Author: nakano

Taito City Asakura Museum of Sculpture

Fumio Asakura is a leading sculptor in the world of modern Japanese sculpture, and is also known as a cat lover. A special exhibition commemorating the 60th anniversary of his death, “Wonderful Cat Life: Fumio Asakura, Cats, and Sometimes Dogs,” is being held at the Taito City Asakura Museum of Sculpture, featuring a collection of his cat-themed sculptures. The exhibition will run until Tuesday, December 24, 2024.

*All works introduced are from the Asakura Museum of Sculpture.

Sculptor Asakura Fumio (1883-1964) produced masterpieces of portrait sculpture such as Grave Guardian and Portrait of Okuma Shigenobu, from his thorough pursuit of “naturalistic realism” that captures the subject as it is, and in 1948 he became the first sculptor to receive the Order of Culture. In addition to his creative endeavors, he taught at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now the Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts), from which he graduated at the top of his class, and also devoted himself to nurturing the next generation of artists, presiding over the “Asakura Sculpture School” at the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, which was his studio and residence.

Asakura was also known as an avid cat lover, and at one time he kept as many as 19 cats in his mansion. He created cat sculptures almost throughout his life, sometimes using his pet cats as models. In 1964, to commemorate his 60th year as a sculptor and the Tokyo Olympics, he organized the “Cat in All Forms” exhibition, capturing the various poses of cats.

However, in April just before the Olympics, he passed away from illness at the age of 81, and the “Cat in All Forms” exhibition never came to fruition. The dream was carried on by those involved, and was realized as a special exhibition in 1994 and 2017 at the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, his final residence.

This special exhibition, “Wonderful Cat Life: Asakura Fumio and Cats, and Sometimes Dogs,” also focuses on cat-related works, just like the “Cats in All Forms” exhibition, but what differs from past exhibitions is the way it is displayed.

“Rather than just displaying our cat works, we took into consideration how Asakura spent his time here (at the Asakura Museum of Sculpture) with the cats and what their lives were like,” says Yasuko Tobari, chief researcher at the Asakura Museum of Sculpture.

Although it is not widely known, Asakura not only had cats but also dogs. Although there are no works that use his beloved dogs as models, he did create a small number of dog-themed works, and by including these works, he aimed to make the exhibition more lively and easy to imagine what life was like in the past.

The exhibition will feature 53 works, including bronze statues of cats, as well as sketches of cats and handwritten haiku about cats. Photography, which was an important creative tool for Asakura, will also be on display.

As visitors enter the studio, the main exhibition space, the first thing that greets them is Hanging Cat (1909), the earliest cat work recorded to have been exhibited.

This work, which was exhibited at the 3rd Bunten Exhibition, had a novel composition for the time, and the highlight is the contrast between the strong arms that are pinching the cat’s neck and the cat’s relaxed, dangling body. The expression of the cat, which seems to want to say something, makes you smile. If you look closely, you can see that the cat’s hind legs are slightly tense, and you can feel the sharp observational eye and outstanding expressiveness that the young Asakura, who had just graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, already possessed.

According to Tobari, there is an anecdote in which Takamura Kotaro, a sculptor and outspoken art critic who was a friend of Asakura, praised the fact that Asakura had exhibited a small piece like this one, which depicts an ordinary day, at the Bunten exhibition.

“Up until then, Bunten exhibitions had often featured works that pursued the beauty of the human body or concrete human bodies expressing abstract themes, which were often exhibited as larger-than-life-size works. In this context, Takamura praised Asakura for treating the cat as just a cat. I think Takamura’s words gave Asakura confidence that even small pieces that capture everyday scenes like this could be considered works of art. This may be why Asakura continued to create cat artworks throughout his life,” says Tobari .

On the other hand, Takamura reportedly pointed out the stiffness of the expression of the arms in this work. Asakura took Takamura’s criticism seriously and created Arms (c. 1909), which was probably created in the same year, as a practice piece, since there is no record of it having been exhibited at any exhibitions.

In addition to Arm, the exhibition also features Hand (1918), created 10 years later by Kotaro Takamura. Asakura, who was collecting funds to study abroad, asked Takamura to create freely without revealing his identity, using words that echo his earlier criticism, such as “one hand, one leg.” Perhaps this alone struck a chord with Takamura, as he eventually realized that the request had come from Asakura. The exhibition gives a glimpse into the relationship between the two sculptors.

Moving our gaze to his later work, A Good Catch (1946), created about 40 years after Hanging Cat, we are astonished at the refinement of his technique. The stiffness of the muscles around the cat’s neck at the moment it bites the mouse, its ferocious expression, and the sense of balance of its front legs as it prepares for the mouse’s resisting movement. The realism of the work, which makes it easy to imagine the cat jumping down afterwards, is as if it were a mold of the cat at that exact moment.

Asakura, who loved everything about cats, including their whimsical movements and temperament, was also very interested in the skeleton that creates the unique, graceful movements of cats. Of course, he studied skeletal specimens, but Tobari said, “Asakura’s daughter said that Asakura always put cats on his lap and stroked them, not just to pet them, but to explore and confirm the structure of their skeletons and muscles.” This is an episode that is full of Asakura’s unique style, who pursued strict realism.

Even in the same sleeping pose, cats can be depicted with their heads buried in their front paws or with different ears and tail shapes. There is also a wide variety of cat poses, such as stretching, feeding kittens, and kittens snuggling up to each other.

At first glance, the work Postpartum Cat (1911) appears to be simply sitting, but it depicts the scene when Asakura returns home after an inspection tour of the South Seas and is greeted by his pet cat, who had just given birth two days earlier. The cat is looking tired and bowed.

Asakura was inspired to create this work by her beloved cat, who was clinging to her lap as if to express her fatigue from childbirth and the joy of the birth of her kitten. When asked why there are more detailed deformations in this work compared to her other cat works, Tobari said , “I think I was trying to capture the cat’s emotions, its tiredness and joy, rather than the cat’s appearance.”

On the other hand, in His later years’ work My Cat is Sick (1958), which depicts his beloved cat, emaciated, with sagging skin and lustrous fur, raising his bottom and enduring the pain, the work lacks the softness seen in his other works and conveys the determination and sadness of an artist who was facing head-on illness and death that would make one want to look away.

For Asakura, cat artworks are different from portrait sculptures that are created under certain constraints upon request; he creates them freely and with a relaxed attitude, following his own creative impulses. Perhaps the reason he chooses to create sculptures of cats, which are not easy to handle as subjects, is due to his honest desire as a cat lover to leave behind precious memories like photographs or diaries. This attitude is also the source of the appeal of Asakura’s cat artworks.

In addition, the venue also screens a 17-minute video introducing the production process of Asakura’s bronze works, known as gas mold casting. It’s easy to explain in a few words: first, create the work from clay, then mold it in plaster to create a prototype, and then turn it into bronze using that. However, the actual work is truly a work of art. It shows how the exhibited works are completed through a mind-bogglingly detailed process, so it’s a must-see for those who have difficulty imagining the casting process.

Regarding what prompted him to hold this exhibition, Tobari said , “More and more people are not familiar with Asakura, so I planned this exhibition to help people become more familiar with Asakura and his works.”

This exhibition, which allows you to fully experience Asakura’s excellent shaping ability, observational skills, and deep love for cats, is the perfect introduction to Asakura’s charm. If you are a cat lover, why not take a look at the lively and heartwarming poses of the cats?

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The venue, the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, is a very attractive building, so we would like to introduce some of its highlights.

In 1907, at the age of 24, Asakura graduated from Tokyo School of Fine Arts and established his own studio and residence in Yanaka, which he had designed himself. With the help of top craftsmen, the site was expanded and remodeled repeatedly, and the current Asakura Museum of Sculpture building was completed in 1935. In 2001, the building was registered as a national tangible cultural property, and in 2008, the entire site was designated a national place of scenic beauty as the “Former Asakura Fumio Garden.” The studio building is made of reinforced concrete, and the residence is made of wood in the sukiya-style style, giving it a unique structure, but Asakura’s excellent aesthetic sense allowed the different materials to blend seamlessly together.

The atelier where the artist usually exhibits his works has a ceiling height of 8.5 meters, and the first thing you will notice when you step inside is the open feeling. On the west side of the floor is the 3.78m-tall Statue of Komura Jutaro (1938), but it doesn’t feel oppressive at all.

In theory, an artist’s studio has windows facing the north, but the Asakura Museum of Sculpture’s studio has windows on three sides – north, east, and south – making it extremely bright. The aim is to allow natural light in from all angles to study how sculptures, which are often placed outdoors, look, and the amount of light was adjusted with curtains when the artist was creating the work. The large window at the top of the north side also has a gentle curve to allow light to spread throughout the space without creating strong shadows. The walls are made of warm silk floss, and the sculptor’s attention to detail is evident everywhere.

The study adjacent to the studio also has an open ceiling, making it seem like a movie set. Many of the books stored in the bookshelves with glass doors on three sides that reach the ceiling were Western books that belonged to Toru Iwamura, an art critic and Asakura’s teacher during his time at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. After Iwamura’s death, these valuable materials had been scattered among used bookstores, but Asakura mortgaged his house to raise funds to buy them back.

The large hall on the third floor, “Choyo no Ma,” where guests were entertained, is the most prestigious room in the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, and as its name suggests, the morning sun shines in through the windows on the east side. The luxurious Japanese-style furnishings and elegantly shining red walls are made of expensive red agate that has been crushed by hand and applied to the walls. The small amount of obsidian mixed in creates a unique color.

The ceiling is made of Jindai cedar, excavated from the ground in Izu Amagi, with a cedar bark lining. The tokonoma alcove is made of a single piece of pine, and the transom is made of a single piece of paulownia wood, both of which were valuable materials even at the time. There is a sense of playfulness in the deliberate lack of uniformity, and the space exudes Asakura’s aesthetics.

The courtyard, Goten no Ike, is made up of water, huge rocks, and trees. It is a corridor-style structure surrounded by buildings on all four sides, and the beautiful scenery can be enjoyed from any room, making use of the sculptor’s perspective. Asakura used this place for self-reflection, and when he was lost in his way of life or found it difficult to discern the true essence of things, he would look at the clear water to purify his mind and body, and then devote himself to further creation.

The roof of the atelier building has a garden with olive trees, which is said to be an early example of rooftop greening.

In the past, horticulture training was conducted here as a required subject at the Asakura School of Sculpture. As both gardening and sculpture involve nurturing life in the soil, the purpose of the training was to familiarize the students with the soil through gardening and to develop an eye for objects. Currently, a vegetable garden has been recreated in part, and it has become a place of relaxation where you can enjoy flowers of all seasons.

The male statue “Cannon Put” (1924), placed on the west side of the garden, looks out over the town of Yanaka under a wide sky. You can see the front of the work by looking up from the gate before entering the building, so be sure to look up at the rooftop when you visit.

Summary of the special exhibition “Wonderful Cat Life: Fumio Asakura, Cats, and Sometimes Dogs” commemorating 60 years since his death

*The contents of this article are from the time of coverage. They may differ from the latest information, so please check the official website for details.

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Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

After being called a “child prodigy” during his childhood, Tanaka Isson devoted himself to painting the nature of Amami in his later years.

The “Tanaka Isson Exhibition: Light of Amami, Paintings of Soul” looks back on the life and works of Isson, a man who devoted his whole body and soul to the act of “painting.”

This article reports on the press preview held the day before the event.

Tanaka Isson, the trajectory of indomitable passion

Born in Tochigi-cho (now Tochigi City) in 1908, Tanaka Isson showed exceptional artistic talent from an early age and was known as a child prodigy.
He was given the artistic name Beison by his father, a sculptor, and enrolled in the Japanese painting department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts), but dropped out after two months.
In 1947, he changed his artist name to Isson Yanagi, and although his work White Flowers was selected for the Seiryu Exhibition, he continued to produce works with only a few supporters. In his later years, he moved to Amami Oshima alone and devoted himself to painting the nature of Amami, but passed away at the age of 69.

After his death in 1979, a group of volunteers organized an exhibition of his posthumous works in Amami, which attracted an unprecedented 3,000 visitors. The media reported on the exhibition, which led to a frenzy and knowledge of his life and works being shared across the country.

“Tanaka Isson: Light and Soul” will feature his representative works that he painted in Amami, including “Kuwazuimo (Sweet Potato) and Soil” and “Pandanus Beach” , as well as unfinished masterpieces. With a focus on paintings, the exhibition will cover Isson’s entire artistic career with over 250 works, including sketches, crafts, and documents.

The largest retrospective exhibition

This exhibition is divided into three chapters: Chapter 1 “Young Southern Painter Tanaka Beison: His Tokyo Period , ” Chapter 2 “The Birth of Isson in the Chiba Period,” and Chapter 3 “His Own Path to Amami.” By displaying Tanaka Isson’s works in chronological order, it is possible to closely trace the almost seamless transition of his artistic career.

Ichimura started painting as a boy from the age of 6 or 7, and a considerable number of his works remain in various locations around the country. Many of the works on display at this exhibition are new and recent, with many even being shown for the first time. There are over 250 pieces on display, making this the largest retrospective exhibition of his kind to date.

Tanaka Isson’s career as an artist was not always smooth. He was praised as a “child prodigy” from an early age, and was active as a budding Nanga painter, but he never held a solo exhibition in his lifetime and ended his life alone in the land of Amami, still unknown.
Chapter 3 displays a number of works that Ichimura painted with all his heart and soul after traveling to Amami with unshakable determination and scraping together the money to live. Through these works, visitors can experience the state of his artistic career that Ichimura reached in his “place of death.”

Exhibited Works

Here we will introduce some selected works from the exhibition.

A masterpiece that completely changed the image of a village during the “hiatus”

In a letter later in life, Isson wrote that “when I was 23, the new style of painting that I believed to be my true path was not approved by my supporters, so I was abandoned,” and this period was traditionally considered a “blank period” in which he produced few works. However, in recent years, powerful works painted during this period have been discovered, and this view is beginning to change.
This work is a gorgeous gold folding screen that completely changed the image of Isson’s activities in the early Showa period.
At the time, Isson was 24 years old, and you can sense his passion and energy as he sought new horizons.

Tanaka Isson’s only selected work.

This work was first selected for the 19th Seiryu Exhibition, organized by Kawabata Ryushi, in 1947, and ultimately became the only work to be selected for a public exhibition.
The exhibition catalogue states “White Flowers: Yanagi Isson,” and it is clear that Yanagi changed his artist name from “Yonemura” to “Yanagi Isson,” making this an ambitious postwar work that marked a fresh start.
The sophisticated style of the painting, with a sense of freedom, is impressive.

A belief that he stuck to even when he turned his back on glory.

In 1948, the year after his first successful entry, Isson submitted two works to the 20th Seiryu Exhibition. Although Isson considered Clear Autumn to be his most confident work, he was disappointed that only his reference work Waves was selected, and so he declined the offer.

This work depicts the trees in bold black silhouettes on a gold folding screen. The trees towering against the backlight effect, and the texture of the branches and bark are depicted in minute detail, making this a work of great soul.
What was it that Ichimura wanted to protect, even turning his back on the glory of his life? Please watch this film and feel it for yourself.

What the light of Amami brought to one village

In a letter dated January 1974 (when he was 66 years old), Isson wrote that the works he put his heart and soul into were “Souvenirs for King Enma,” namely Pandanus Beach and Uneaten Sweet Potato and Sago Palm . These works are the highlights of this exhibition.

This work, which expresses the artist’s pride in having completed the project without any regrets, is based on the Pandanus arborescens, a plant that he has been planning since he first came to the island. The Pandanus arborescens is painted in shades of green and blue using a variety of pigments. In the middle ground, ripples are drawn with delicate lines, and the golden glow beyond the clouds gives the entire painting a sublime quality.
The exhibition also features a number of Isson’s paintings of Kannon and Arhat statues, and it is no exaggeration to say that this work expresses the religious feelings that he came to experience at the end of his life.

Please come and see this masterpiece by Isson Hisei at the venue.

Exhibition ambassador Koizumi Kotaro will also be in attendance!

At the press preview and opening ceremony, actor Koizumi Kotaro, who serves as the exhibition ambassador and audio guide navigator, appeared wearing a one-of-a-kind Oshima Tsumugi kimono with the motif of The Uneaten Sweet Potato and Soybean Currant.

“I felt a very mysterious connection and fate with Tanaka Isson, and put my heart into providing the audio guide,” said Kotaro Koizumi. His great-grandfather, Matajiro Koizumi (grandfather of Kotaro’s father, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi), who served as Minister of Communications and other positions, served as the chairman of Tanaka Isson’s supporters’ group, and so he had been hearing about the painter Tanaka Isson since he was a child.

Nearly a century has passed since then, and now that he, who was born into the Koizumi family, is involved in the Tanaka Isson exhibition, he said, “I was truly surprised, and felt honored to have been given this job, so I put my heart into recording my voice,” as he reflected on the mysterious encounter that took place through the exhibition.

“I had seen Tanaka Isson’s paintings from his later years since I was a child, but this exhibition showed me his earlier works first. Personally, my parents’ house had cycad trees planted, so I was captivated by the paintings depicting the ocean, papayas, and cycads of the natural scenery of Amami.”

Looking back on his impressions of the exhibition,

“In addition to the paintings, there are also precious photographs, handwritten postcards, and rare receipts left behind by Tanaka Isson, so I think this is a wonderful exhibition that allows you to fully experience what kind of achievements Tanaka Isson made and what kind of person he was. I hope that many people will be able to experience the charm of Tanaka Isson and learn about what kind of life he lived in Chiba Prefecture in his early days, and what kind of hard work he put in.

He addressed the audience with a smile.

Tanaka Isson once said, “I want to hold a solo exhibition in Tokyo and finally settle my paintings.” This exhibition, “Tanaka Isson: Light and Soul,” could be said to be Isson’s final wish, unexpectedly fulfilled.

The event will run until Sunday, December 1st, 2024.
Please come to the exhibition to see the works of Ichimura, who left social success behind and devoted his whole heart and soul to “drawing.”

Event Outline

*The contents of this article are from the time of coverage. It may differ from the latest information, so please check the official exhibition website for details. In addition, the works featured in this article may have already finished their exhibition.

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Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

We have received a report from Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum on the special exhibition “Listening to the Earth: Presence and Texture,” which opened on Saturday, July 20, 2024, so we would like to share it with you.

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The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum’s special exhibition, “Listening to the Earth: Presence and Texture,” opened on Saturday, July 20th. The exhibition features works by five contemporary artists who are deeply connected to nature and continue to create, conveying the breath of the earth, which is difficult to hear in our human-centered lives. A press preview was held on Friday, July 19th, and the exhibition was open to the press. This article reports on the exhibition commentary by Ohashi Natsuko, the curator in charge of the exhibition, and the participating artists.

■ The feeling and texture of listening to the earth
■Saturday, July 20, 2024 to Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Curator Natsuko Ohashi, who was in charge of this exhibition, explained the background of the project, saying, “Over the past dozen years, there have been many times when we have felt the convenience of living in a big city, along with its fragility, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake and the spread of COVID-19. In addition to feeling the fragility of the city, I also felt that nature was somewhat distant, and that my ability to sense not only the changing of the seasons, but also the state and changes of nature, was gradually weakening. This was the big trigger for me to proceed with the research,” and the exhibition features artists who have left big cities to sharpen their senses in nature and create their works.

The participating artists are five people who have a deep connection with nature in their work: Kawamura Kiichi, Furusaka Haruka, Mimoko Machiko, Kurashina Mitsuko, and Enomoto Yuichi.

As you enter the exhibition hall (Gallery C) just after descending the escalator at the entrance, you will find an installation of photographs by Kiichi Kawamura in a high-ceilinged, open space. Born and raised in Tokyo, Kawamura (born in 1990) moved to the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido in 2017 and continues to work as an artist.

“It is a place known as a World Heritage Site. Brown bears, killer whales, and sometimes whales come here, and while it is rich in nature, it also lives in a very harsh environment. Rather than the so-called nature photography that puts the word “nature” in quotation marks, I create my work with the desire to express myself as a resident living there, feeling the local climate with my own skin,” he says. In the autumn of his second year after moving here, he obtained a hunting license and went into the mountains to hunt. Although he started out with a desire to learn more about nature and animals, at first he felt that he was not accepted by the forest and it was difficult to meet animals. If you do not understand the terrain and the ecology of the creatures living in that area, you cannot walk through the area or reach your prey.

“I live in Shiretoko because I’m conscious of the issues that you can’t feel or understand in the city, but rather than looking at the ecosystem from the outside through hunting, I want to be part of it, and link the spirituality and process of the act with the expression of photography.” (Kawamura)

The photographs printed on fabric capture Kawamura’s daily life, including his life with his Ainu dog Upashi, who is a member of his family, and the scenery of Shiretoko. Framed in wooden frames made in Hokkaido, the photographs are hung with ropes used for outdoor camping, forming the exhibition space. In consideration of the environment and respecting the architecture of the museum, no new walls were erected for the exhibition. The way the works are comfortably arranged in the space will be a fresh sight for viewers. The wooden frames are foldable. The artist himself packs them all into his car and transports them to the venue, where they are exhibited. After the exhibition ends, he folds them up again and drives them back to Shiretoko. This is probably also part of the process that Kawamura, who values the continuity of life, production, and exhibition, speaks of.

Woodblock artist Furusaka Haruka was born in Osaka Prefecture. After spending time in Finland, Norway and other parts of Northern Europe, she began working in Aomori in 2017, interviewing people who live in harmony with nature. This exhibition features three themes: the print series Duodji of Reindeer Mountain, which was created in response to her fascination with the handicrafts of the nomadic Sámi people of Northern Europe; Soma’s Boat and Voice of a Message, which were created after extensive research in the mountainous regions of Aomori and Minami-Tsugaru.

Furusaka sees the trees in his woodblock prints as a way to connect with nature. He says that this view was largely influenced by his first stay and production in a Sámi village in 2003. Since then, he has communicated with the Sámi villagers via e-mail and other means, gradually learning what it is like to live alongside the harsh natural environment.

“Reindeer Fur” was inspired by the Sámi people, who have long survived in regions where temperatures can reach minus 40 degrees Celsius by wearing reindeer fur. When they catch a reindeer, they use everything from the fur to the bones and tendons to survive. For Furusaka, woodblock prints are like reindeer to the Sámi. Making woodblock prints made him want to live like the Sámi and reindeer, so he started making prints by making use of the shape and grain of the solid wood and using dirt he picked up as paint. This was the beginning of the “Duoji of Reindeer Mountain” series.

In “Weaving,” people tie warp threads to trees in the forest, adjust the tension, and feel the lightness of doing handiwork in nature, as well as the comfort of being there. “I recorded their words about how to behave in nature and created my work,” he says.

In 2017, he turned his attention to Japan and began to visit Aomori to interview people who have lived with the harsh winter. For this exhibition, he produced a large woodblock print that matches the ceiling height of the venue. He was present from the felling of the wood for the printing block in the lacquer forest, and printed the new work using lacquer sap from Aomori and indigo that he grew himself. Not only the woodblock prints but also the printing blocks are exhibited at the venue, creating an exhibition space resembling an Aomori grove. In addition, natural materials such as lacquer sap, indigo, and soil that Furusaka uses as paint are also exhibited. In “Vessel that Makes Lines,” Aomori hiba is thinly coated with mud collected in Aomori. As it dries, it cracks little by little to create lines in the installation, and you can observe how it changes as the exhibition period progresses.

In addition, a video is being shown that records the process of creating woodblock prints in response to the nature of his hometown. From harvesting indigo in summer, cutting down wood in winter, collecting soil, to carving and printing, the video shows how closely his hometown is connected to nature, and how the process of creating woodblock prints, which begins with growing the materials, takes an enormous amount of time and effort. The video was shot by Kiichi Kawamura, a participating artist in this exhibition.

The atrium exhibition room on the floor below (Gallery A) is home to the dynamic world of Machiko Mimoko’s work. Born in Osaka Prefecture, Machiko Mimoko moved to Amami Oshima in 2019 after 11 years of work in Tokyo. An “island” has been created in the center of the exhibition space, and many of the works she created on Amami Oshima are on display around it.

Miroko Machiko says that because the people of Amami Oshima live in harmony with nature, they have a strong ability to sense it.

“I realized that I had no ability to sense nature at all. I thought that it would be very important to acquire that ability, so I started watching every day to see what kind of movements and changes were occurring, and the nature on the island was very bustling. The movements were like those of a living thing, and I perceived them as living things that cannot be seen with the naked eye and created them.” (Miroko)

The painting on the inside of the wall that forms the island was painted on-site over a period of four days. The outside is surrounded by original illustrations from the picture book “Invisible Dragon,” which was published in 2023.

“I would like people to experience the story of the Invisible Dragon before entering the exhibition. Everything influences each other. When the wind blows, waves form, and small waves wash ashore as spray. I was conscious of these connections, and I didn’t have a set goal in mind when I created the work; I improvised. I have expressed the world that I see from the island, so I would be happy if people can sense the hustle and bustle of nature.” (Miroko)

The floor of “Island” is dyed with mud. After moving to Amami Oshima about five years ago, Miroco has come to realize that the natural materials of the island, which give her the energy of the earth, suit what she wants to express.
The video of the live painting “Umi-Matou,” which depicts the “buzz of light” in the forests of Amami Oshima, can also be viewed in a hut set up in a corner of the venue.

“When I paint outdoors, I receive the movement of the wind, the changes in light, and a lot of energy, and I express it instantaneously. The thing that is shaped by these things begins to look like a living thing. It is what is shaped as a living thing, and I feel that it is important for me to paint what I receive from my surroundings as if I am imprinting it on my body.” (Miroko)

For the people of Amami Oshima, mountains and forests are sacred places where gods reside. Rather than just entering the forest, Miroco says, “I just walked in at the entrance. The forest is full of roots and stones, so it’s hard to move around. I was overwhelmed with things I wanted to paint, but I think the pictures that emerged were like a conflict that I couldn’t paint. I took apart the clothes I was wearing during the creation process and used them as canvases or in other works, so they are connected to the original.” (Miroko)

The exterior walls of the hut in the video are also painted with a dye from a plant called hikagehengo, which grows abundantly in Amami.

Mitsuko Kurashina, whose works are on display at Gallery B, was born in Aomori Prefecture and currently lives in Tokyo. She began drawing botanical illustrations in 2001.

Observing the changes in plant habitats caused by the tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake (2011), he has been making regular visits to the affected areas since 2013, painting the vegetation in watercolors. This exhibition features two botanical paintings of the Kanto region that he created when he was unable to visit the disaster-stricken areas, as well as 15 paintings he created during his research in Iwate, Fukushima, and Miyagi prefectures.

The numbers in the titles of the works are the latitude and longitude where the plants depicted were located. Kurashina says this is very important because she wanted to “suggest that the place actually exists, while at the same time depicting a scene that was only visible at that time.” By carefully observing and drawing each of the plants, which she has named “tsunami plants,” Kurashina explains, “I will explore what happened in that place and why the plants took root there; whether the seeds of the plants were carried there by the tsunami, sprouted due to the stirring up of the soil, or were carried there by heavy machinery during reconstruction work.”

Works in progress are also on display. For this exhibition, Kurashina has put a lot of effort into creating a white wisteria. The wisteria we know generally has vines that grow upwards, entangle the wisteria trellis, and drooping flowers. However, this wisteria has vines that creep along the ground, grow leaves, and bloom white flowers. In 2016, Kurashina had the opportunity to see a photo of white wisteria creeping along the ground, and she was determined to paint it, so she went to the site to investigate, and began painting last year. It is rare for white flowers to bloom on the ground. Kurashina believes that it must take a lot of energy to make them bloom. It is also a rare opportunity to be able to see the work in progress.

Yuichi Enomoto (born in 1974) was born and raised in Tokyo, and since 2018 has had an atelier in Nemuro, Hokkaido, and since this year he has also had an atelier in Itoigawa, Niigata, where he creates his works.
This exhibition features oil paintings based on the landscapes of Nemuro and a new work titled “Frost”, which uses aluminum panels to resemble ice.

When viewed from a distance, Swamp and Trees appears to be a black and white abstract painting, but when viewed up close, trees become visible in the black canvas.

Curator Ohashi conveyed Enomoto’s words, “I remember feeling surprised, happy, and also scared at the sudden scene that appeared in the deep forest where no one was around and no one ever came,” and introduced the work as one that captured the nature that Enomoto encountered — piled up white snow — with a fresh sensibility. Because it is a work simply carved in black and white, it has room for viewers to freely connect it to their own memories and expand their imaginations.

Meanwhile, the ten new pieces in the series “Frost”, which are painted on aluminium panels, capture the expressions created by snow caused by the strong winds coming from the sea.

“Even if you don’t have the experience of walking on ice, the many pieces lined up create a space that feels like you’re surrounded by ice,” says curator Ohashi. The 10 pieces lined up make you imagine the countless beautiful shapes woven by nature in Nemuro in winter. Incidentally, the last small piece on display shows animal footprints on the snow. At first glance, it is a quiet, monochrome world, but it expresses the presence of living things and the sparkle of life that Enomoto felt in Nemuro.

 

At the end of the exhibition, there is a work that represents spring. It is a vessel-shaped work with the motif of Corydalis ambiguus, a perennial plant found in Hokkaido that blooms from April to May. It is a new work created by Enomoto at the end of the exhibition.

Next to it is a slideshow of photos taken by Enomoto as reference material for his work, showing the change of seasons from spring in Nemuro. Not only does it fully convey the fresh sensations that Enomoto felt when he was fascinated by Nemuro, which offers a completely different landscape from Tokyo, but it is also interesting that it includes photos that are closely related to the works on display, such as a landscape on a frozen lake and Corydalis ambiguus flowers.

As you wander through the space, where a variety of works by five contemporary artists are on display, including photography, woodblock prints, oil paintings, watercolors, and installations, you will be inspired to awaken the sense of connection with nature that humans have innately, but which we often forget.

The exhibition catalogue is accompanied by a piece of mud-dyed cloth made on Amami Oshima.
It is made in the same workshop that produces the mud dyeing used by participating artist Machiko Miroko in her work.

Photo by Wataru Suzuki

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Exhibition details: Exhibition title: Listening to the Earth: Presence and Texture
The Whispering Land: Artists in Correspondence with Nature
●Period: July 20, 2024 (Saturday) to October 9, 2024 (Wednesday)
●Venue Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Galleries A, B, and C
●Closed on Mondays, September 17th (Tues), September 24th (Tues) *Open on August 12th (Mon. holiday), September 16th (Mon. holiday), September 23rd (Mon. holiday)●Opening hours 9:30am-5:30pm, 9:30am-8pm on Fridays *Last entry 30 minutes before closing●Admission fee: 1,100 yen for adults, 700 yen for university and vocational school students, 800 yen for those 65 and over, free for high school students and younger*For details on discounts, such as the Summer Night Museum Discount, please visit the official exhibition website.
●Organizers: Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum ●Special cooperation: Tsugawa Co., Ltd. ●Cooperation: Hokureki LLC, Mishimasha Co., Ltd., Gallery Camellia, Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Aomori Public University ●Contact: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum 03-3823-6921
For the latest information on events, please visit the official exhibition website.
https://www.tobikan.jp/daichinimimi

 

Article provided by: Kokosil Ueno

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