The Arts in New York City

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN- Japan Society’s exhibit titled Making a Home: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York showcased the artwork of 33 contemporary Japanese artists who emigrated to NYC from Japan. One of the themes the exhibit dealt with was the theme of identity; the artists had two separate identities to reconcile, as Japanese and a New Yorker. The exhibit was a very intriguing look at the artist’s relationship with their former homeland, Japan.

Hiroyuki Nakamura’s acrylic on canvas titled “everybody loves remotes and detachable penises, and so does a cowboy-LANDMINE JUNKIE is gonna hit another head” (2007) was a provocative piece showing an extreme side of human sexuality. My first gut reaction when I saw this piece was shock. The piece, which had a creepy cartoonish quality, featured a Japanese girl who was wearing what seemed to be a small detachable penis and was striking a suggestive pose. In addition, I noticed that the girl wore a very tight corset around her waist which created an exaggerated hourglass figure. This was a very provocative and unusual work. Nakamura’s other works featured in the exhibit contained Western and Japanese elements. From that observation, I tried to look for any conflict of these elements in the work. The only interpretation I could come up with was that Nakamura’s work was an expression of a suppressed sexuality. Japanese culture was stricter and less open about self-expression than American culture. Perhaps the artist felt liberated sexually in America, knowing that judgment would not be as harsh. The binding corset reminded me of the old Chinese practice of feet binding- both attempts at achieving physical perfection through artificial ways. The tightening and binding perhaps expressed the artist’s idea about Japanese society- strict and suffocating.

Another work conveying a negative view of their past heritage was Hiroyuki Nakamura’s photographs of his mom, his two aunts, and their dog. There were several photos which each featured his mom and his two aunts (they were all sisters). In all but one picture, the dog was present. The photographer took these pictures when he came back to visit them in Japan. The photos which were placed on a board together were very sad. The facial expressions of the three sisters were very stern and emotionless. The three sisters in each of the pictures were standing or sitting in line with each other, conveying a sense of order. Perhaps it was the order and strict ways of society that made them this way. The dog, which was a Yorkshire Terrier, seemed to be the happiest one in the all of the pictures. Nakamura’s photographs showcased the negative effects of a suppressive culture.

One work that was not so condemning of Japanese culture was Katsuhiro Saiki’s visual representation of origami-like buildings. They were chromogenic prints mounted on acrylic and paper board. The prints were illustrations of NYC skyscrapers but with a twist- they seemed to be folded and had the qualities of an origami figure. Origami is a Japanese art form. The origami buildings were very beautiful and graceful. The work symbolized the peaceful coexistence of two identities in the artist. We see both elements of the artist’s past and current identity.

The Japan Society’s exhibit titled Making a Home: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York, although very confusing and strange, provides a good view on the internal identity conflicts we all face. Not only does it provide a good insight on such conflict, but it is also an interesting record of the arts and culture of a particular group in American society, Japanese Americans.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 2:27 pm and is filed under Steven Chang, WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.