Japan Re-imagined/Post-war Art

Exhibition

Exhibition Overview

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Japan Re-imagined/Post-war Art
Kris Ercums, curator
Asia Gallery, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Many artists in the wake of the postwar years turned to a profound examination of Japanese history, tradition and society as both a means for self-critique and cultural regeneration. This process of “re-imagining” Japan during the postwar period took on many forms. Some artists sought to celebrate the “Japanese spirit,” depicting it in fresh, contemporary idioms as a way of granting it universal appeal. For others remembering the past was part of a critical investigation of Japanese society. New developments in the international art scene like Pop and conceptualism offered other Japanese artists a fresh perspective for approaching their society through art. Presenting many never-before exhibited prints and ceramics from the Spencer’s permanent collection, Japan Re-imagined/Post-war Art explores the multiple ways in which Japanese artists during the later half of the twentieth century negotiated issues like culture, memory, time and space.

This exhibition is organized by Kris Ercums, Asian art curator, in conjunction with the exhibition Resounding Spirit: Japanese Contemporary Art of the 1960s.

Exhibition images

Works of art

hanaire 花入 (flower container)
circa 1730, Edo period (1600–1868)
tea caddy
Edo period (1600–1868)
chaire 茶入 (tea caddy)
late 1800s–early 1900s, Meiji period (1868–1912) or Taisho period (1912–1926)
Ikeda Masuo (1934–1997), untitled
1968, Showa period (1926–1989)
Hagiwara Hideo (1913–2007), Somme Day
1959, Showa period (1926–1989)
Hosoe Eikō (1933–2024), Embrace #3
1971, Showa period (1926–1989)
Kawachi Seikō (born 1948), Katsura X
1984, Showa period (1926–1989)
Itō Sekisui (born 1941), tsubo
mid-late 1900s
Miyashita Zenji (born 1939), vase
circa 1980s, Showa period (1926–1989)
Tanaka Ryōhei (1933–1999), Ruined Farm House #4 (Wall #4)
1975, Showa period (1926–1989)
Tanaka Ryōhei (1933–1999), Wall #4
1984, Showa period (1926–1989)
Hagiwara Hideo (1913–2007), Memories of the East
1983, Showa period (1926–1989)
Clifton Karhu (1927–2007), Karasuma Gate
1989, Showa period (1926–1989)
Sawada Tetsurō (1933–1998), Skyscape
1985, Showa period (1926–1989)
Yoshida Tōshi (1911–1995), Unknown (Michi no)
1968, Showa period (1926–1989)
Hiroshi Kawano, Simulated Color Mosaic
1973, Showa period (1926–1989)
Inui Tai (born 1929), Fighting Festival
1980s, Showa period (1926–1989)
Seto Hiroshi (1941–1994), untitled (88/01)
1988, Showa period (1926–1989)
Kuroda Shigeki (born 1953), Riders-B
circa 1984, Showa period (1926–1989)
Honda Kazuhisa (born 1948), 116th Landscape
1979, Showa period (1926–1989)
Miyamoto Shufu (born 1950), 雨 (Rain)
1985, Showa period (1926–1989)
Saitō Kiyoshi (1907–1997), Gate Horyūji, Nara
1970, Showa period (1926–1989)

Events

March 7, 2008
Talk
Gallery 318