Tag - national-museum-of-modern-art

 
 

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2014
'Future Beauty: The Tradition of Reinvention in Japanese Fashion'
Ever since Reiji Kawakubo's Comme des Garçons collection was dubbed "Hiroshima chic" when it debuted on a Paris runway in 1982, Japanese avant-garde fashion has been recognized for its international influence.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 18, 2013
Josef Koudelka: the theatrics of life
Wild white hair and beard, but dressed in a drab, olive shirt and combat jacket, Josef Koudelka is like a guerrilla Father Christmas. Wearing scuffed shoes, and with a roughly unceremonious joviality, the Czech photographer appears uncomfortable being stalked around his exhibition by dozens of press with cameras and smartphones, before being cornered into a Q&A session. Once settled, however, he speaks with passion about people, music and the theatricality of life and photography. Commensurate with that, however, is an abiding anger toward injustices and regimes with a history of suppression, whether it is of the people or their culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 18, 2013
'From Crafts to Kogei: In Commemoration of the 60th Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition'
Since the establishment of the Living National Treasure designation system, by which practitioners of performing arts or crafts possessing particularly important or rare traditional techniques are feted, an exhibition showcasing recipients' works alongside that of others has taken place every year. To celebrate the 60th Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition, this year's show highlights the ongoing creative explorations of Japan's very best craftspeople.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 27, 2013
The Imperial Household of tradition
The catalog for The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto's exhibition, "Treasures of the Imperial Collection: The Quintessence of Modern Japanese Art," tells us that this "sublime collection of resplendent masterpieces shines brilliantly in the history of modern Japanese art." The collection, represented here by 180 paintings and crafts culled from the 9,500 objects gifted to the government in 1989 on the passing of the Showa Emperor, is spectacular.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 6, 2013
'Josef Koudelka Retrospective'
Josef Koudelka is one of today's most well-respected photographers, known especially for the gritty and authentic depictions of everyday life in his two series documenting underprivileged classes: "Gypsies" and "Exiles."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 6, 2013
'Treasures of the Imperial Collections: The Quintessence of Modern Japanese Art'
Featuring historical masterpieces that were once part of the decor of the Imperial palace, this exhibition showcases some of Japan's finest royal treasures from the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras. Coming from the Imperial Household Agency's Sannomaru Shozokan (Museum of the Imperial Collections), these furnishings were works commissioned by emperors, received as gifts during significant occasions or ceremonies, or purchased by the Imperial family.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2013
Explore the many ways to read cinema
Marcel Broodthaers' films mostly deal with relations between images and words, which is unsurprising given that he was a poet first who turned to film because he came to understand the medium as an extension of language. In their combination, he sought harmony between poetry, visual art and cinema. It is this lineage of artistic activity inaugurated by Broodthaers in the postwar period that the Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, seeks to trace to its postmodern flowering in the 1990s through to the present.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013
'Reading Cinema, Finding Words: Art after Marcel Broodthaers'
Marcel Broodthaers (1924-1976) was a man of many talents — a poet, filmmaker and artist — whose cerebral and witty approach to art often resulted in unusual and amusing works. He used found objects, everyday items, photography and text to create visual puns in collages and installations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2013
'Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Relocation of the Mitsuo Aida Museum: Even One Simple Thing'
Poet and calligrapher Mitsuo Aida (1924-1991) is well-known in Japan for his tanka poetry and original style of handwriting. He spent his life developing and honing his craft, focusing on the preciousness of the life as a subject.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 24, 2013
Crawling through the mud in style
It's quite fitting that the major Osamu Suzuki (1926-2001) retrospective, the first since the ceramicist's passing, is taking place at The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, the hometown of the artist.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2013
Surveying the city from a different viewpoint
Beside Stephan Balkenhol's sculpture "Big Head with Three Part Relief" a note reads, "Nothing here is as it should be." This figureless "head" set against a black void represents "Mr. Everyman," that common figure, detached from his surround and considering his place in the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 13, 2013
'Playback Artist Talks'
Since 2005, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, has provided artists with a platform to discuss their works housed at the museum. The event, called Artist Talk, has been held 30 times since its inception, each time giving an artist the opportunity to explain his or her aesthetics and career to members of the public.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 16, 2013
'The Shibakawa Collection: Tribute to a Patron of Aoki Shigeru, Kishida Ryusei and Others'
During the late1800s, westernization in Japan brought about a new art style — yōga, for which Japanese artists emulated western conventions and techniques, inspired in particular by European painters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 28, 2013
Francis Bacon: The restlessness of human existence
In the 1989 Tim Burton film "Batman," there is a famous scene where the Joker and his gang break into an art museum and vandalize masterpieces by the likes of Rembrandt, Degas, and Vermeer. But, just as one of his henchmen is about to slash a Francis Bacon canvas, the Joker steps in to stop him, saying, "I kind of like this one."

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on