10 Things in Tokyo: September 2018

Noritaka Tatehana is known best for his sartorial expressions –– he created Lady Gaga’s heelless shoes –– but also claims the title of contemporary artist, producing paintings, installations, and performances that put twists on centuries-old Japanese traditions. This month brings his three-day show Noritaka Tatehana Rethink at Kudanshita’s Kudan House, a Spanish-style residence designated as a Tokyo cultural asset. Along with the dazzling shoes, Tatehana presents new works, including incense burners inspired by a 14th-century scent ceremony that alludes to The Tale of Genji. September 14–September 16. Admission is free.

Between the Lines at Yumiko Chiba Associates looks at three artists through the single lens of the line. Displayed are Hi Red Center avant-gardist Jiro Takamatsu’s conceptual ‘Himo’ (String) series, Agnes Martin’s minimalist stripes and grids, and Sol LeWitt’s punchy geometric structures. Euclid would be delighted. Until September 21.

Billed as “discovering the next generation of graphic designers,” the 19th 1_Wall Exhibition at Guardian Gallery spotlights six finalists working in genres as diverse as printmaking, textiles, painting, and computer graphics. Each artist is given a single wall to display works, with a Grand Prize winner to be featured in a solo show. The graphic design exhibit will be followed with a 1_Wall photography showcase later in the month. 1_Wall graphics ends September 21.

Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo is also promoting new artists with Emerging 2018, the second and final exhibit of three creators selected in an open-call contest. The meditative calm of Sonomi Hori’s stone-and-driftwood installation and Eri Fukuda’s cottony-white paintings are contrasted with the decidedly louder video art of Naoya Hirata, who has been tapped to provide visuals for this year’s Iron Island Fes. Through September 24.

Ueno Royal Museum is sometimes overshadowed by its blockbuster exhibition-hosting neighbors, but bibliophiles will want to check out The Books That Changed The World. First editions by Copernicus, Newton, and others are among the 130 tomes on loan from the Kanazawa Institute of Technology’s collection of 2,000 rare science books. September 8–September 24.

Rieko Hidaka is remarkably thematically consistent: For more than 30 years she has been depicting the sky viewed through tree branches. Her paintings, drawings, and prints give us the pictorially unusual experience of gazing upward, revealing worlds above our heads that are captivating and profound in their simplicity. Seeing highlights her art as an act of looking at spaces of unfathomable depth, the branches resembling “hands that touch an impossible distance.” September 8–October 6.

Zen and the Art of Cultural Exchange: An Invitation to Calligraphy and Ink Painting draws attention to relationships between Japanese and Chinese monks in the Middle Ages. Calligraphy, literary and religious texts, letters, and paintings of landscapes and prominent people reveal a rich hybridization of not only painting and poetry but religion and culture as well. The National Treasure Budai and Jiang Mahe in Discussion on Buddhism (14th century) is among the displays. Ends October 8.

The Masanori Ikeda Portrait Project presents photographs of Tokyoites in their native habitat, specifically the Kanda neighborhoods around 3331 Arts Chiyoda where the show is held. Ikeda’s shots capture his subjects in front of homes, gardens, storefronts, and historic buildings as they demonstrate the brisk inasena chic residents of the area have been known for since the Edo era. September 22–October 14.

Diesel Art Gallery features the electric-hued, Nihongaesque paintings of Hamadaraka, made up of twin artists Eru and Emu Arizono. With a floating sculpture and 30 paintings of mythical flora and fauna, Edendordorado – Resonance of Paradise invites you into a lush world of creatures mysteriously awakened by the frequency 434Hz. Is there any other way to shop for blue jeans? Ends November 15.

Taku Obata and Kazuki Umezawa may seem an unlikely duo, but Watari-um insightfully brings the two young artists together in Hyper Landscape. Obata’s blocky wood carvings embody the postures and spirit of breakdancers, resonating with Umezawa’s paintings that translate jagged collages of internet images onto the canvas. In different ways, their works are both contemporary takes on what it means to move between abstraction and reality. Through December 2. MuPon discount.