culture” (see glossary), organised by the Seibu department store in the 1980s. In the dystopian animation films of the 1980s, Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of Akira, and Kyoko Okazaki produced a vivid tale of youth bound by an uncertain future. In the same decade, Takashi Murakami and Makoto Aida exhibited a raw talent for Neo-Pop forms, combining the clever use of traditional pictorial techniques with imagery associated with Japanese subcultures to produce an ambivalent message with respect to politics and the consumer society. This energetic and complex debate between society and pop art is one of the hallmarks of contemporary art in Japan and underscores the importance of the crucial commitment of pop culture.
Takashi MURAKAMI, Cosmos, 1998 Acrylic on canvas mounted on board, 3000 × 4500 mm (3 panels) / 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa Courtesy Tomio Koyama Gallery / ©︎1998 Takashi MURAKAMI /Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. / Courtesy: Tomio Koyama Gallery / Image courtesy: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
GALERIE 2 Gallery 2 opens with a series of works produced after the Great Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011. This triple disaster (earthquake, tsunami, nuclear disaster) that overwhelmed Japan not only caused material damage, but also an invisible fear and a deep and lasting trauma in people due to the nuclear contamination. Calling for a sharing of expertise, autonomous networks such as NGOs and social support groups directed contemporary art towards a more communicative juncture.
Shinro OHTAKE, Scrapbook #68, 2014 - 2016 Mixed media artist book 20 kg, 704 pages, 41 × 39 × 50 cm
Naoya Hatakeyama’s post-apocalyptic and yet intimate photographs capture the breeze from the sea and the forest in his devastated hometown. Lieko Shiga, a “village photographer”, suggests the possibility of evoking the emotions of people and events in the imagination of the viewer.
© Shinro Ohtake, courtesy of Take Ninagawa, Tokyo Photo by Kei Okano
Keiichi TANAAMI, Untitled (Collagebook 3_06), circa 1973
Chim>Pom, SUPER RAT (diorama), 2008
Marker pen, ink, magazine scrap collage on drawing paper, 45 × 54 cm
5 rats (stuffed after being caught in Shibuya), diorama of town of Shibuya,
© Keiichi TANAAMI
video monitor, etc., 136 × 87 × 87 cm
Courtesy of the artist and NANZUKA
Osamu KITADA / Photo : Yoshimitsu Umekawa © Chim>Pom Courtesy of MUJIN-TO Production, Tokyo
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