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November 22, 2024
 

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Monty Dipietro
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 20, 2002
Getting emotional as the Sagacho closes its doors
Last Friday evening, as a waxing moon arced low across a clear autumn sky, more than 600 people made what for most would be their final pilgrimage to the Mecca of Tokyo's contemporary art scene. Alone or in clans -- some boisterous, others silent -- they crossed the Sumida River, wound their way through...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 6, 2002
Feminist charts no-woman's-land between peaceniks and the SDF
On Sept. 3 and 4 this year, soldiers at a Ground Self-Defense Force base in Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu were joined by an improbable guest: Japan's premier feminist and antiwar artist, Yoshiko Shimada.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 30, 2002
Afloat but not adrift on the sea of dreams
As the fall exhibition season moves into high gear, there are a number of good shows going up at Tokyo's leading contemporary art galleries, and what is notable is that a fair number of them are based on well-defined themes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 23, 2002
They don't make revolutions like this anymore
Way back when I was in college, images of Cuban rebel leader Fidel Castro (or Che Guevara, his right-hand man) were to be seen everywhere. Posters hung in student apartments and dorms, in teachers' offices, and in clubs, cafes and shops that catered to the campus crowd. The scruffy yet charismatic figure...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 16, 2002
Educational crazy golf is a hole in one
If life is a crap shoot, then the Japanese educational system is a game of mini-golf, or so reckons Peter Bellars: That's the message behind the English artist's current Yokohama Museum of Art Gallery exhibition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 9, 2002
A celebratory cake to get your teeth into
The good news: Sensational Swiss video artist Pipilotti Rist, 40, is doing but a single gallery show this year, and it is happening here in Tokyo, right now, at the Shiseido Gallery on the Ginza strip.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 2, 2002
Oppai -obsessed oeuvre that isn't well-rounded
I'm often asked the question: "What characterizes Japanese contemporary art?" At the risk of over-generalizing, I usually reply that two qualities recur among artists at the vanguard of this country's creative culture -- an obsessiveness vis a vis the subject, or an obsessive attention to detail in the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 25, 2002
Tumultuous art made in tumultuous times
It is always a pleasure to spotlight an exhibition that seems to have slipped in under the art radar, as is the case with the group show "Quobo -- Art in Berlin 1989-1999" now at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 18, 2002
Two dimensions good, three dimensions better
I got some positive feedback on my review last week of the Doug Aitken show at the Tokyo Opera City Gallery. My remark, "I just don't like visiting galleries to sit on the floor and watch videos," struck a chord with a number of readers. Not that I don't like video and new media art, but most galleries...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 11, 2002
Take the plunge into 'Vegas' art
I'm just back from hot and dry Las Vegas, where the world's high rollers, faced with lavish entertainment options such as performance-art ensemble Blue Man Group and magicians Siegfried & Roy, have made the Cirque du Soleil's "O" the hottest ticket in town. The central attraction of "O" is not its troupe...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 28, 2002
All things in the universe, and some
The very idea of a comprehensive retrospective of Tadanori Yokoo's work is a daunting one. How to bring together an oeuvre that spans almost a half-century and is, by turns, strident, nationalistic, homoerotic, funny and cosmic; that is both representational and abstract; that comprises posters, photographs,...
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 14, 2002
A 'fantasy war' artist who draws the lines of conflict
Wars are fought by people, but equipment has always been critical to their ability to perform in battle. Now, imagine a time machine that could equip Genghis Khan with rocket launchers, or Napoleon with a division of Panzer tanks -- that would change the course of history, wouldn't it? Tokyo artist Akira...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 7, 2002
Vincent Gallo: the one that got away
Twenty-odd years ago, I moonlighted as a cab driver in Toronto. I still remember how easy it was to glance in the rearview mirror and peg visitors from the American city of Buffalo, N.Y. They were generally polite and well-dressed, but in the affected manner of a child done up in his Sunday best, squirming...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 31, 2002
Man vs. nature: the frontline
Blockbuster solo shows now running at the Bunkamura (Rene Magritte) and the Setagaya Art Museum (Joan Miro) are already ensuring this is one of Tokyo's best summers in years for aficionados of 20th-century art. Now, thanks to a bit of bold curating by Taro Amano, the Yokohama Museum of Art is host to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 24, 2002
Contemporary art that digs deep
There are several contemporary art shows worth seeing before most Tokyo galleries close for a summer break.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 17, 2002
Taking a balanced view of life and death
Kristian Haggblom has some quirky ideas. Like the notion that an estimated 29,000 Lego building blocks are currently floating on the oceans of the world. I don't know where the Australian artist dug up this weird statistic, but he mentioned it twice in the course of our conversation last week. Haggblom...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 10, 2002
The Sept. 11 Care Bear Bunch
Cleveland-born, New York-based Dan Asher lives and works in an East Village apartment/studio. Although the 54-year-old artist didn't actually see the hijacked jetliners crash into the Twin Towers on Sept. 11 last year, he has followed -- with not a little consternation -- the many changes that struck...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 3, 2002
A photographer records the naked truth
On April 25, 1990, San Francisco photographer Jock Sturges' life changed forever. On that day, police raided his studio and office. They confiscated cameras, film, prints, computers and records -- on the suspicion that Sturges was involved in the production and distribution of child pornography.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 26, 2002
Photo selection offers the whole picture
Before World Cup events kicked off in Japan, there were distressing media reports of how hotels planned to refuse service to foreigners; and of stadium-area restaurants and bars intending to close their doors on game days, from fear of furigan (hooligans).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 19, 2002
Piecing together the picture
There are hundreds of good -- even great -- art spaces in New York's West Chelsea, the world's largest and most important contemporary art gallery district. It's a wonderful place to browse, but this is best done with an open mind. I've often been frustrated when visiting art fairs or gallery districts...
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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