art fans came with wallets ready for a lineup of blockbuster exhibitions, creating bottlenecks at photo-friendly masterpieces and gift shops.
The Hachiko pop-up artwork display in front of Shibuya Station
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2023
Japan's beloved Hachiko dog statue showcased in pop-up art display
The art installation comes as commemorative events are being held to mark 100 years since the birth of Hachiko.
Rapid improvements in image generation have spurred artists to push back on generative AI startups, which ingest vast troves of internet data in order to generate content like pictures or text.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 6, 2023
Dall-E 3 is so good it’s stoking a revolt against AI scraping
It hasn’t helped much that OpenAI’s new process for artists who want to exclude their data from the system is time-consuming and complex.
Students from Kyushu Sangyo University hold their paintings alongside three atomic bomb survivors whom they spoke with in a bid to depict hibakusha experiences on canvas, in Fukuoka in July.
JAPAN / History
Oct 10, 2023
A-bomb survivors' experiences told through student art project
A-bomb survivors in Fukuoka reached out to Kyushu Sangyo University and asked art students there to create paintings to be used during talks.
Rahm Emanuel, U.S. ambassador to Japan, and Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, discuss the importance of preserving the history of interned Japanese Americans.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2023
U.S. ambassador honors artworks by interned Japanese Americans
“This is not a great moment for America, and we have to own it,” Rahm Emanuel said at a reception in Tokyo.
Rows of sequins affixed to Faig Ahmed’s “Door to Yourself” gives the work its sparkle.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2023
Oku-Noto Triennale brings art into stark relief against rocks and sea
Taking place in the remote city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, the contemporary art event's pretty program aims to instill pride in the local community.
Many art critics rank Pablo Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d’Avignon," which hangs in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, as one of his greatest. But other critics describe the masterpiece as racist or exploitative.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2023
What should be done with art that is seen as racist?
So what exactly should we do when people consider extant art racist?
Taro Okamoto's "Myth of Tomorrow," a mural installed on the wall of a walkway at Tokyo's Shibuya Station
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2023
Taro Okamoto's atomic bomb mural in Tokyo to be restored
The first phase of the restoration work, beginning from the right side of the piece, will commence on Oct. 10 and span approximately 40 days.
An ukiyo-e print of Katsushika Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" that was sold at the New York-based auction house Christie's.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 21, 2023
Complete set of famed Mount Fuji prints to be auctioned in New York
Christie's expects the prints in the series by Katsushika Hokusai, titled "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," to fetch a total price "in the millions."
An installation view of "Ruth Asawa Through Line" at the Whitney Museum in New York shows one of her signature suspended sculptures, a study in form, air and shadow.
CULTURE
Sep 21, 2023
Ruth Asawa: Solid form meets thin air
The Japanese American sculptor helped erase boundaries between art, craft and the decorative arts. A New York show explores her luminous connections.
Attendees view "Lizard and Cigarette" by He Xiangyu during Art Basel in Hong Kong in March.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2023
Pace Gallery's Marc Glimcher surveys an Asian art scene in flux
The art market in Asia is growing increasingly competitive, with a new space in Tokyo for the New York-headquartered gallery adding to that dynamic.
A rendering of the planned Pace Gallery, scheduled to open in the first half of 2024, at the Azabudai Hills complex in central Tokyo
CULTURE / Art
Sep 5, 2023
New York’s Pace Gallery plans Tokyo expansion in 2024
The move comes as Japan looks to more seriously position itself as an art market hub, with officials seeking to capitalize on Tokyo’s cultural cache.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world