Photo: Keiji Uematsu, Wave Motion I, 1976 Gelatin silver prints, diptych, Each 16 x 20 1/4 in. Promised gift of Michael A. Chesser
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, promised gifts of Michael A. Chesser, TR:105-2014.A–.C, TR:104-2014.A, .B.
Courtesy Yumiko Chiba Associates, © Keiji Uematsu
In the wake of World War II, Japan underwent rapid industrialization and an economic surge that was soon overshadowed when the country signed Anpo, a security treaty with the United States. Anpo sustained the American military presence within Japan’s borders, while simultaneously embroiling the nation in the Vietnam War. A long-felt tension reached a fevered pitch in 1968 when student protests forced university closures nationwide.
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In response, the government decided to organize a distraction in the form of Expo ’70, a world fair held in Osaka that was designed to present Japan as a technological powerhouse. That same year, the legendary 10th Tokyo Biennale Between Man and Matter presented a conceptual approach to photography, showing how technology could be used in the creation of contemporary art. A wave of innovation took hold, new practitioners came into the field and conventional artists began experimenting with the form. The result was nothing short of spectacular.
Keizo Kitajima Photo Express: Toyko, no. 1, 1979 Magazine, 10 1/8 x 7 3/16 x 1 1/6 in. Reissued Göttingen: Steidl/Le Bal, 2012 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, 2014.709–.712 © Keizo Kitajima
“For a New World to Come: Experiments in Japanese Art and Photography, 1968-1979,” sheds light on this vital period with a two-part exhibition at Grey Gallery at New York University (September 11-December 5, 2015) and Japan Society Gallery (October 9-January 10, 2016). Featuring more than 250 photographs, photography books and journals, paintings, sculptures, videos, and a film-based installation by 29 artists, “For a New World to Come” is the first comprehensive exhibition to focus upon a critical moment when artists began experimenting with the possibilities of camera-based practices, laying the foundations for contemporary art in Japan.
Graphication, no. 5, May 1970 Cover image by Michihiro Kimura Magazine, 9 5/8 x 9 /58 x 1/8 in. Tokyo: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Courtesy Yokota Shigeru Gallery
Featuring work by Daido Moriyama, Araki Nobuyoshi, Jirō Takamatsu, and Shōmei Tōmatsu, among others, “For a New World to Come” explores the seismic shift in Japanese art at a time when social discord and technology converged and something raw, original, and alive brilliantly emerged. After the turn of the decade, as Japan’s post-war boom turned to dust and economic prosperity gave way to a recession, activism dissolved into apathy, the art reflected Japan’s new, cool, deadpan, and sometimes introverted demeanor. The camera became a constant companion and a way of recreating the world in a wide array of photographic styles that pushed the limits of the avant garde.
Several influential works from the period are presented in complementary ways at the Grey Art Gallery and at Japan Society Gallery. Among these is “For A Language to Come” (1970), Takuma Nakahira’s iconic photo book and the inspiration for the exhibition’s title. The grainy and blurry images in the book, which will also be represented by related photographic prints and digital moving images, are printed full-bleed across pages teeming with disquieting scenes of everyday urban life. The cumulative effect is one of a sensatory undertow, rendering the known world both familiar and foreign at the same time. Another work featured in both venues is Toshio Matsumoto’s experimental film For the Damaged Right Eye (1968), where scenes from student protests, a transvestite’s daily activities, and Tokyo nightlife reel by, set to various `found’ sounds, including those from popular songs and protest chants.
Daidō Moriyama Lips, 1970 Gelatin silver print, 7 1/16 x 10 3/4 in. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase funded by Morris and Ann Weiner, 2001.363 © Daidō Moriyama
There is a boldness, an immediacy, and an authenticity to each work in “For a New World to Come” as photography expands its boundaries to embrace the complexities of modern life, inspiring a radical new way of seeing and documenting the world, one which is native to the Japanese mind.
“For a New World to Come: Experiments in Japanese Art and Photography, 1968-1979” is a two-part exhibition at Grey Gallery at New York University (September 11-December 5, 2015) and Japan Society Gallery (October 9-January 10, 2016).
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
