Noi Sawaragi August 29, 2019

Notes on Art and Current Events 84

Jeff Koons’s Rabbit – Selling Air   Scene from the Christie’s New York Post-War and Contemporary Art auction held on May 15, 2019. © Christie’s Images Limited 2019.   This time – the first time in quite a while –

Noi Sawaragi June 19, 2019

Notes on Art and Current Events 83

Bodies and the heavens, nearing and retreating: The planetary world of Leiko Ikemura   Installation view of the “Cosmicscape” section of “Leiko Ikemura: Our Planet – Earth & Stars” at The National Art Center, Tokyo, 2019. All photos Shigeo Muto,

Noi Sawaragi May 8, 2019

Notes on Art and Current Events 82

Criticism and Assessment: Concerning Art Concerning Disability   Installation view, “Meguru a–to wo meguru” at Kyoto-ba, Kyoto, 2019. Photo Atsushi Ueyama.   Over the past few years, I’ve often been asked to comment on the relationship between disability and art.

Noi Sawaragi April 18, 2019

Notes on Art and Current Events 81

Escape plan from repetitive theatrics: “SPACE PLAN: Avant-Garde Art Collective in Tottori 1968-1977”   Installation view of Space Plan’s second exhibition, Tottori sand dunes, 1969.   Because last year, 2018, marked fifty years since 1968, there was a succession of

Noi Sawaragi February 26, 2019

Notes on Art and Current Events 80

Bridges and ladders: The forgotten Kanogawa Typhoon   Floating debris collecting at the Chitose Bridge, photographed by Shunji Ishii in 1958. Collection Kanogawa Resource Center; courtesy Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Numazu Office of River and National Highway.  

Noi Sawaragi December 6, 2018

Notes on Art and Current Events 79

A mountain-like inquiry into “restoration”: Yamagata Biennale 2018 (Part 2)   Works by Genkichi Takahashi featured in “Contemporary Yamagata Thought” (a special exhibit at Yamagata Biennale 2018: “100 Stories Like a Mountain”). From left to right: Tachiyagawa river v. rock

Noi Sawaragi October 30, 2018

Notes on Art and Current Events 78

A mountain-like inquiry into “restoration”: Yamagata Biennale 2018 (Part 1)   Hiroaki Ido – Haibutsu kishaku (engaging in restoration) (2018), installation view at “Contemporary Yamagata Thought,” (a special exhibit at Yamagata Biennale 2018: “100 Stories Like a Mountain.” All photos:

Noi Sawaragi September 30, 2018

Notes on Art and Current Events 77

Crossroads of the Lives of Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Toshi Shimizu (Part 2)   Yasuo Kuniyoshi – Festivities (1947), oil on canvas, 100.5 x 176.5 cm, Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art.   The most enigmatic-looking of Kuniyoshi’s works are those he

Noi Sawaragi August 27, 2018

Notes on Art and Current Events 76

Crossroads of the Lives of Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Toshi Shimizu (Part 1)   Installation view (entrance) of “Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Toshi Shimizu: Crossroads of their Lives” at Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts. Photo Shinji Saito.   A number of

Noi Sawaragi July 4, 2018

Notes on Art and Current Events 75

The interior of Taro Okamoto's Tower of the Sun was reopened to the public on March 19 this year. Sawaragi entered inside the tower to complete my own inspection together with other persons concerned on April 7.

Noi Sawaragi May 7, 2018

Notes on Art and Current Events 73

Madhat Kakei’s paintings, wanderings/circles, and coincidence     Installation view of untitled paintings by Madhat Kakei at Akutsu Gallery, Maebashi (2017).   All photos: Noi Sawaragi, courtesy Madhat Kakei.   A young architect friend told me there was a Kurdish painter

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