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May 17, 2024
 

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C.B. Liddell
For C.B. Liddell's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 12, 2007
Japan's saucy chameleon of Modernism
Japanese modernist art is often described as being derivative of its Western counterpart, but beneath the surface a real difference between them can be likened to that between religion in Japan and the West.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 5, 2007
"Katsutoshi Yuasa: The World is Overflowing with Light"
Cibone Gallery Closes in 55 days
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2007
One man's porn is . . .
Sexuality is polymorphous. It has to be. This is because — rightly or wrongly — it often faces rigid repressive structures that it can only outflank by changing its forms and pouring its energy in new directions.
CULTURE / Art
May 3, 2007
"Fiction for the Real"
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Closes in 24 days
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 26, 2007
Take a peak inside Henry Darger's mind
Outsider artists often present a pathetic spectacle to the world: forgotten inmates of mental institutions; shuffling, muttering loners; or misfits, like Henry Darger, who spent his workdays as a low-paid janitor and his free time writing and illustrating an unpublishable 15,145-page novel about a vast...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 12, 2007
Best when grotesque
One good point about public museums in Japan having "funding issues" is that rather than pulling in the art that the public really wants to see and turning themselves into virtual Musee d'Orsays or ersatz Guggenheims, they instead focus on more academically valuable and locally relevant work.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2007
"The Humanity of Vangi, Works: 2000-2006"
Italian Cultural Institute Closes in 34 days
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 8, 2007
Confusing the categories
Maybe it's just as well that the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura was as deserted as it was, because the sculpture of Wakiro Sumi is art that whispers rather than shouts. At one of Tokyo's busier museums or galleries, with your head still abuzz with the screech of traffic, the blitz of advertising, and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 1, 2007
THIS and THAT
Kodama Gallery, Tokyo Closes in 10 days
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 15, 2007
A cockeyed view of reality
Hiroshi Nakamura's signature works evoke the world of the otaku (obsessive fan). His frequent use of the high-school sailor uniform -- often slightly disheveled -- combined with his trainspotting obsession with trains and other forms of locomotion, creates the same kind of atmosphere you can encounter...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 8, 2007
Free from schools with Zen's help
In a society where group dynamics, deferred gratification, and sticking to the plan have always been paramount, the occasional cross current that tells you to live in the moment, do the unexpected, and seek truth directly, blows like a real breath of fresh air. This explains the appeal of Zen, and the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 7, 2006
"Toru Seno: From Cradle to Grave"
Maru GalleryCloses in 24 days
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 23, 2006
Intimate photography: Tokyo, nostalgia and sex
Usually reviews of Nobuyoshi Araki's work start by pointing out the contradictions "monster," "genius," "pornographer," "artist," etc. The greatest negative routinely cited is his attitude toward women, photographed smeared with paint or bound in bondage ropes, images that reflect attitudes rooted in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 9, 2006
Going out on a limb
When Katsura Funakoshi started working in wood more than 30 years ago, it was a highly unfashionable artistic material. It didn't have the mercurial properties of paint or video, nor the modern gleam and sheen of steel or other manmade materials.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 19, 2006
"Takanobu Kobayashi Exhibition"
Nishimura Gallery Closes in 10 days
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 28, 2006
Seeing Paris through Hokusai's eyes
In the often featureless landscape of Tokyo, a fleeting glimpse of Tokyo Tower in the distance can help to give a sense of direction and position. No matter how unfamiliar a particular street may be, seeing a familiar landmark in the distance often makes us feel strangely at home.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 3, 2006
Transience in art and life
One reason the Sistine Chapel in Rome is so venerated is that it represents one of the occasions when art did not lose out to religion when the two came together. Though religious constraints sometimes force artists to rise to the occasion -- as with Islamic art in which rich Arabesque patterns replace...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 27, 2006
The design of light itself
Light can have a strong effect on people -- about 5 percent of the world's population is reckoned to suffer from a form of depression called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which has been linked to sunlight deprivation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 15, 2006
Sculptor's immobile muse helped him see inner man
Art is often likened to a mirror, suggesting that what viewers really want is a glimpse of themselves. In Japan, this frequently means that any exhibition of Monet, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec -- just about any Impressionist or post-Impressionist painter, really -- is sure to elicit a few catalog essays...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 4, 2006
Big in France
There's a good reason that the artists given the moniker the Ecole de Paris were called a "school" -- in the early 20th century they had flocked from all over the World to Paris to learn the styles, techniques, and attitudes that had put the French capital at the cutting edge of art.
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Kishida defends planned rule to revoke foreigners' residency
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of the Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Human bone-like objects found at Nippon Steel plant’s molten iron pot, with one worker missing
Police believe it’s highly possible that human bones found in a molten iron pot at Nippon Steel's Oita factory belong to a missing male employee.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Man suspected of using smart glasses to cheat on Waseda University exams
The Waseda University campus in Tokyo. An 18-year-old male test-taker is suspected of using smart glasses to cheat during the university's entrance exam.
Japanese billionaire sues Meta over investment scams using his image
Entrepreneurs Yusaku Maezawa (second from right) and Takafumi Horie (third from right) attend a study session on fake social media ads and investment scams at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on April 10.
Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Ishin struggles to set itself apart from other parties
Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (right) speaks beside Yui Kanazawa, the party's candidate in the Tokyo 15th district by-election on April 28. Nippon Ishin lost in this by-election as well as another in Nagasaki held on the same day.

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