"Anxiety on the Fault Line"

A lot of the time, when people think of modern art in Japan, "Hello Kitty" comes to mind, especially because of its enormous commercial quality that has impacted the world starting in the 1970's. They also think of Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Girls. There is so much more to Japan than just the feel good commercialized and colorful brands. Japan is a nation of uncertainty. It lies on fault lines and has gone through its share of historical turmoil.

Nowadays one can find art that goes against the popular images. There is more feminism and politically charged art as well. In the Japan Society show, "Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art", all of these types of works are being shown. Especially with what just happened with the earthquake in Japan, "no one, of course, could have known that the show’s images of material fragility and decay would end up being seen in the light of real-life disaster."

Anxiety on the Fault Line article

Photographs of artwork