Volume 39, Number 02
Diversions
By Owen Schaefer
Waiting for Works from Down Under
The late Emily Kame Kngwarreye is arguably Australia's best-known Aboriginal artist. While she did not put brush to canvas until her late 70s, in the short six years that she painted, she amassed a huge number of works, an unsought notoriety and a formidable reputation as an abstract artist. And when her painting “Earth's Creation” sold for over one million Australian dollars, it set a record for Aboriginal art, confirming her work as some of the most desirable and collectible in the country.
Kngwarreye's paintings are colorful and earthy with wide brushwork, and most are anchored firmly in Aboriginal themes of food (“Yam Dreaming”) and nature.
Those hoping for a look at these paintings first-hand in Tokyo are in luck—but also in for a wait. The National Museum of Australia is gearing up for a major tour of Kngwarreye's works, scheduled to hit Osaka in February.
Unfortunately, it won't see Tokyo until the end of May, when it takes up temporary residence at the National Art Center. With 120 works on loan from different collectors, this is a major event showcasing a major artist. So, mark it on that brand-new calendar.
Journeys of the Artist Abroad
Despite the long wait for Kngwarreye, there is no need to put off a visit to the National Art Center. If you're looking for something to see this weekend, you've still got time to take in Journey—Intercultural Encounter and Exchange. This exhibition celebrates 40 years of the Japanese government's Overseas Study Program for Artists, and the organizers asked 102 artists previously involved in the program to create a work that speaks to the theme of the “journey.” In the end, there are far less “intercultural exchanges” here than there are explorations of the self, personal development and memory, but that certainly doesn't diminish the show's scope.
The show is organized by decade, beginning with artists that studied abroad in the 70s and moving chronologically up to the present. And, just as a year abroad can lead some travelers to crave more time away and others to yearn for home, the works in this exhibition cover a whole spectrum of experience—some taking on strong flavors of the country in which the artist studied, while others, such as Koji Kunutan's striking Dragon's Mountain or Hirofumi Adachi's Whereabouts of the Smoke show the artist diving decisively into more Japanese forms.
While the works are all relatively recent, there is nevertheless an odd sense of moving through time as one travels through the show. Journey has the atmosphere of a retrospective—and in a sense, it is the retrospective of an entire generation of art. But the layers of meaning, the unexpected trends and the juxtapositions that occur between these works are what make this journey worth taking.
Journey-Intercultural Encounter and Exchange (to Jan. 28) National Art Center Tokyo. Nogizaka Metro Station. ¥1,000. 10am–6pm (to 8pm Fri., closed Tue.) Tel. 03-6812-9900. www.nact.jp