Tokyo 1955 1970

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Nov. 18, 2012-Feb. 25, 2013.

Introduction to two decades of artistic ferment in postwar Japan. As that devastated nation confronted the fraught legacy of World War II, a rapid succession of avant-garde groups began experimenting with new media and processes of making art, disrupting conventions to address the changes occurring around them. The works that remain from this era are largely ephemeral - exhibition flyers, programs for performances, musical scores, issues of short-lived journals, documentary photographs, pieces of mail art, and multiples made from the detritus of modern life - but the ideals of engagement and innovation that invigorated this creative surge are not.

The Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons is undoubtedly one of the world's major fashion designers. In 2017 she was the second living designer to ever be given a retrospective at the renowned Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Her work exerts an extraordinary influence over succeeding generations of designers and is a major point of reference for all those wishing to explore the place of fashion in contemporary culture. The 14 essays in this collection, written by eminent fashion theorists from around the world, ask what is the relationship of Kawakubo's work to art, philosophy and architecture, and ultimately illustrate how Kawakubo's creative output allows us to understand the very notion of fashion itself.

‘An easily digestible, vividly illustrated look at Tokyo. I discovered stuff I’d never known despite living here for over thirty years.’ Rupert Miller. ‘Some amazing photographs that really open your eyes to the city’s history and what it is today.’ Lu Passidino. ‘A must read, browse or dip into for anyone visiting Tokyo for the first time or the tenth time.’ Dr. Ginny Butterfield. In this scintillating new book, the author peels away the fog that so easily obscures the world’s biggest, most baffling city. It is a piercing analysis of the place, the people, its history, and yet the picture painted is both beautiful and eloquent. The book covers much ground and yet is bang up-to-date including the fiasco of the Olympic Games. At the same time it avoids all the cliches that so many books about Tokyo fall back on. It is close to 300 pages long but also heavily illustrated with many images, most of which have never been published before. This is a history that also uses the voices of the people who lived and visited here, adding an authenticity that is beguiling. Tokyo is a baffling city but know its history and this facade can be unravelled. This is a thorough but also a personal history that meanders through a place that can confuse all comers. Read it an enjoy the journey.

18 contributed articles interspersed with 21 short studies (one page of text and 3 pages of pictures) of particular artists/photographers.

English edition of key essays on Japanese art history History of Japanese Art after 1945 surveys the development of art in Japan since WWII. The original Japanese work, which has become essential reading for those with an interest in modern and contemporary Japanese art and is a foundational resource for students and researchers, spans a period of 150 years, from the 1850s to the 2010s. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific period and written by a specialist. The English edition first discusses the formation and evolution of Japanese contemporary art from 1945 to the late 1970s, subsequently deals with the rise of the fine-art museum from the late 1970s to the 1990s, and concludes with an overview of contemporary Japanese art dating from the 1990s to the 2010s. These three parts are preceded by a new introduction that contextualizes both the original Japanese and the English editions and introduces the reader to the emergence of the concept of art (bijutsu) in modern Japan. This English-language edition provides valuable reading material that offers a deeper insight into contemporary Japanese art. With an introduction by Kajiya Kenji. Contributors: Kitazawa Noriaki (editor), Mori Hitoshi (editor), Sato Doushin (editor), Tom Kain (translation editor), Alice Kiwako Ashiwa (translator), Kenneth Masaki Shima (translator), Ariel Acosta (translator), and Sara Sumpter (translator) Translated from the original Japanese edition published with Tokyo Bijutsu, 2014 In cooperation with Art Platform Japan / The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan Art Platform Japan is an initiative by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, to maintain the sustainable development of the contemporary art scene in Japan.

"Memory Work demonstrates the evolution of the pioneering minimalist sculptor Anne Truitt, analyzing the key theme of memory in her practice. In addition to the artist's own popular published writings, which detail the unique challenges facing female artists, Memory Work draws on unpublished manuscripts, private recordings, and never-before-seen working drawings to validate Truitt's original ideas about the link between perception and mnemonic reference in contemporary art."--Provided by publisher.