My kyoto-sensei gave me two tickets to a modern art exhibit featuring Japanese artists in Nagoya, so Matt and I headed to the city a few weekends ago to see what it was like. The exhibit was fairly large, covering an entire floor of an impressively large building. First we visited a room that held many modern multi-media pieces including sculptures, screens, felt and acrylic paintings, etc. It was a small room and relatively crowded, so I did not get to spend as much time standing in one place in front of the towering works of genius as I would have liked, but I fixed that problem by making a few cycles around the room. I was very impressed by the use of color and space in most of the works. Many of them were attempting to create works that were busier by far than any Western artist would even think about doing (in today's minimalist postmodern era). Some succeeded and some did not, but in each case I admired the courage it took to create the work. When one succeeded, it was far more impressive and striking than any art I've seen in a long time, and when one failed, it did so interestingly. Below are two pictures from that first room, a sculpture and a screen painting (please note: these are pictures of postcards we purchased, not the actual works of art):
The above is a good example of something I don't think a Westerner would make. It's a sculpture that has color, first of all, and secondly, it's not industrial supplies re-purposed. I think it looks very 70's. I can't decide if it's a cloud with a rainbow or... well, I don't know. But I like the lines of the piece. It manages to have a lot going on cleanly, like a good dance.
This is a shoji, or Japanese screen. It also was one of my favorite pieces in the exhibit. I enjoyed the previous piece's slight over-the-top adventuresome nature, and I respect the restraint in this piece just as much. I love the downward composition of the tree branches, reaching into the lower right corner. If the picture will enlarge, look for the tiny butterfly at the edge of the branches. It is the tour de force of the piece in my opinion, and takes it from a pretty, well-made screen to a work of true artistic genius. It fits within the traditional model of Japanese shoji while adding a modern sense of style and composition.
Next, we visited rooms upon rooms of paintings. Some were billed as "Western style" and some were "Japanese style." Of course, even the so-called "Western" paintings were clearly Japanese in some way, through subject material or the way the subject was dealt with. The way people approach light in a picture, for example, can tell you many things about them, including where they are from and what is valued there. The same is true of focus and color (as I said previously, the Japanese are on the average much more daring with their color choices).
First up, a wonderful painting of a little boy and his train set. Matt got this postcard for his father, because it reminded him of his time as a little boy playing with the trains the two of them set up together. It's a wonderful painting in many ways. I find the focus to be most interesting here. Look how the upper part of the picture is most in focus and most colorful, with the focus and colors washing out toward the middle and vanishing by the bottom. The child is clearly in his own head, completely immersed in the activity, and the painter wished to draw the viewers into that experience. It's a sweet meditation on being a parent.
This one Matt bought for his mother, an impressionist aficianado. It's a pointillism painting showcasing the beauty of a harbor on a specific moment in time. It follows a grand tradition of illuminating the hidden beauty in ordinarily dull or ugly things. This harbor most certainly is rather dingy, smelly, and busy most of the time, yet in certain light it is ethereal and peaceful. It reminds me of the concept of satori as it is used in Japanese haiku: create a moment of enlightenment out of simplicity.
Here we have a little Geisha looking at a bright sky of stars. I love her poise, and the choice of showcasing her back. Very often pictures like this are obsessed with the front of the body and the face. It is interesting instead to stand with this girl, to look at the sky and see it as she sees it. I find myself becoming a part of this work, acting like a subject myself and not a voyeur.
This was one of my favorites because I have a weakness for autumn leaves. I loved the striking colors, particularly against the stark gray of the winter that is encroaching in this picture. It's a classic impressionist style, with less detail than would be shown in a realism style of painting, giving subjectivity to the viewer and creating some motion in the trees.
Last but definitely not least is this superheroine. This is a painting of a dance, which is one reason why I loved it immediately. The other reason is the incredible suspense of the piece. If you look closely, behind the main figure is another figure, hidden in shadow. He appears to be shadow incarnate. He is either there to swallow her up in a black hole or do her bidding. I am simultaneously frightened by her and for her.
We went on to see a room of statues of all shapes and sizes. Dancing girls, playing cats, a giant gorilla... even a very silly re-imagining of the Statue of Liberty. We sped through relatively quickly because it didn't inspire as much thought as the paintings (perhaps we are biased in our choice of art), and we really wanted to go get some food. Primal desires won out over perusing the rooms full of ancient calligraphy, although we did peek in for a cursory glance. It was enough to see some wonderful use of space on the parchment and some red accenting black in certain places. I'd be interested to see more, although after awhile it all looks the same to me as I can't read Japanese and most of it is official state documents from a very long time ago. I admit my penchant for color and movement (reasons why I loved the modern sculpture and painting so much) makes me rather impatient with rows upon rows of ancient, monochromatic text.
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