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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 19, 2012

Looking beyond the giant canvases

The image of Jackson Pollock as the archetypal American artist, making big gestures on giant canvases, is firmly entrenched in the public consciousness. Dripping paint on canvases laid out on the floor, working in rather than working on his art, Pollock epitomizes the rebellious artist, disregarding...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 19, 2012

Looking beyond the giant canvases

The image of Jackson Pollock as the archetypal American artist, making big gestures on giant canvases, is firmly entrenched in the public consciousness. Dripping paint on canvases laid out on the floor, working in rather than working on his art, Pollock epitomizes the rebellious artist, disregarding...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 31, 2010

Japanese art has come a long way: a curator's top five 2010 exhibitions

This year's art scene was largely dominated by two new major events, the Aichi Triennale and the Setouchi International Art Festival, both of which not only utilized gallery space, but showed a large number of works outside of the "white cube." They indicated a trend in Japan of art tourism merging with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2009

Nature's way of perceiving things

Born in Denmark to Icelandic parents, Olafur Eliasson is best known for large-scale works that, in recreating natural phenomena, ask viewers to reconsider how they perceive their daily environments. In the "Weather Project" (2003), Eliasson installed a blinding sun — made of hundreds of mono-frequency...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2005

Independent brushstrokes

A commonly heard accusation is that Japanese oil painters are followers rather than innovators. It is a criticism that has been made against many early adopters in this country -- be they filmmakers, fashion designers, chefs or rock musicians -- and one that has even come from painters' compatriots....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 30, 2005

Asia week sees debut show of a famous celadon potter

New Asian art becomes the talk of the town each spring -- not just in Tokyo or Beijing -- but in New York City where its annual Asia Week is now in full sway. Exhibitions abound in the Big Apple with some of the world's top dealers offering their treasures to collectors who visit from around the world....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 14, 2003

A 'smashing' place for pots

It was 20 years ago today . . . that the famous Kikuchi Collection of Modern Japanese Ceramics was shown to "smashing" reviews at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The 300-piece collection sparked a great interest in modern and contemporary Japanese ceramics that has continued to this day. The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 12, 2003

The good, the great -- and the freaky

Japan, without a doubt, has the world's largest number of art museums devoted solely to pottery -- more than 500 venues, I've heard. That's a lot of beauty (or not) to take in.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2001

The simple pleasures of Karatsu

KARATSU, Saga Pref. -- Best known for its deceptively simple pottery, Karatsu is a peaceful coastal town on a western tip of Kyushu. It's quiet year round except for summer, when holidaymakers crowd the long sandy beaches nearby, and November, when several hundred thousand visitors flock to see giant,...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 14, 2023

Brushstrokes bring black and white to life

To celebrate the beginning of 2023, the Dokuritsu Shojindan Foundation is holding its annual sho (Japanese calligraphy) exhibition in the National Art Center, Tokyo, in Minato Ward this month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2022

Evolving Japanese crafts find a home in the U.K.

Artisans are pushing boundaries in the U.K., where a growing popularity of Japanese designs and concepts is being driven in part by increased concerns over sustainability.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 17, 2021

Designart 2021 is all about getting lucky

Ahead of its opening on Oct. 22, “On: Design” has picked a few standout events from this massive design showcase to help you make the most of the festival.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 29, 2020

Designart Tokyo forges ahead with hybrid approach

Like many industries, design, art and fashion has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic — from major exhibitions and trade fair cancellations to drops in consumer sales.
Japan Times
Jul 15, 2020

Manga Kingdom Tottori International Comic Art Contest Now Accepting Submissions

Tottori Prefecture is the "Manga Kingdom" that has produced many great manga artists whose works represent Japan abroad. Gegege no Kitaro, by Shigeru Mizuki, A Distant Neighborhood, by Jiro Taniguchi, and Detective Conan, by Gosho Aoyama are but a few of them. Tottori Prefecture host its own manga contest,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2017

How one Japan firm shifted its focus from steel plates to fancy phone screens

It calls itself a steel maker, but don't be misled by the name.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2017

The textural flair of Tiziano Vecellio

Bold in color and expressive in texture, the works of Venetian painters have their own distinctive place within Renaissance art. Taking the lead was Titian (1488/90 -1576), who became official painter to the Venetian Republic, and whose fame spread across the Europe of his day.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2014

'Abenomics' colors Japan's art market after years of pallid returns

Just a decade ago, a lithograph by artist Yayoi Kusama would sell for several hundred dollars at best. But now her pieces, some just the size of a magazine, can fetch as much as $74,000.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 12, 2012

Ukraine and Japan's radioactive bond

Bedecked in an odd yellow protective suit and wandering through a ruined landscape, the figure could be a member of the first landing party of an invading alien army. And yet, to the Ukrainian audience at the current Kiev Biennale, the scene is immediately recognizable, for it comes from their own recent...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2012

The emotional cadence of Nambata's abstract score

When you visit Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (TOCAG), you half expect to get a concert, simply because of its name. But such conflation is not as crazy as it sounds. The aural and visual arts have many affinities, and the language of painting and music even share some terms in common, such as tone, rhythm...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2012

The emotional cadence of Nambata's abstract score

When you visit Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (TOCAG), you half expect to get a concert, simply because of its name. But such conflation is not as crazy as it sounds. The aural and visual arts have many affinities, and the language of painting and music even share some terms in common, such as tone, rhythm...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2011

Bringing Western-style painting back to the East

Ryusei Kishida (1891-1929) remains a giant of modern yōga (Western-style Japanese painting), though his idea of "modernism" would mostly have been unrecognizable to his Western counterparts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 19, 2010

Van Gogh: Sanity behind madness

In recent years there has been a sea change in the official cult surrounding the Post-Impressionist Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). For the masses he is still the archetypal "crazy artist": razor blade in one hand, severed ear in the other, and a lovely picture of sunflowers on the easel...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2010

Dan Graham: In defiance of convention

New York-based Dan Graham is a pioneer of conceptual art who has defied convention throughout most of his 40-year career. Born in Illinois and raised primarily in New Jersey, he started out by creating text-based concept pieces intended for distribution in magazines. Then he moved on to performances...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2008

Historical turn at Sydney biennale

The opening of the 16th Biennale of Sydney in June arrived on the heels of a national controversy in Australia, after police had removed works from an exhibition of renowned photographer Bill Henson in late May. Police deemed Henson's photographs of naked adolescent children to be indecent, although...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 2008

Painting a hazy shade of ego

One of the words most often associated with the art of Kaii Higashiyama is spiritual.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 8, 2007

Funny and dark, the Mori laughs

Known for its unique fare of thought-provoking and comprehensive exhibitions that give you the "greatest hits" of a theme or period, the Mori Art Museum is now tackling the complex topic of humor in a two-part exhibition running till May 6.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2005

Postal plan no cure for spiraling debt, critic says

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plan to privatize the giant postal system will not resolve Japan's ballooning fiscal debt, which is hampering plans to create a smaller government, according to outspoken critic Yasuyo Yamazaki.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 16, 2005

Candle held up to a rediscovered master

Most great artists are instantly recognizable. As soon as you see one of their works, you know that it can't be by anyone else. If this is truly the mark of a great artist, then Georges de La Tour (1593-1652) must be among the greatest.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.