LONG SEASON
2009 02
At the Japanese Contemporary Art Exhibition in February, Michael Ku Gallery will be collaborating with ARATANIURANO, the most acclaimed gallery in Tokyo during 2007 – 2008, presenting a grand display of the artworks by the five outstanding artists, Izumi Kato, Mana Konishi, Noriyuki Konishi, Yoichi Umezu, Watanabe Go. The Japanese art magazine, Art Pamphlet, dedicated its July issue to the Japanese contemporary art. Amongst the handful featured artists, three were from the ARATANIURANO Gallery, (Izumi Kato, Mana Konishi, Noriyuki Konishi, Yoichi Umezu, and Watanabe Go. A few others who have been known in Taiwan such as Yoshitomo Nara also made into the July issue). Watanabe Go could be deemed as the most acclaimed contemporary artist in Japan during 2007 to 2008. He received enormous acclamation after being selected into the Venice Biennale 52nd International Art Exhibition “Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense”, held at the Italian Pavilion in Giardini. He uses a unique art language to restore the simplest colors and lines of art to its original point, to inquire into the originality of life in the human society, to reveal the affections in families, but the techniques used are still within the bounding of contemporary art. Such works were soon noticed and collected by collectors across the world. Watanabe Go attracted attention with his artwork ‘Face’, in the exhibition “Beautiful New World: Contemporary Visual Cultural from Japan”, held at 798 Dashanzi Art District, Beijing. Artists promoted subsequently by ARATANIURANO were also quickly recognized and appreciated by collectors in Japan and the rest of the world. The popularity of these five Japanese contemporary artists can be largely attributed to the profundity in their artworks. Their art language deviated from the typical sweetness, meticulousness and neatness of Japan, but stresses on human relationships sensation and expression of human emotions. This might be the reason why the five artists have been heavily featured on multiple occasions by the academic art media as well as many highly regarded galleries. Meanwhile, this will be the first exhibition in Taiwan for four of the artists. The only exception is Watanabe Go whose works have previously appeared in the first Asian Exhibition in National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. Michael Ku Gallery will hopefully present the Taiwanese viewers a unique view to the Japanese Arts.