Wolverhampton Art
Gallery's pop art wing is displaying Passage to
the Future - work from eleven young Japanese artists.
The art on display has been made by Atsushi Fukui,
Satoshi Hirose, Maywa Denki, Tomoyasu Murata,
Tetsuya Nakamura, Masafumi Sanai, Katsuhiro Saiki,
Yoshihiro Suda, Tabaimo, Nobuyuki Takahashi and
Miyuki Yokomizo.
Their work has been made available for exhibition
by The Japan Foundation - "Japan's principle
agent for cultural exchange".
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 At
the launch event |
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At the launch event on the 28 of February, a
local councillor spoke of the gallery's pride
at being the only planned UK venue for this international
exhibition.
Then Takashi Ishida, Director General of The
Japan Foundation's London office gave a speech.
He said:
"I hope that Passage to the Future will
help people get an impression of what is happening
in contemporary art on the other side of the world.
"And above all give a sense of pleasure
and appreciation to those who come to see these
wonderful works created by artists over three
generations - for all generations."
Work on display includes paintings, sculptures,
installations, photographs and video. And I think
the exhibition fulfills Mr Ishida's hopes - it
is worth a visit.
Highlights
include the painting Twin World by Atsushi Fukui.
Fukui
has said of his "bedroom paintings":
"I am concerned with the world I am looking
at now rather than the objective world."
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| At
the launch - sword dance |
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Twin
World may be of his view from his bed - and the
painting is not as flat as it first appears. Interesting.
Also,
as a Westerner, his painting did echo Katsushika
Hokusai's famous views of Mount Fuji - always
a bonus.
What
else does the West know of Japan? That it's good
at factories?
This is an area that Maywa Denki explores. He's
the President of art group Nobumichi Tosa - an
art group that behaves like it is a factory.
They create fish-motif machines and an example
- Denki's 'GM Na-Tate-Goto' is on display in Wolverhampton.
Again, interesting.
If you've got the time, this exhibition will
repay closer examination. Recommended.
Passage to the Future
Passage to the Future is at Wolverhampton Art
Gallery (West Midlands, England, UK) 1 March -
26 April 2008. Entrance is free.
External links
Wolverhampton
Art Gallery
The
Japan Foundation
Picture credit: Twin World by Atsushi Fukui,
2003. Image copyright the artist, courtesy of
The Japan Foundation.
A demonstration of Iaido (the art of sword-drawing)
and Kenjutsu (the art of the sword) was given,
at the launch event, by Heijoshin Dojo - martial
artists based in Walsall, West Midlands.
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