\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tInstallation view of \u201cCalder: The Influence of Japan,\u201d Azabu Taisan Gallery, 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Photo: Tadayuki Minamoto\/Calder Foundation, New York\/Artists Rights Society, New York<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n \tIf Brancusi had imagined this bird, Alexander Calder<\/strong> Teach it to fly. Azabudai Hills Gallery<\/strong> A compact survey completed in collaboration with Mobile Masters Pace Gallery <\/strong>whose vast new space is upstairs\u2014organized by the artist\u2019s indefatigable grandson, Sandy Rower, head of the Calder Foundation. The title? \u201cCalder: The Influence of Japan.\u201d Why not. We\u2019ve paired Calder with artists like Giacometti, Mir\u00f3, Fischli, and Weiss. As Rower has shown us over the past two decades, Calder is truly a gift that keeps on giving. <\/p>\n \n \tThere are some real gems in this exhibition, including a series of unexpected paintings of animals in motion: there is no word other than perfection to describe these paintings, especially those of the cats, whose movements are captured in just a few strokes of ink. The star of the show, though, is Japanese architect Stephanie Goto, who designed the exhibition. The black moving installations contrasting with the black ceiling? Unexpectedly brilliant. Other works are set against a wall covered with large sheets of black paper, an effect that shouldn\u2019t have worked but did. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tThomas Houseago, Owl in my studio<\/em>2024. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n \tYou might think of Brancusi again when you visit “moon<\/strong>\u201dExhibition of British Artists in Los Angeles Thomas Houseago<\/strong> exist bloom <\/strong>the gallery formerly known as Blum & Poe. Houseago is best known as a sculptor, and several works on display evoke the Romanian master, including an abstract egg-shaped sculpture set on a rough wooden base and another, an owl, using his signature plaster painting technique.<\/p>\n \n \tThe owl, in my opinion, is the best work in the exhibition, silhouetted against a large window. Like Ann Craven\u2019s bird paintings, this work seems to capture the essence of the animal. Houseago has recently begun to dabble in paintings, which are colorful and dramatic but not as successful as the 3D works. For example, a large painting of an owl was completed, but it only seems to highlight the “less is more” glory of the sculpture.<\/p>\n \n \tAfter seeing the works of these three male sculptors, you have to wear a different hat to experience Naito Rei<\/strong>Think of Henry James\u2019s quote, \u201cTry to be a man who has nothing to lose.\u201d Because if you haven\u2019t noticed, Naito\u2019s work is huge. Tokyo National Museum<\/strong>you will lose a lot. <\/p>\n \n \tBorn in Hiroshima in 1961, Naito represented Japan at the Venice Biennale in 1997. Her work is in the tradition of minimalism, but not in the style of Donald Judd. There is nothing heavy about her work. Instead, objects ranging from small to extremely small\u2014pompoms, balloons, pebble-like blown-glass bubbles, animal figurines, bones, small mirrors, a pitcher of water\u2014are arranged in a way that requires the viewer to contemplate. In a long, narrow room in the museum, these objects are arranged against off-white walls and dim lighting: the effect is like being inside the artist’s imagination. On one wall are white fabrics in glass display cases that look like snowdrifts. What’s amazing about Saito’s work is that it comes very close to affectation but never crosses that line.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tInstallation view of Mariko Mori’s work Kojiki (2024) at SCAI THE BATHHOUSE in Tokyo. <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Nobutada Omote\/Courtesy of the artist and SCAI THE BATHHOUSE.<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n \tIn the 1980s, Naito said of one of her works that she was trying to \u201ccreate a spiritual world of my own.\u201d The same could be said of another Japanese artist of Naito\u2019s generation who worked in a very different way. Mariko Mori <\/strong>She became famous in the nineties for posing for photographs in Japanese urban settings, dressed as various archetypal Japanese female figures, but over the past two decades she has been working in a spiritual way, even blending her art with her living environment. <\/p>\n \n \tCurrent projects on display SCAI Bathroom<\/strong> The content is complex, involving crystals and a spiritual painting, and is related to Mori’s work Peace Crystal <\/em>(2016-2024), which is currently on display outside a palazzo during the Venice Biennale. At SCAI, Mori appears in augmented reality (you need to make an appointment) as a priestess, whose costumes draw both from Japanese history and from the futuristic effects of video games. Like Saito, Mori has created an entire immersive world, one you can only enter in person.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tExhibition view: Theaster Gates: African Folk Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2024 <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Koroda Takeru\/Courtesy of Mori Art Museum<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n \tfor Theaster Gates<\/strong>The wall text at the Chicago artist\u2019s first solo exhibition in Japan explains as much. Mori Art Museum <\/strong>Gates, who worked with Tokoname potters in preparation for Mori’s exhibition, first visited Tokoname in 2004 and came up with the concept of “African Mingei,” a term for Japanese folk art that was eclipsed by the introduction of Western art to Japan in the 19th century.[W]”For me, the key is how mingei respects local makers and resists externally imposed cultural identities,” Gates explains in the exhibition’s wall text.) <\/p>\n \n \tThe results are on display in the final section of the survey of Gates\u2019 work, and it\u2019s by far the highlight. After a detailed timeline tracing Gates\u2019s connection to Japan, there\u2019s a huge display case filled with ceramics by Tokoname ceramicist Yoshihiro Koide (who died in 2022), and a huge wooden bar (stools and all), in front of which is a set of shelves holding kantoku (sake bottles) made in collaboration with Japanese ceramicist Tani Q. 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\n\tNotes to Editors:<\/strong> This story originally appeared in Breakfast with the Arts, our daily newsletter about the arts world. Sign up here to receive it every weekday.<\/em><\/p>\n \n \tJapan is not a short flight from art world hubs like New York, London and Paris. But visitors to Japan this year will not be disappointed by the art offerings, which range from modern to contemporary. This week, during the Tokyo Contemporary Art Fair, the city\u2019s exhibitions are dominated by large-scale sculptures.<\/p>\n \n \tThe itinerary is first: Artison Museum<\/strong>Exhibition Constantin Brancusi<\/strong>This is the first official survey of the Romanian-born sculptor’s work in Japan.<\/p>\n \t\trelated articles<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n \tBrancusi’s The Kiss<\/em> It has it all: it\u2019s cute, romantic, and Instagrammable. It was created in the early 20th century, which also happens to mark the beginning of modern sculpture: The Kiss<\/em>The rest of the work is a sprint, from Picasso to Moore to Giacometti, all the way to Eva Hesse and Rachel Whiteread. So it\u2019s no surprise that The Kiss takes center stage in the Artizon exhibition.<\/p>\n \n \tThe exhibition deftly documents Brancusi\u2019s flight from Rodin\u2019s influence: the climax of the exhibition is a section devoted to bird forms, featuring the famous Birds in space<\/em>an elegant bronze sculpture. There are also photographs, and a section dedicated to the reconstruction of Branco Simon Parnas\u2019 studio. Purists will complain about the large number of posthumous works, but for the general audience, the exhibition is a good beauty and a wonderful introduction to a giant of modern sculpture.<\/p>\n\n
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