New Year's is about endings and beginnings. People we've lost, places we've discovered, what's gone and what's to come. Some thoughts as we cross over:
This last year saw some satisfying shows at Tokyo's galleries and museums. Particularly impressive were the visions of "Woman Surrealists in Mexico" at Bunkamura; the childlike embroidery of Zon Ito at the Watari-Um; the Hara Museum's Patricia Piccinini show with its lovable/repulsive family of genetic hybrids; and, of course, the Show of the Year: "Happiness" -- the tour de force that opened the Mori Art Museum.
And so, let's give Person of the Year honors to David Elliott, Mori Art Museum director and "Happiness" co-curator. As the first foreign-born director of a major Japanese museum, the rookie gaijin got "Happiness" up more or less as he had envisioned it (according to insiders who prefer to remain nameless). The show runs till Jan. 18 at the top-floor Roppongi art space, and if you have not done so already, get out and see it.