Sushi & Sensibility

bunshin (2005)
by hisashi tenmyouya
(c) hisashi tenmyouya / courtesy of mizuma art gallery
acrylic paint, wood 146 x 60.5 cm

(this article first appeared in the november 28, 2005 issue of newsweek international)

At first glance, Akira Yamaguchi's paintings look like traditional Japanese pieces. Inspired by centuries-old screens and scrolls, they feature armor-clad samurais and ancient castles with golden clouds floating overhead. But look closer: motorcycles and high-rise buildings are subtly embedded among the battle scenes and idyllic landscapes. And while traditional works are done with powdered mineral pigments and ink, Yamaguchi uses oil paints and sometimes watercolors. The result is a series of works that are as flashy and funny as traditional Japanese pictures are solemn and quiet.

...read more

dream house (2004)
designed by dominique gonzalez-foerster
courtesy of daisuke miyatsu


(this article first appeared in the may 2005 issue of Art + Auction magazine.)

Cab drivers familiar with the sleepy Shimosa Nakayama neighborhood of Chiba, just outside Tokyo, know "that pink house." It's really just half pink but distinctive nonetheless, surrounded by gray and brown traditional Japanese buildings. The color alone isn't what had the cabbies buzzing for the past year or so. "We drive fashionable people from Tokyo and even foreigners there," says one. "What is it?"

...read more

hanabi-ra (2003)
by tabaimo
a visual installation
(c) tabaimo / courtesy of gallery koyanagi

(a shorter version of this article appeared in the June 27, 2005 issue of newsweek international)

What comes to mind when you think of Japan? Sushi, sumo wrestlers, high-school girls in short skirts, tattooed gangsters? Stereotypes, to be sure. But the installation artist Tabaimo (a.k.a. Ayako Tabata) relies on such motifs to create playful commentaries on modern Japan. "To Japanese, the foreigners' idea of Japan is funny," she says. "It's even funnier to stuff as many stereotypes as possible into one piece."

...read more

mother’s #49 (2002)
by Miyako Ishiuchi
74.0×108.0 cm
gelatin silver print
collection of the artist

At the Venice Biennale, Miyako Ishiuchi represents Japan with her memorable pictures of modern life.

(this article first appeared in the june 20, 2005 issue of newsweek international)

Photographer Miyako Ishiuchi has a confession to make. She doesn't like taking pictures. "Shooting at somebody at close range makes me nervous," she says. It's a strange statement coming from Ishiuchi, 58: after all, she has been chosen to represent Japan at the Venice Biennale for her memorable images of contemporary Japanese life. "Somehow I feel awkward," she insists.

...read more

Report from Taiwan is up on ArtNet magazine.

"Bunker Museum of Contemporary Art -- 18 Solo Exhibitions," Sept. 11, 2004-Jan. 10, 2005 at Nanshan Fortification, Tashan Battery, Guningtou Cihu Great Bunker, Changliao Rezoning District, Shuito Village, Lintsuo Old-Battlefield Army Base, all located in Kinmen County, Taiwan.

The coolest Chinese art party this season took place on Sept. 11 on Kinmen, often known in the West as Quemoy.... to continue reading go to www.artnet.com/Magazine/reviews/itoi/itoi9-30-04.asp.