"Nude!! No Nude!? by Kishin NADiff A/P/A/R/T x Kishin" Exhibition
at NADiff a/p/a/r/t
in the Nakameguro, Ebisu area
This event has ended - (2009-04-01 - 2009-04-22)
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Glass half empty, glass half full
There was both good news and bad news on the economic front. It was reported by the Telegraph that the Mei Moses Annual Art Index that the art market had seen a 35pc fall in auction sales for the first quarter of 2009 when compared to last year.
However, at the start of the week, Reuters reported a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong seeing bumper amounts of cash changing hands. Who says the Chinese art bubble has burst?
Events
One of the big openings this week was at the NADiff building in Ebisu, where the whole complex was taken over by soft pornographer erotic photographer Kishin Shinoyama and a collection of his works, some new and some old. The opening was quite lively, with the man himself holding court over a motley crowd of wellwishers, including a very voluptuous model. Although the whole building is showing the exhibtion, each gallery still retains individuality by having different kinds of works in each space.
Aeolian Ride is a thirty-person free bike ride taking place on May 16. It has already happened in many other cities around the world and it differs from your average mamachari jaunt by the fact that everyone is wearing these funky wind-inflated suits! “Aeolian Ride seeks to excite, delight and involve the rider as well as the passerby. The idea is to create a fun, public participatory art event that transforms the landscape of the city. All thirty suits [are] handmade out of rip-stop nylon and easily inflate when riding at a slow pace. There are three suit shapes, a ‘bunny’ a ‘bubble’ and a ‘drop’.” Some details are still to be confirmed but people interested in volunteering should go to the event website for more.
New Stuff
A website has been launched offering and promoting various club and nightlife events. Dig Tokyo is still in its early stages but looks like it might be a good media forum for catching info on interesting parties. One of the people behind it is photographer Yasumasa Yonehara, whose explicit work was recently seen at the Clear Edition booth at 101Tokyo Contemporary Art Fair.
The Web Trend Map produced by Information Architects is available. Take a look at what’s hot online and how it all connects.
Corporate Sponsors
As part of a series of collaborations with Adobe Creative Suit 4, creatives website public/image is hosting a music event May 16 at Bellesalle in Roppongi. See their website for who’s playing and how to get tickets.
The Kokuyo Design Award have announced their open call for submissions, with a prize fund totalling four and a half million yen. This year’s theme is “foundations”, and designs should be for office furniture or school and domestic stationery. See the event homepage for details on how to enter the competition.
Bandai have also produced a fascinating new gadget, intended for the thirty-plus art goods-loving urbanite. Available from late April, the pricey A.i.R. Project is from Suzuki Taro and is basically a glowing ornament, but it looks quite cool.
Yayoi Kusama has produced a mobile telephone for KDDI and au. Take a look at the “art” phone. Brazen commercialism or achieving artistic communication at a popular level? Comments please!
And finally…
It’s official. The art world is corrupt. One of Bernard Madoff’s co-conspirators is allegedly art collector Ezra Merkin, as reported by the Guardian.
First it was Chinese tourists touching tuna at Tsukiji. Now it seems even the elegance of the geisha is not safe from foreigners. Tourists in Kyoto have been slapped on the wrist for having the nerve to snap maiko as they go about their business, the New York Times says. Dear, oh dear. Anyone would think they are a heavily (over-) promoted national symbol or something!
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