There’s no need to travel to see great Japanese artists when you can find them right in your city. That’s what co-author Eric C. Shiner discovered when the Japan Society asked him to put together an exhibit. Making a Home, based on the exhibit for the Japan Society’s centennial, flaunts the artwork of 33 Japanese-born contemporary artists living in New York. Each artist has a section containing an article and photographs on his/her work and interview excerpts.
This book offers readers an opportunity to familiarize themselves with contemporary Japanese artists. Author Eric C. Shiner says that “Murakami, Kusama, and Nara are the three names that most people know,” but for those who don’t know them, at least one artist in the collection should stick out: Yoko Ono, who contributed a “wish tree” where people can write and attach wishes that will be compiled and printed in a book.
Shiner wanted to revamp the way people looked at Japanese art, proving that it is more than cherry blossoms, ukiyoe and anime and this book achieves that goal with a diverse media—fashion, photography, painting, sound and more—by different artists facing similar obstacles. “A lot of them are digging into their souls and experiences instead of plugging into overarching societal trends, but at the same time your personal experiences are always developed by social trends,” says Shiner. “That introspective quality is there a lot.”
The artists say American life is liberating but has its problems, and the loneliness is evident. Mayumi Terada created spare black-and-white photos of beautiful uninhabited rooms. Noriko Shinohara turns her back on the anonymity of New York City and zooms in on the microcosm of marriage with her bawdy and comic drawings of her husband Ushio, another featured artist. Noriko Ambe’s work is both expansive and intimate. She works with white paper, stacked and layered to resemble topographical maps. They appear recognizable but they don’t identify a specific place, making them convey the infinite. Yoshiaki Kaihatsu and ON megumi Akiyoshi take unconventional approaches to the traditional spaces, the tearoom and meditation room respectively, so viewers may see those places afresh.
The only shortcoming of this book may be inevitable—photographs can’t show everything. Satoru Eguchi’s work looks precious in the images but is in fact a lifesize replica of his work studio, and its contents are all made out of paper and cardboard. Junko Yoda’s The Hudson takes up an entire wall and looks like an aerial view of the river as Jackson Pollock might have painted it, with countless small bowtie-shaped pieces of paper pasted onto the canvas and speckled with paint, giving it a texture that a photo can’t capture.
The process of putting the book and exhibit together has benefited the artists. Asked about any pleasant surprises working with them, Shiner says, “Many of these artists didn’t know each other before the show. I realized that a lot of them moved to New York and got wrapped up in the art world, and they weren’t befriending other Japanese artists. A lot of times it was territorial: ‘I’m here to be American. I’m here to speak English.’ The best experience was that we’ve formed this family and community now that has grown exponentially from the base of 33. The younger artists call the older artists for advice; the older artists call the younger ones to try and figure out how to turn on their computer.” Co-author Reiko Tomii agrees, “These artists are very attuned to the New York art world, friendly with many non-Japanese artists; they may not necessarily have connection with the expat community. This exhibition and also to some extent this book provided them with a sense of home.”
It’s intriguing to see which of the 33 think “Japanese artist” is a mantle to be thrown off or embraced. Ayakoh Furukawa protests, “…some people want me to be a little Asian/Japanese artist,” whereas Yoshiaki Kaihatsu says that after coming to the America, he “began to create works that were more consciously Japanese.” Hiroyuki Nakamura may have said it best: “I am a Japanese artist made in the U.S.A.”
Lastly, Yumi Kõri created an installation Shinkai (“deep sea”) using tiny red lights, countless ballons, and ambient sound. It seems absurd, but put it all together in a darkened room and the resulting space is eerie, possessing the power to transport you to a place that feels foreign. Toto, we’re not in Tokyo anymore.
– Rihoko Ueno
MAKING A HOME: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York
Eric C. Shiner and Reiko Tomii
Hardcover, 224 pages
$65.00, Yale University Press
Satoru Eguchi, STUDIO (2007), Installation view of Making a Home: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York at Japan Society Gallery, Photo by Richard P. Goodbody
Noriko Ambe, Sculpaper 1, cut hoshoshi paper, wood, 26 1/2″ x 48″ x 72” 2006.