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November 22, 2024
 

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Monty Dipietro
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 10, 2006
A loving tribute at the Watari-um for a close friend
"Bye-Bye, Nam June Paik," the current exhibition at the Watari-Um Museum of Contemporary Art, is a loving tribute to an artist who has always been close to that Aoyama art space's heart.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 27, 2006
Finally hitting the local
It occurred to me recently that in the more than five years I've been covering contemporary art for The Japan Times, I've never once written about the gallery I visit most frequently -- The Konica Minolta Gallery in Shinjuku.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 13, 2006
Soaking up the 'male gaze'
What to make of photographs of blue tarpaulins, mobiles of cigarette butts and bathroom sponges folded to suggest a woman's derriere?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 6, 2006
An animist explores old themes
Over the last few years, the traditional art form of nihonga has emerged as a player on the Japanese contemporary art scene. I can only guess why this is -- something connected to nostalgia or nationalism perhaps? Or could it be that growing social and economic uncertainty has led Japanese to regard...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 22, 2006
Lighting up suburban Tokyo nights
What a concept: Imagine if you could see as clearly and in as much detail at midnight as you can at noon. The desire for night vision is an old one, but frankly the visions provided by new technologies have not impressed me -- the best I've experienced were a set of cumbersome electric goggles that yielded...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 8, 2006
'100 years of Korean art'
The Korean National Museum of Contemporary Art sits in a scenic location by the mountains, 30 minutes from downtown Seoul. The sprawling sculpture garden out front is a beautiful place to relax, while the 25,000 sq. meters of space inside make it the largest museum in the country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 25, 2006
Incidentally Capturing the city
Berlin is not beautiful like Paris, rich like London, or charming like Amsterdam. Prewar buildings in the German capital are pockmarked by bullet holes, while postwar architecture testifies to the city's division due to the Cold War -- American, British and French sectors were restored or rebuilt, the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 11, 2006
Japan grads go apolitical
With its current exhibition, "Index #2 -- Life Styles," Tokyo Wonder Site in Ochanomizu has mounted a worthwhile survey of recent Japanese art-school graduates. Prolific critic Kentaro Ichihara, in association with Kyoto University of Art and Design, selected five Kanto- and five Kansai-region artists...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 27, 2006
A permanent-collection show that impresses
The modern city envelops modern man so completely that he inhabits it even in his dreams -- even in his best dreams. That's the message weaving through the current exhibition at the Watari-Um Museum of Art in Tokyo's Aoyama district. "Beautiful Cities in Dreams" is the eighth incarnation in Watari's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 13, 2006
Goths, terra and tears
The Complex Building in Roppongi opened with five major contemporary art galleries a couple of years back, around the same time as the nearby Mori Art Museum. It has, however, been somewhat overlooked as new and larger spaces have debuted out east in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 30, 2006
Getting down to just art
In the development of contemporary art scenes in Asian countries over recent years, a strong tendency has been for artists to buck the yoke of tradition and steer well clear of anything that might remotely resemble their nation's folk art -- unless of course their intention was to mock it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 23, 2006
Tokyo Museum of Photography puts the private out in public
Conceived during the optimism of the bubble era, but built in the mid 1990s, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography's development was stunted by budget cuts, less-than-impressive attendance and an unfocused raison d'etre.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 9, 2006
Collages catch a fire
Computer software has revived the term "cut and paste." We execute the commands when writing documents, treating images, or slipping stuff into an e-mail. Cutting and pasting is so simple that it's easy to forget that the actions were originally performed not in a flash with a cursor and a mouse -- but...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 23, 2006
Kiyosumi galleries: Optimistic in Tokyo's east
Painting, photography and installations from emerging and experienced artists have made for a strong start to the Kiyosumi galleries' first spring season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2006
Berlin/Tokyo : Invitation to a car wreck
See related story: Berlin/Tokyo : Your pick of the isms
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 26, 2006
Tokyo Gallery: Liu Zheng shows 'Gaudy Art' embroidery
Several of my recent columns have dealt with new art spaces and centers in Tokyo. Today I want to wrap that up with a look at a gallery that has shunned the relocation trend by remaining in the city's original contemporary art district -- Ginza.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 12, 2006
WONDER SITE: Strong words in Shibuya fail to bring a crowd
In 2001, a peculiar contemporary-art space called Tokyo Wonder Site opened in a disused building in Bunkyo Ward in Northeast Tokyo. Supported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the project attracted a measure of initial interest, but never developed into anything like a hot spot for art. This is probably...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 29, 2005
Reasons for smiles after the disasters
I participated last Sunday in a thing called the "Dean Martin Memorial Stop Misery Outreach Action." This is a public happening that goes back some 10 years in Japan, and involves distributing one hundred martinis -- shaken on the spot, with uncommonly good gin and vermouth, garnished with pimento-stuffed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 15, 2005
The form of the infinite
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "The sky is the daily bread of the eyes."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 1, 2005
Getting a little help from friends
Federico Herrero made a splash with his wall paintings of weirdly morphed animals at the 2001 Venice Biennale and, at age 22, became the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious art fair's Golden Lion Award. In the wake of that success, the Costa Rican-born painter garnered international representation...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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