Fuji Television Gallery
Closes Saturday
Despite the voyeuristic fascination, someone's personal diary can be a bore to read unless you feel a connection with the lives portrayed on the pages. Tetsuya Noda, considered by many as the best printmaker in contemporary Japan, has created sensual mixed-media "diaries" that have captivated strangers for more than 35 years. His most recent series (1999-2005) is now showing at the Fuji Television Gallery in Yurakucho.
Through lithography and an original technique that uses printmaking, photography, silkscreen and an old mimeograph machine, Noda's images of friends and family, urban and rural scenes, and fruits and flowers reveal not only a precise, experienced craftsman, but an artist with a delightful sense of social satire, humor and warmth. Noda is skilled at hooking his audience with each print's story, titled with a date and often a place.
Frequently compared to Munakata Shiko, one of the most influential Japanese printmakers of the 20th century, it is strange that Noda is not better known, especially given that he has been the winner of numerous international print awards and is the professor in charge of the printmaking department at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Geidai), the most prestigious art university in Japan. With a growing cadre of enthusiastic collectors, now is the time to catch a glimpse of a veteran who is, at the same time, a rising star.
