Volume 04, Number 06

Diversions
By Owen Schaefer

Zen and the art of smiling

I spent a good long time casting around for a word to describe the latest showing at Mori Art Museum. I pondered “broad,” “contrary” and even “cluttered,” but finally settled on “safe.” There is something enormously safe in the museum’s first show since the departure of David Elliot, Mori’s previous art director, and perhaps it heralds a new conservatism in approach. Or perhaps it was merely the result of attempting to rein in an ambitious and unwieldy project.

Two concurrent exhibitions, which seem to collide more than concur, coexist on the 53rd floor until early May. The first of these, “The Smile in Japanese Art: From the Jomon Period to the Early 20th Century,” opens with a decidedly stodgy atmosphere that would seem more at home in Ueno than Roppongi Hills. But make no mistake—the works are superb.

Along with examples of enigmatic Jomon pottery, the show wins big points for bringing together a number of sumi paintings by Zen masters, including Nantembo, Hakuin and Fugai—all well known for their humorous and iconoclastic styles. It is perhaps the best collection of paintings of the god Hotei and monks Kanzan and Jittoku—three traditional figures of laughter and wisdom—that I have yet to see in one place. But the darkened and hushed atmosphere does little to encourage smiles. And when a stern security guard asked a young couple to be quiet because they were talking about the paintings and chuckling aloud—I had to look for the hidden cameras. Surely this was part of some ironic, post-modern joke, where the paintings were permitted more laughter than the patrons!

Pulling your punch lines

Stepping into the next room, you can almost hear Monty Python’s “And now for something completely different... ” The exhibit entitled “All About Laughter” replaces the library hush with a cacophony of video noise, and the soft darkness with an unforgiving light.
And that’s truly a relief.

The exhibition has been divided into four sections: Anti-Art and Avant-Garde Laughter, Everyday Laughter, The Flip Side of Laughter, and Deviant Laughter. And aside from the somewhat mummified collection of Fluxus works representing the “Avant-Garde” (surely Dada’s younger and more playful cousin deserves better), the exhibit contains such a broad wealth of work—ranging from laugh-out-loud irreverence to simple wry smiles—that the categorizations become increasingly meaningless as you move along.

With 200 works from 50 artists, the whole show can be difficult to take in, and choosing favorites isn’t easy either. Robin Rhode is always a pleasure with his photographs and videos of chalk drawings that seem to come to life without the benefit of animation. Russian art group The Blue Noses provide a large number of disarming photos which grow more politically loaded as you watch, and yet remain somehow aloof through their sheer ridiculousness. And Will Rogan uses simplicity and repetition to increasingly funny results in his video “One thing I can tell you is you’ve got to be free.” Also keep an eye out for Kimura Taiyo’s dirty laundry, and well, just anything by Erwin Wurm.

Bringing together so many humorous works raises a number of intrinsic questions about the role of humor in art, and what it can accomplish. But unfortunately, with a layout partially mired in chronology, this show doesn’t have much opportunity to answer such questions, favoring instead a safe and straightforward guidebook approach. There are one too many explanations about why each piece is funny, rather than why it might be good. My advice? Take a good three hours, ignore the essays, and find your own way through the collection. After all, a joke just isn’t funny when you’ve had it explained to you first.

All About Laughter: Humor in Contemporary Art
(to May 6) Mori Art Museum. Roppongi Metro Station.
¥1,500. 10am–10pm (Friday–Sunday until midnight,
Tuesday until 5pm) Tel. 03-6406-6100.
www.mori.art.museum

Listings

Adriana Varejao (to Mar. 31) Brazil’s leading artist does her first solo exhibition in Japan, including a new installation just for the Hara. Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. Shinagawa Station.
¥1,000. 11am–5pm. (Wednesday–8pm) Closed Monday, Tel. 03-3445-0651. www.haramuseum.or.jp
Qiu Anxiong (to Apr. 1) Paintings and animations from a fresh and rising Chinese artist. Museum of Contemporary Art. Kiba Metro Station. Free. 10am–6pm. Closed Monday, Tel. 03-5245-4111. www.mot-art-museum.jp
Cirque du Soleil “Dralion” (to May. 6) World-renowned Canadian acrobat troupe combines East and West in their latest show. Harajuku New Big Top. Harajuku Station (JR). ¥7,500–¥11,500. Various times.
Tel. 03-3498-9999 www.dralion.jp
Ashes and Snow (to Jun. 24) Gregory Colbert’s traveling exhibition of moody animal photos and videos. The Nomadic Museum, Odaiba. Tokyo Teleport Station (JR). ¥1,900. 11am–7pm, Monday– Thursday. 10am–10pm, Friday–Sunday.
Tel.03-3498-9999 E-mail:contactmuseum@ashesandsnow.com www.ashesandsnow.org
Adam Booth: Eternal Spring (Mar. 16–Apr. 15) More surrealistic Asian-themed paintings by Adam Booth. Gallery éf. Asakusa Metro Station. Free. 11am–7pm. Closed Tuesday.
Tel. 03-3841-0442 www.gallery-ef.com
The Blues Brothers Band (Apr. 2–Apr. 8) The real thing, minus the voodoo. Blue Note Tokyo. Omotesando Metro Station.
¥8,400. Various times. Tel. 03-5485-0088 www.bluenote.co.jp