Misako & Rosen Gallery, Kita-Otsuka (near Ikebukuro)
Closes May 31
Los Angeles-based artist Stephen G. Rhodes' debut exhibition at Misako & Rosen gallery ([03] 6276-1453; www.misakoandrosen.com), "There is No Bear Bear Ladder," is a challenging, multireferential suite of new works. The centerpiece is a messy installation incorporating an A-frame ladder resting precariously on a pile of green-coated plywood panels from which a video is projected onto the darkened gallery's far wall. The video documents the artist dressed in a ragged bear costume as he performs a series of manic exercises with these props: picking up the ladder, swinging it, banging it into things with a loud clang.