Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal) was like the Forest Gump of 20th Century Europe, a real life Zelig. He lived through the Russian Revolution, narrowly escaped the Nazi attempt to extinguish Jewry, painted next to the most celebrated of modern French painters, and even designed costumes and sets for operas in New York when America was making its ascendency. Continue reading
On the way to the Belgian painting exhibit I happened upon the best single piece of art I’ve seen in many years. But I’ll have to get to that in my next art post. In the meantime, you’ll have to be content with my new favorite Belgian painter, and several exciting Japanese contemporary artists. Continue reading
My image of fabric art has been clouded by vague impressions of shaggy rug hangings, unsatisfying yarny concoctions, and heaps of twine or rope symbolizing something or other. But that all changed when I went to Stitch by Stitch, an exhibition of Japanese fabric artists at the Teien Art Museum (one of my favorites in Tokyo).
For starters, I saw that the use of fabric could be as incomprehensible as any of the finest in abstract impressionism. That pieces of clothing could be so laden with decoration that it would firmly cross over from fashion into art, like the ominous bejeweled cape that was in a dimly lit room. Or that it could literally envelop the viewer in sheer bright red curtains of knotted lace. Continue reading
Earlier this month I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo or MoT. Even though it’s in central Tokyo, it’s quite a bit out of the way, in one of those blind spots far from train or subway stations. The neighborhood, Kiyosumi Shirakawa, is very traditional in a shabby way.
Nevertheless, the walk to the museum is quite interesting. There were little iron posts with makeshift seating near them, all along the streets. Brilliantly colored flowers were meticulously cared for by the shopkeepers. I also liked the sidewalk tiles with etchings of insects on them.
The museum itself is beautifully ultra contemporary, with a dramatic entrance lined with aluminum poles, fountains and intriguing art installations. I tucked myself into one of them, and found the effect visually disorienting. Even though I was inside the structure, I appeared to be an external reflection. And the buildings that were reflected on the surface seemed to be something from within.
I’m hopelessly behind on my blog posts. The queue for museums alone is about a dozen long. I blame it on my improving back. I’ve been walking around without a cane for about a month now. It feels great to just be up and walking without pain, to be able to sit for longer than 30 minutes without discomfort. So I’m out and about like a man just released from prison.
The museum in this post is about the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno Park, in northeast Tokyo. That’s where most of the national museums of Japan are located. It was my first time to visit. And as far as natural science museums go, it’s a pretty good one.
The most impressive display at the museum is the comprehensive collection of stuffed mammals from around the world. It’s awe-inspiring to see how large some of these creatures are. But I couldn’t help think about how each of these animals ended up there. It’s morbid, but it would have been interesting to have a note about the source of each taxidermy victim. “Died of natural causes at the zoo” or “Shot by man with small penis” might be a few examples. This display alone is worth the visit to the museum.
My other favorite exhibit is the taxonomy tree of the animal kingdom that lines the floor of one of the halls. It’s lit up in different colors according to phyla, and each branch ends at a display that shows what bacteria, bug or bird is the end species.
There were also the usual dinosaur skeletons, dioramas of prehistoric life, old machines and simplistic interactive gizmos that you find in many science museums. All of it was beautifully presented, in a lovely historic building that’s been newly renovated.
