I'm just back from a whirlwind East Coast tour, where I had the time to visit a number of fabulous Japanese art exhibitions and events in conjunction with Asia Week in New York City and the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC.
First stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the impressive exhibition "Storytelling in Japanese Art." The Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine alone was worth the visit. Its pristine condition drew a bit of a contrast with the more weathered condition of the scrolls on loan from the Spencer Collection at the New York Public Library. Of course, the flip side of that is that anyone can put in a request to see the library collection and see the works and handle them in person at the library. Not so easy to get that kind of access to the scrolls at the Met!
Next stop Japan Society Gallery and Ken Brown's exhibition "Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture 1920-45." The range of objects reflecting the influence of Art Deco in all aspects of Japanese visual culture in the pre-war era was truly impressive.
The NY Times review of the exhibition can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/arts/design/deco-japan-shaping-art-and-culture-at-japan-society.html
Last New York stop, the Museum of Arts and Design for the exhibition "Beauty in All Things: Japanese Art and Design" on through May 21. It was my first time visiting this museum and I found it quite enjoyable. Many of the artists in the areas of ceramics and bamboo arts were familiar, but here again the combination of different media and craft forms was impressive.
The "Cabbage Chair" by NENDO and "Hagoromo" (Angel's Robe) of silk and wood by Kobayashi Masakazu formed an intriguing pair and of course the two-mat tea room made of silk drapes hanging from a PVC pipe frame caught my interest as well. I'm not quite sure why the bamboo chair is called "Tea Ceremony Chair" but the craftsmanship and design were remarkable.
The "Cabbage Chair" by NENDO and "Hagoromo" (Angel's Robe) of silk and wood by Kobayashi Masakazu formed an intriguing pair and of course the two-mat tea room made of silk drapes hanging from a PVC pipe frame caught my interest as well. I'm not quite sure why the bamboo chair is called "Tea Ceremony Chair" but the craftsmanship and design were remarkable.
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