Art in Japan>Contemporary Art 1930-2004>Roppongi Crossing: New Visions in Japanese Art 2004 + Kusamatrix

Original articles on art, artists, architecture, exhibitions, galleries, museums and cultural institutions around Tokyo, Japan.

Roppongi Crossing: New Visions in Japanese Art 2004 + Kusamatrix

by John McGee

Yayoi Kusama, You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of 
Fireflies, 2004, mixed media (Photo: Masataka Nakano, courtesy Mori Art Museum)

The Mori Art Museum (MAM) opened in October, 2003 with a show of strength. "Happiness: A Survival Guide for Art and Life" was the result of a broad vision, deep pockets, good connections and curatorial aplomb. It was rewarded with a phenomenal 730,000-plus visitors. 

Now MAM follows with two shows of commitment—one dedicated to the contemporary art of Japan's past, the other to its future. The first is "Kusamatrix," a solo show of new work by Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), the "Queen of Polka Dots," as MAM puts it, and one of the very few Japanese blue-chip artists to emerge in the 1960s. 

"Kusamatrix" is an acid-test funhouse. The artist's obsessions—obliteration and infinity—power the large, polished installations. Mirrors placed on opposite walls create illusions of endless depth, reflecting visitors as they wander in wonderlands of bulbous balloons, colored lights and, of course, dots. 

Two pieces are simple, if a bit gimmicky. Tender Are the Stairs to Heaven (2004) is fiber light tube stretching from a round mirror on the floor to another near the ceiling. It would be a Christian metaphor—gaze down into unknown depths or up to unimaginable heights—but both ends disappear into darkness. You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies (2004) is a dark, claustrophobic room with mirrors on walls, floor and ceiling. Hundreds of small LEDs dangle at different heights from the ceiling. As visitors pass through, the lights sway and, wheezing from one color to another, weave a nebula of blue, green and red stars.

Yayoi Kusama, Dots Obsession, 2004, mixed media (Photo: Masataka Nakano, courtesy of Mori Art Museum)

The constellation of 57 artists in "Roppongi Crossing" makes up the first installment of a triennial exhibition meant to regularly appraise Japan's creative zeitgeist through recent art, architecture, design, fashion and film. Each time, six curators (four independent, two from MAM this year) choose up to 20 artists each. With luck, MAM's show will inspire debates akin to its American counterpart, the "Whitney Biennial," rather than the yawns of the perennially bland "MoT Annual" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. 

Like the nearby intersection, "Roppongi Crossing" displays a mix of familiar faces, attractive veneers, a few gaijin and occasionally a real looker. Memorable pieces include an oversized kotatsu (coffee table) as nostalgic playpen by architecture collective Atelier Bow-Wow, a fantasy video of a girl as a singing tree frog by Motohiko Odani, and purple paint flung across standing screens and through a field of small white mounds by oldster Natsuyuki Nakanishi (of High Red Center fame). Don't look for many unifying themes; the show is subtitled "Resonating Individuality." 

Installation view, "Roppongi Crossing: New Visions in Japanese Contemporary Art 2004" with works by Takehiko Sanada (foreground), Zon Ito and Ryoko Aoki (tent), Mina Perhonen (chairs), and others (Photo: Keizo Kioku, courtesy of Mori Art Museum)

Each visitor gets to vote for the "People's Prize." How about Fuzitama's KUBARUHITO [Fuzitama Delivers Small Gods to Her Friends] (2003)? The Kyoto-based artist fashioned scrap objects—tree branches, cut paper, radio parts and so on—into small, oddball shrines. A must-see video follows her as she delivers the shrines, and their eccentric gods (they salve an itchy scalp, unemployment or whatever ails the recipient), to the homes of needy, if not always welcoming, friends.

Likewise, this show meanders between "arigato" (thank you) and "kekko desu" (that's enough). But for such a grab bag, that's normal. 

Anyway, between two expansive shows and winter's clear views, MAM continues to offer such a range of incomparable visual experiences that you'll have a hard time leaving. Or is that because MAM's exit routes are as disorienting as Kusama's mirror stages?

This exhibition was held Feb-Apr 2004 at Mori Art Museum, Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan.

©2006 John McGee

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