2-16-19. Nonaka-Hill Gallery, Los Angeles.

This show will be up till April 6, 2019. It’s a sampling of Japanese art from 1980-1990 curated by Mika Yoshitake. The survey also encompases the Blum and Poe Gallery of Los Angeles so you can imagine the scope of this exhibition. I encourage visits to anyone interested in this period of art making from Japan because it’s under recognized here and pivotal to all contemporary art there. The good news is that this is just part 1 of 2 with more to come.

2-15-19. Walt Disney Concert Hall.

This is the stage just before the performance of Ryoji Ikeda’s “100 Cymbals”. He is a Japanese electronic sound composer and visual artist based in Paris. He is also showing now at the Blum & Poe Gallery in Los Angeles with video art of sensory overload. Both shows have dizzying effects ranging from minimalism to obsession carried to an extreme.

2-15-19. Japan in America.

Check out the Blum & Poe Gallery in Los Angeles for a museum quality show of works curated by Mika Yoshitake called “Parergon: Japanese Art of the 1980s and 1990s”. This is Part 1 of 2 and it runs through March 23, 2019. The show successfully brings to light a period of art works that is not really known to the West and I include myself. I’m just glad it’s being done. It’s like a survey of numerous artists spanning sculpture, painting, photography and video. I’m looking forward to the next part! The gallery is partnered with the Nonaka-Hill gallery also in Los Angeles featuring more contemporary art from Japan.

1-6-19. Fun and Somber.

The fun part is an exhibit called “Kaiju” featuring a massive collection of vintage Japanese toy robots, figurines and packaging graphics. “Gambatte” is the museum’s somber counterpoint. The exhibit revolves around a collection of before and after photographs of Japanese Americans that were forcefully relocated from homes to relocation centers during the course of WW2. It serves as a powerful reminder of the treatment of Japanese Americans during this period of racism and paranoia. Both exhibits are at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

12-14-18. Praise for this one.

Writing with restraint. I found this approach interesting and perhaps there are more books like this to explore on my part. It’s a quiet narrative style that in this case concentrates on a theme of loneliness. It avoids flamboyant episodes and successfully observes the drama of mundane daily life. Pretty good. Titled “Strange Weather in Tokyo” by Hiromi Kawakami with a cool cover photo by Natsumi Hayashi. My ever curious Shiba got in the shot too.

11-18-18. Dover Street Market Finally Arrives.

Something fun is happening inside the new Dover Street Market in downtown Los Angeles just south of the Artist District. It’s a new kind of department store that is the brainchild of Rei Kawakubo, the founder of the fashion label Comme Des Garcon. This one opened in November 2018 and now there are several more worldwide from New York, London, Tokyo, Beijing and Singapore.