ART:
Bye Bye Kitty!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art
At Japan Society 333 E.47th St NYC Thru 6/12
The scintillating “Bye Bye Kitty!!!” show opened, fittingly, just days after Japan’s earthquake. Devoted to art made after the Hello Kitty cuteness embraced by so many Japanese artists of the past two decades, this show features sobering, probing renditions of an island nation in upheaval, preyed upon by natural forces, supernatural fears, social anxieties, and alienation. Manabu Ikeda’s visionary acrylics depict topsy-turvy cities piled upon one another, Escher-like waterfalls cascading in all directions. Elsewhere we see Haruka Kojin’s decorative floating world and Tomoko Kashiki’s females writhing alone on tile floors. Apocalypse and dread are everywhere. — Jerry Saltz NYMAG
http://www.japansociety.org/
