When the Mori Art Museum opened its doors almost a year ago, media attention naturally focused on its prime location atop the Roppongi Hills complex (with a dazzling panoramic view of Tokyo), the debut exhibition "Happiness," and the talented and affable British gallery director, David Elliott. Less visible, but no less important, was the who's who of Japan's most established and promising arts professionals the Mori hired as staff. One of these was the young curator Mami Kataoka, who was lured away from the Opera City Gallery in Shinjuku. Although she had a hand in the "Roppongi Crossing" show this spring, Kataoka's curatorial debut at the Mori comes with Tsuyoshi Ozawa's solo show, "Answer with Yes and No!" currently running there -- and it is a terrific success.
Spanning 17 years of the 39-year-old Ozawa's career, this is one of the most eclectic exhibitions seen in Tokyo this year, packed with the sort of conceptually-grounded art that is so in vogue. It is remarkable that this show was programmed in less than six months and it is even more remarkable how Kataoka has managed to make what some people might term "difficult" art so easy to enjoy.
As the title suggests, the show is themed around the possibility of discovering harmony in apparent contradictions. Round every corner, the viewer is offered another playful invitation to accept things as they are not, to celebrate ambiguity, to look through the kaleidoscope of the imagination.