2.25: “Daydream Believer!!” 3rd Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions
Established in 2009, the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions investigates the intersections between contemporary art and media practices. Also known as Yebizo, and hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Photography (Syabi), the annual event has quietly developed into one of the more promising festivals in Japan, combining an international outlook with a pared-down, tightly-focused framework. More.
2.14: Masayoshi Hanawa – “HANAWANDER – Liberation”
Possessing one of Tokyo’s more characteristic gallery spaces – located in a two-story single-unit building overshadowed by the Kanda area’s drab office high-rises, and with the sliding doors of the ground level exhibition space thrown open to the elements – Zenshi is known for his program of eclectic, outsider-style artists. Closing Feb 19, Masayoshi Hanawa’s solo show “HANAWANDER – Liberation -” is a mesmerizing example of this aesthetic. More.
2.12: Kawamata/Kawai
With not one but two exhibitions in Tokyo related to their publications, the independent art press schtucco/edition nord are currently enjoying some well-earned visibility. At NADiff a/p/a/r/t, the basement gallery of the eponymous art book distributors in Ebisu, “Field Sketch: Tadashi Kawamata Early Photo Works” features a wall-sized grid of snapshots taken by the artist in his early 20s…At Higashi-Azabu’s Take Ninagawa, “Enpitsu Taisou” is a site-specific installation by Misaki Kawai. More.
2.11: “Le Surréalisme”
Having gone to the lengths of creating a unique website with interactive Twitter-feed features and a tie-in with the French puppy characters Gaspard et Lisa to make the content more accessible to a broader audience, Tokyo’s National Art Center clearly has blockbuster expectations for its just-opened exhibition of works from the Centre Pompidou collection, “Le Surréalisme.” However, these bells and whistles do nothing to detract from the exhibition itself. More.