2014: Kyoto Upload

May 2014
Kyoto

This visit to Kyoto is shorter than usual this spring due to events in late March, early April, and early June in the US.  So, I have been packing in as much as possible into the 7 weeks this trip.  I did not miss out entirely on Ohanami (sakura/cherry blossom viewing), however. Like the azalea season in GA there are early, mid, and late blooming cherry trees here.  One outstanding display of double/triple blooms was at the Ninnaji Temple in the NW environs of Kyoto.  A vast grove of trees was in bloom along with many purple tsutsuji (azaleas). Along with the many blossoms there were crowds of people as there always is for Ohanami.  One gets used to it. 

The trees along my river walks had dropped most of their blooms, however, that is followed by the fresh green leaves of spring.  Due to my late departure from GA this year I was able to enjoy that burst of spring in both Athens and at Big Canoe.  The river rambles here are a joy with the wildlife, fashion-conscious joggers (especially with day glow accented shoes), dog walkers (a middle aged couple with 5 apricot miniature poodles), the sound of water over cascades and little collectable treasures I espy on the ground, gather and frame.

Exhibitions have kept me on the run.  My dear friend of 30+ years, Kiyoji Tsuji, has retired from his university position so he has lots of free time to guide me about and provide free entry with his invitations.

Museum exhibitions:

Museum of Modern Art Kyoto “Future Beauty”: A survey of Japanese fashion from the 1970s to today, with all of the well know designers who started to show [black!] in Paris in the 70s —- Miyake, Kawakubo, Kenzo (lots of color), Yamamoto, et al.  Despite the title, the final gallery of young Japanese designers was a big letdown and boring!  Begging the question, “Is there a divide between costume and fashion?”  Depends on whom you are talking about, I guess.

City Museum of Art (across the street) “Feminine Beauty in Japanese Painting”: A focus on women as the subject of painting from the Edo Period to the present that was both a survey of the styles of painting from traditional earth pigments on paper to oil on canvas and other media AND a review of women’s fashion over several hundred years — apparel, hair style and activities of each age.  Enlightening!

City Museum of Art “Color and Clay”: An exhibition of Art Brut (outsider art) that focused on twoaspects — drawings and paintings on paper and ceramic sculpture.  One over-riding aspect in both categories was repetition, which is not uncommon in this genre. In addition to much of the art that was of interest was the presentation of the work with simple ‘A frame’ structures that provided surfaces for both the 2-D and 3-D work.  This was one of the most professional appearing group shows I have seen here.  I give Kudos to the group that sponsors this work by these artists.

The Museum of Kyoto: An exhibition of French Impressionist paintings that depicted scenes with water — the seaside, rivers, riversides, ponds (Monet), etc.  All of the important artists were represented: many in depth, with loans from near and far away.  It was a comprehensive survey of this subject and included examples famous around the world: Renoir’s “Dance at Bougival” with the charmer in red bonnet, for example.

The National Museum of Art Osaka  “Andreas Gursky”: Gursky is a German photographer who has gained fame in recent years with his huge color prints that often capture crowds, structures with repeated spaces, masses of “stuff”, etc.  He also showed work which was very abstract, including images of water or satellite photos from space that he manipulated.  A prime impact of his work relies on the gigantic size of most of his photos, often 10’ or more in height.  Impressive!

Muse’e De Some’ Seiryu (Museum of Dyeing) “The Tricycle”: a 3-person exhibition that   challenged my ability to understand the concept behind this adventure.  Kubota-san (curator of the show) showed four large tortured 3-D forms constructed of stiff woven sisal or monofilament panels mounted on metal armatures, hung from multiple points.  Murota-san showed huge wall panels, over-loaded with digitally printed photographic images, colors, textures and text (in several languages) that covered three of the walls in the museum overwhelming the space.  My first impression: ”It’s like a bazaar!” Sudo-san (CEO of Nuno a cutting-edge contemporary fabric firm) provided the quiet relief to all else that engulfed the viewer.  She hung 5 white or off-white fabric panels in space, each with a different structure, a different surface.  Each was tube lit at the bottom of each panel to add elegance and mystery. They demanded more space, however, to achieve full impact.  This “three-wheeler” was as strange as the title/concept.

Gallery Exhibitions:

There were a large number of solo and group shows in the many galleries around Kyoto.  These included exhibitions featuring ceramics, both functional and sculptural, lacquer in sculpture, drawings, paintings and photographs.  Fiber shows were varied and of great interest.  Some highlights:  Sudo-san created an installation of 60 layers of translucent fabric and paper lit from above with ethereal effect; Agano-san knitted a vast net of printed fabric mirror-backed surface strips; Ishizaki-san showed her large free-hung work that combined woven gauze with sprang constructed of weft and warp yarns (This is the kind of challenge I love to unravel); Imamura-san continues to impress with her large katazome (paste resist dyed) multi-panel works, including ones free-floating in the breeze outdoors.

Time here in Kyoto is running out and I will be returning to GA by the end of May to install a show with collaborators in music and dance at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at UGA.  I look forward to spending the summer at Big Canoe, my retreat in the North Georgia Mountains.

Cheers from Paradise in the East,

Glen