I've been looking forward to the new show at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. Trying not to sound sexist here, there was more than a little appeal in the show's title: "Girl! Girl! Girl!" I guess I'm just a regular guy, sweltering through summer, looking for some easy distraction. A Steve McQueen film festival, or an exhibition titled "Beer! Beer! Beer!" would have had a similar effect.
Curated by Motoaki Hori, "Girl! Girl! Girl!" features new and recent work from 10 Japanese artists aged between 26 and 40. There is a wide range of media and styles served up here, and overall I found the show satisfying -- save an oversupply of the cuteness that eats away at so much contemporary Japanese art like sugar on teeth.
Each artist gets a room, and first up is Yasuko Fujiwara. "Helmet" comprises eight painted safety helmets sitting atop stacked red cones, and eight big monochrome photographic portraits of construction guys wearing helmets. There are sandbags in the corner and a big stylized "Helmet" logo projected on the floor. I don't know why, but I felt instantly happy walking through this installation. A young fellow who saw me come in was also smiling and we ended up laughing together -- now that, let me tell you, is a rare thing at Tokyo art shows. Fujiwara has clearly done something right in building atmosphere here. Or perhaps traffic cones are just intrinsically funny.