A particularly good month for exhibitions, July features plenty of interesting art, photography, illustrations, and even a bit of Banksy. Here are our six favorite gallery showings around Tokyo this month – for more listings, check out our event calendar.
Untitled, from the series of “Search for the sun”, 2015
The Rain of Blessing: Rinko Kawauchi
Rinko Kawauchi has captivated photography fans around the world with a body of work that captures daily life in luminous detail. She shoots almost exclusively with medium format cameras, and her outsize prints invite viewers to immerse themselves in her scenes. A long-time recreational swimmer, Kawauchi describes her photographic process as “not dissimilar to grasping an object blindly under water, bringing it on land into the sunshine, and seeing for the first time, as it reflects the light, what it really looks like.”
Gallery 916
Until September 25, 2016
Map and contact details here.
Makoto Wada, “Jimmy Rushing” from Portrait in Jazz 2 (SHINCHOSHA Publishing Co., Ltd.), 1999, Private Collection
Haruki Murakami and Illustrators – Maki Sasaki, Ayumi Ohashi, Makoto Wada and Mizumaru Anzai
This exhibit gives fans of Japan’s best known living writer a chance to view his work from another perspective. Includes 178 pieces that depict Murakami’s collaborations with four illustrators – from illustrations for the covers of his first three novels to pictures that accompany his more recent essays and articles.
Chihiro Art Museum Tokyo
Until August 7, 2016
Map and contact details here.
© MADSAKI with courtesy of CLEAR EDITION & GALLERY
Wannabie’s Collection by Madsaki
A mercurial artist who has worked in everything from sculpture to fashion collaborations and a book that endeavors to teach Japanese readers how to properly use the most common English curse words, MADSAKI is also known for taking a savagely irreverent approach to much of what the art world holds sacred. Recreating many of the classic works with spray-painted lines and childlike faces, his “Wannabie’s Collection” is a tongue-in-cheek romp through Western art history. As Taku Sato, head of Clear Edition & Gallery explains, “Through his works MADSAKI challenges and stirs the stereotype values of various systems we encounter in daily life.”
Clear Edition & Gallery
Until July 16, 2016
Map and contact details here.
Banksy/Monkey Queen
2016 World Graffiti Arts Exhibition in Daiba Featuring Banksy
Graffiti artists use public spaces as their canvas, and in doing so reach a larger audience than they’d be able to assemble in almost any gallery. Creators who employ the form to make larger social arguments use shocking imagery to grab our attention, and the most provocative of them manage to make us laugh – nervously. This collection takes the pieces off the building walls and behind glass, allowing you to see works by the enigmatic Banksy, his alter ego Mr. Brainwash, Shepard Fairey, D*FACE, and others.
Gallery 21
Until July 18, 2016
Map and contact details here.
A Special Exhibition: The Ninja – Who Were They?
Unravel the mystery of the “true Ninja” through historical records, science and experience at this special exhibition at Miraikan. We all have a (probably stereotypical) picture in our minds of a ninja. But who were they in reality? Thanks to academic research carried out by Mie University and others, the truth is now being uncovered. The ninja were people with comprehensive abilities in terms of “mind, skills, and body,” and ninjutsu was an accumulation of practical knowledge concerning nature and society. This exhibition offers you the opportunity to train yourself in throwing shuriken and improve your jumping power, and introduces techniques for memory enhancement, sending secret messages, and special breath work.
Miraikan
Until October 10, 2016
Map and contact details here.
Erika Yoshino “NEROLI”
As photographer Erika Yoshino explains, “‘Neroli’ is an oil made from the flowers of a bitter orange tree …[it] has a complex scent. When I photograph, I release the shutter of my camera, at times impulsively, focusing on the subjects and also on my own emotions. Neroli is like a collection of time.” This collection features about 20 photographs taken between 2011 and 2014, all capturing moments of “irreplaceable importance.”
Taka Ishii Gallery Photography/Film
July 9-August 6, 2016
Map and contact details here.
