The capital for two months, one after the other hosts the exhibitions of contemporary art. The art connoisseurs have already acquainted with the works of local artists and modern art of the Great Britain. Now they have the opportunity to enjoy the works of Japanese artists and compare all three seemingly disparate exhibitions.
The Ikuo Hirayama International Caravansarai of Culture puts on display 42 works of contemporary art by eleven young Japanese artists.
The exhibition “The way to the future: the art of new generation of Japan” focuses on the art of Japan of the early twenty-first century. It contains almost all genres of contemporary art – paintings, sculptures, installations, videos and photos. Artists, including Atsushi Fukui, Yoshihiro Suda, Tomoyasu Mirata and others, attracting the most attention by far, try through their works reflect the realities of the present time.
For example, artist-sculptor Tetsuya Nakamura, based on the theme of velocity, created the object, which draws the attention of almost all visitors. ‘Lightning – a sculpture in the form of a racing car set on an elevated track, as a model of supersonic travel. Metallic scarlet surface, which has a striking shine, was achieved by hand polishing, and attracts the visitors and awakens the desire to get this exhibit.
Miyuki Yokomidzo reflected in her work the environment pollution problems. She is the author of the largest object in the exhibition: the installation with the showy name “Have a Wash, Please.” The author created this installation at a time when antibacterial soap got immense popularity in Japan. Then the sculptor recognized that the production of soap, which has ‘the image’ of purity, causes great damage to nature. Miyuki reflected this dilemma in the installation in the form of a shower cabin, made from the most common and detrimental type of material. For this installation the author made 1600 soaps of striking beauty from transparent plastic.
Minimalism and perfectionism inherent in Japanese can be seen in the work of Yoshihiro Suda, the experienced master of wood carving. It creates plants and flowers of natural size and inserts them into the cracks in the floor, walls or corners of columns, skillfully positioning in space. His installation “Red Peony Petal” is so realistic that the audience is often not immediately clear that this is not a flower petal in front of them, but the work of art. With the help of a single red petal next to the black vase, identifying the space, the author reached the image of stillness as a dramatic symbiotic relationship between the two objects.
“The exhibition travels around the world for the past 12 years. Nevertheless, the works of Japanese artists are relevant to this day. I wish our art figures as well would able to represent the national contemporary art on the world stage,” said director of the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture, Farrukh Usmanov. “Just recently the exhibition of contemporary art of local artists has been completed. In this regard, the art connoisseurs have an excellent opportunity to compare the stages of development of our contemporary art with the Japanese. It is important to note that bоth exhibitions display the works of young artists. The Uzbek contemporary art is represented mainly by photos, while the Japanese art makes focus on installations. Nevertheless, I consider that our artists, based on the latest trends, are able to compete on the world stage.”
The exposition will operate for nearly a month. It is wonderful, as every object conveys a special message to the people, hides a unique philosophy, filled by the artist. Despite the traditional Japanese minimalism, which presented in the works of contemporary art, each exhibit requires time for reflection. And the exhibits are really interesting and particular.
