June has been a busy month and I’m afraid I didn’t get the chance to write about this wonderful exhibition at the ICN gallery in London until now, and today was the last day of the exhibition. The ICN always has interesting exhibitions by Japanese artists, and this was no exception. June’s exhibition, Hiroko Masuko “bonsai extension”, … Continue reading
If you’re in London over the next few days I highly recommend paying a visit to All Visual Arts in King’s Cross, where you can see Nagoya-born Japanese artist Masakatsu Kondo’s exhibition “Whenever I Am Silent“. The exhibition is open until 31st May, and the gallery opens from 10am to 6pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Kondo’s work … Continue reading
“20>20” J-pop-culture artists is a beautiful showcase of 60 manga illustrations by young artists, showing at the ICN gallery in London now until 28th April. I first saw the exhibition at Hyper Japan earlier this year. All of the pictures are gorgeous, but I quickly picked this one as my favourite: I love how it captures … Continue reading
I’ll admit that I didn’t think I had heard of Yayoi Kusama (草間 彌生) before her exhibition at the Tate Modern was advertised, but under the insistence of my colleagues I decided to go and check it out. I soon realised that I was aware of her work, but I hadn’t been in London when she … Continue reading
Textile artist Matthew Harris and Mosaic artist Cleo Mussi have lived and worked side by side in various studios since 1987 and ‘50/50’ is their first joint exhibition. ‘50/50’ aims to show the work of two individuals working in parallel yet independently on a theme. The work on initial viewing may appear to have little … Continue reading
Goldfish Salvation is the name of the debut London exhibition by Riusuke Fukahori at the ICN gallery in London. (Riusuke Fukahori with Quadra Tea) I went along last Saturday to find out what it was all about, and to witness Fukahori’s “live painting”. Born in Aichi, Fukahori is a graduate of Aichi Prefectual University of … Continue reading
I was very excited to attend my first every gallery opening last week. The ICN gallery in London (EC2A 4RH) opened with an exhibition of work by Japanese artists, called “OHAKO” (十八番). “Ohako” is a Japanese term referring to one’s strongest talent or skill. The word “ohako” also means “box”. This exhibition invited about 30 … Continue reading
In Japan, it’s fairly uncommon to visit someone’s home and it’s therefore considered quite an honour if you do. The first thing you should say when you enter someone’s house is “ojamashimasu” (おじゃまします), which literally means “I’m about to get in the way”. That is a polite way of asking the host to excuse you … Continue reading
Yesterday was an interesting day. My mum spotted a manga exhibition advertised in nearby Gosport and we decided to go and check it out. I’m not a huge manga fan, but I do appreciate good art. Still, it wasn’t the manga that sold me on going to the exhibition… it was the promise of sumo! … Continue reading
Haikugirl's Japan 