Tag - contemporary-art

 
Menu
Search
 
May 05, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

CONTEMPORARY ART

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2014
Nothing is ordinary for Leandro Erlich
'Swimming pools, staircases and elevators are ordinary places that we never question, as we think that we know about them already. But is that true? Do we really know them?' — Leandro Erlich.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2014
Kids' stuff that adults need to see
Perhaps in the wake of this attack on seriousness, many artists have since taken refuge in childishness, whimsy or playfulness, though these values have been carefully rationed in 'Go-Betweens: The World Seen through Children,' with the emphasis being more on showing childhood as a state of vulnerability and transformation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2014
'Presents from Eiji Mitooka: Designs to Make People and Cities Happier'
Through his train designs and station-building plans for Japan Rail's Kyushu Line, industrial designer Eiji Mitooka has won multiple awards for work that harmoniously reflects locals and their lives.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 19, 2014
Yokohama's French connection
Around 150 years ago, silk traders from Lyon in France went all the way to Yokohama to buy silkworm eggs that they heard could resist an epidemic disease that was ravaging the French silk industry. Since then, the two cities have built a strong business variegated relationship and friendship.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 18, 2014
'Guess What? Hardcore Contemporary Art's Truly a World Treasure'
Contemporary artworks are rarely described as "world treasures," but here The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo has come up with its own definition of the phrase. These are works that are literally "treasures" in terms of their high market value, but also because of their ability to convey universal messages in forms that will withstand the tests of time. Of the 75 works on display, many have been controversial and all are by major artists, such as Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol and Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014
Imagination runs wild in Japanese contemporary art
"Nostalgia and Fantasy: Imagination and its Origins in Contemporary Art" is a ragtag grouping of nine individual artists and one unit, each of whom focus on extremely different things. It is difficult to say, in fact, where "nostalgia" and "fantasy" come into play in some instances. With only minimal wall-panel descriptions, contextualization is a major stumbling point, not the least with the subtitle and the supposed origins of the imagination in contemporary art. Many of the works, however, are outstanding.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014
'Beauty on the Edge: Contemporary Art Nara — Magic of Materials and Wisdom'
Sculptors Takashi Kikuchi and Kei Takemata, stone artist Kota Kinutani, print artist Chihiro Shimotani, wood artist Chuichi Fuji, video artist Yutaka Moriguchi and painter Natsunosuke Mise are all connected by their strong afflilliation to Nara Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 7, 2014
'Leandro Erlich: The Ordinary?'
"The Swimming Pool" by Leandro Erlich is not one you can dive into. From above it appears as a regular deep pool of shimmering water, but it is actually only 10 cm deep. Suspended over a glass sheet, the "The Swimming Pool" can also be viewed from below. Such playfulness in interpretation turns an ordinary, everyday object into something extraordinary — a feature of Erlich's works that often toy with human perception.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 9, 2014
Art on the brink of fragmentation
You can't go wrong by calling a show "Fragments," as the curators of this year's "MOT Annual" exhibition have done. With a name like that, whatever bits and pieces visitors encounter at the annual group show of Tokyo's Museum of Contemporary Art, they can't say they were cheated because a name like that lowers expectations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 2, 2014
When political agenda hinders aesthetic pleasure
The title of this exhibition is a clear attempt to evoke the idea of 'magical realism,' a literary genre that has been particularly associated with Latin American literature.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 8, 2014
Scenes from Art Fair Tokyo 2014
Scenes from Art Fair Tokyo 2014 (March 7-9), Japan's largest gallery art event (photos by Mio Yamada).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2014
All-genre focus is the key to Art Fair Tokyo's success
It is difficult to criticize Art Fair Tokyo, the commercial art fair that celebrates its ninth edition at Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho this weekend. Truth be told, it's a wonder that the event has reached nine editions at all, what with the inherent fickleness of the art market and Japan's interminably sluggish economy — not to mention the financial crisis of 2007 and the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear disaster of 2011.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Mar 6, 2014
Everyone is invited to enjoy art
Over thousands of years, Japanese art has evolved through many phases and genres — from pottery to sculpture, ink paintings to woodblock prints, manga to anime and much more. Although contemporary art is often thought of as conceptual and difficult to comprehend, it hasn't stopped the public from enjoying exhibitions. But when it comes to collecting art, it's usually only the privileged who are invited to buy works.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2014
'Field Reflection'
For this show, "field" is not simply a geographical space; here it refers to a delicate composition of nature, weather and people.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2014
Centre Pompidou picks the fruits of its curatorial success
Fruits of Passion' displays contemporary works that were acquired during the last decade by the Musu00e9e National d'Art Moderne (MNAM), Centre Pompidou. The exhibition begins, though, with the final threads of modernism.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 3, 2014
When it comes to public space, Atelier Bow Wow barks up the right tree
Atelier Bow Wow uses the framework of art exhibitions to encourage public social interaction in what it calls 'micro public spaces.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 26, 2014
'Playmaking'
For children, going to a museum to look at art can seem boring, which is why "Playmaking" takes an interactive approach to attract a young audience.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2014
'The Marvelous Real: Contemporary Spanish and Latin American Art from The MUSAC Collection'
Realism usually refers to attempts to represent subjects in a precise and truthful manner. However, here, the "realism" of Spanish art is not about technique — it's about artists finding the best way to portray what they see as "real."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2014
'You Reach Out — Right Now — for Something: Questioning the Concept of Fashion'
Though fashion is often dismissed as just trends in clothing, it has always had a close relationship with art — whether it has been depicted within art, is influenced by it or is considered as artwork itself. Based on magazine editor Nakako Hayashi's 2011 book "Expanded Fashion," this exhibition explores contemporary approaches to our love of clothing, including its influences on and by photography, design and literature.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2014
'Flying Expressions from the New Collection'
This exhibition focuses on the different forms of artistic expression of Maki Yamashita (1890-1973), Ryonosuke Shimomura (1923-1998) and Jun Tsukawaki (1952-), whose works were acquired by the Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City, in 2012.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
Traders spooked by intervention risk trim record yen shorts
Traders edged back from record bets on yen weakness this past week, in a period that included a likely bout of intervention by Japan to prop up the currency.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass
Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER