Pure Like a Rose

Detail of My friends left me behind and went to the by Kazuki Takamatsu

Although my gallery visiting opportunities have dwindled, I was fortunate enough to pay a visit to see Kazuki Takamatsu's exhibit "Japanese Ideology of Puberty" at the Corey Helford Gallery. It was a very good show, full of complex imagery, haunting but humorous, erotic but ethereal. It is this tension between the serious and silly, the adult and the innocent, that gave this show such an engaging appeal.

The technique was distinctive, creating form and volume with simple depth mapping techniques and clear gradations between light and shadow. The resulted in a ghostly, yet iconic, set of visions.

As for the subject matter, the influence of manga stereotypes is obvious. However, the cartoon-like simplicity  hides a subtle psychological depth in the composition. Under the the surface of sword-wielding "magic girls" or dreamy school girls, there is a morbid and ominous darkness, hinting at an adult world of turmoil in which the fantastic archetypes of youth are powerless.

Detail of I expect the fog hides all which I don't want to by Kazuki Takamatsu

Yeah, the exhibit has wrapped up, but keep an eye open for Kazuki Takamatsu's work. I'm happy that I was able to check it out and am looking forward to seeing more at future shows.

Silly Saturday: Chickenmobile

The Chicken Mobile delivers!!!

Seriously, who would want their dinner delivered in a yellow Cadillac with a chicken's head and tail sticking out the top and back? Maybe the kids would like it or someone enjoying a drug-induced euphoria. As for me, one instance of having the Chickenmobile park in front of my place would certainly encourage me to forevermore pick up my takeout orders. ;-)

Check out this post from LA Weekly on another chicken car, "El Gallo." Fun stuff!!!

Yeah, this is another "Image of the Day" post, but with a twist. If I'm going to do easy photo blogging, then I might as well follow some weekly themes. And, therefore, I've initiated "Silly Saturday" with the intention to provide my dear readers with a goofy treat to start the weekend right.

Now, comedy isn't my thing. This feature may totally fall flat. But experimentation is the key to successful long term blogging and writing. It keeps things from getting stale, develops underutilized narrative talents, and creates a diverse portfolio within a blogger's body of work.

So, this is our first installation. Let's look at what happens next week. . .

And a few vids over the jump.

Kurenai Considerations

Crimson tints in light and shadow

Well, I've been promising a period in which my blogging will mainly consist of "Image of the Day" type posts. As the past few updates indicate, that time is now!!!

But that doesn't mean I won't be posting my random thoughts, birth date celebrations, or art show reports. It just means that the daily churn of posting will be photographs, a couple words, and, occasionally, a few music vids after the jump. But when I have the time and energy, you can count on my traditional style of blogging, for better or worse. ;-)

Anyways, I'm glad to be back at the keyboard, in good health, and of a disposition quite optimistic.

Now, let's listen to some music.

Seifu-An: Arbor of Pure Breeze

Japanese Garden at the Huntington: Arbor of Pure Breeze

A while back, I promised you all some photos of the newly reopened Japanese Garden at the Huntington. Well, I figured we would celebrate Earth Day by looking at this beautiful place.

A crooked bridge leads to the Bonsai Courtyard

It's a bit late tonight. So I'll let the photos "speak" for themselves. ;-)

Adorable Little Trees

Bonsai: Japanese Black Pine

This weekend was the California Bonsai society's 55th Annual Show, held at the Huntington Gardens. I've been eagerly awaiting the reopening of the Japanese Garden, set for April 11. So, this show was like a delicious appetizer. ;-)

It's actually been a long time since I showcased a Bonsai show. Well, here are a bunch of photos to make up for my slackitude.

Bonsai: Blue Atlas Cedar

Amazing artistry. More after the jump:

Wandering Through a Field

Dandelion in a field

I don't have much to post right now, but I figured we could listen to some music.

Throughout the day, I take random photographs of anything that catches my attention. Yesterday, I saw this white dandelion all by itself at the edge of a local field. (Yes, the Los Angeles area isn't totally paved over or loaded with McMansions.)

So, our theme for today is dandelions!

Adagio and Jollity

Fumie Suguri performing her Free Skate at the NHK 2005 (Photo: Itsuo Inouye)


Fumie Suguri was born on December 31, 1980, making today her 31st birthday!!!

By figure skating standards, she's working way past retirement age, and, although she hasn't stood on the podium for a while, her competitive spirit keeps her on the ice, focusing on artistic elements to make up for loses in athletic ability. Facing girls nearly half her age, Fumie maintains the dignity and poise of a four-time Japanese National Champion and frequent medalist at international events.

I adore her.

Sometimes fate stacks the deck against people, denying them the ability to reach the rewards of their full potential. Giving into depression and letting go of the spirit to persevere, such behavior is understandable when, no matter how hard you try and regardless of your considerable accomplishments, somebody else outperforms you. Yet, the true measure of a champion isn't the shiny medal or record book notation, but, rather, the willingness to press on, addressing their flaws, sharpening their talents, and face the competition with honor and authenticity.

Fumie Suguri performing her Free Skate at Skate America 2009 (Photo: Christinne Muschi)

And that's why Fumie Suguri will always be one of my favorite skaters. Happy Birthday, Fumie!!!

Such an Adorable Little Cat

Happy Birthday, Hello Kitty!


On this date in 1974, Hello Kitty was created!!!

It's hard for me to imagine a world without the famous feline, a beast that attained popularity just as I was entering elementary school. The girls at school were of the target age for this new fad out of Japan, resulting in Hello Kitty stickers, pencils, folders, clothes, toys, and just about anything upon which Sanrio could stick a mouthless visage. The Cat even put my sister under its spell, extending its influence into my house, into my very bedroom!!!

Yeah, I have issues with Hello Kitty. ;-)

Age has mellowed me out in regards to the Sanrio Scourge, but I still can't understand the appeal. Hello Kitty didn't peak and fade, but attained an enduring popularity, becoming a worldwide pop culture icon. How?!! It's not that there is something innately bad about the Kitty, but I can't see exactly what has enabled it to attain iconic status.

Hurry, Hello Kitty, your gifts are waiting!!!

Well, life is full of mysteries and cult of Hello Kitty is one of them.

Pine Wind Garden

Pine Wind Garden: Three Level Waterfall


Size is not the determinant of quality. It's all about how skillfully you utilize that which you have. This is true for most aspects of life, but it is equally as important for laying out a garden.

The Pine Wind Garden (Sho Fu En) of the Torrance Civic Center is a prime example of how a small space can be transformed into a place of beauty. Designed by Takeo Uesugi & Associates in 1991, this small Japanese garden transforms a modest courtyard into a peaceful oasis of contemplation. Through creative techniques of delineating space, such as elevation contrasts or using a screen of trees to create a sense of seclusion, the garden feels as though it is much larger than it actually is.

Pine Wind Garden: Gateway

It always pleases me to find these little garden gems that are scattered across Los Angeles.

Friday Flowers: Lotus and Water Lilies

Yellow Lotus among the lily pads at the Water Garden at Suiho-en.


The Old Pond
(By Basho, trans. Fumiko Saisho)

The old pond--
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.


While visiting the Japanese Garden, I took more than a few photos of the gorgeous lilies and lotuses in the flower pond. Heck, I was tempted to grab my sketching supplies and draw some en plein air pieces. But it was infernally hot, so I contented myself with camera work.

Pink waterlily

Thank goodness for sunblock. ;-)

Garden of Water and Fragrance

Suiho-en: View of the Shoin Building from across the lake.


In the city of Van Nuys, there is a gorgeous Japanese garden, Suiho-en, the Garden of Water and Fragrance. It often baffles Angelenos as to why such a lovely place is hidden away in The Valley. For some curious reason, when the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant was planned, it included plans for a Japanese Garden. That's a peculiar conceptual combination, but it turned out to be an excellent idea. The esteemed garden designer, Koichi Kawana, created this lovely enclave of tranquility.

Southern California has many Japanese gardens, but I think this is my favorite. It's almost definitely the biggest. There are events held throughout the year, such as the origami convention that occurs in October.

In any case, a stroll through the garden is a relaxing experience. In theory, I prefer flower gardens, but, in practice, I always have a peaceful state of mind after walking around the lake.

Suiho-en: Karesansui, the dry garden

Although there are two odd things of note when visiting the garden. Because it is part of the Water Reclamation Plant, there is a security check point when entering the parking lot. I suppose they are worried that somebody might try to disrupt the Los Angeles water supply. Second, because it is adjacent to the reclamation facilities, on hot and muggy days there is occasionally an unpleasant scent in certain parts of the garden. In fact, if you have an interest, you can go up to the observation deck to look upon the water reclamation process. Personally, I don't have such an interest. ;-)

Picking Up Where We Left Off

Breaking the Girl by Yoskay Yamamoto

I always enjoy art shows that involve the blending of multicultural influences. LaBasse Projects in Culver City has been the "go to" place for me to enjoy such exhibits. Currently, LaBasse is exhibiting a solo show of Yoskay Yamamoto's work, entitled "Picking Up Where We left Off." Blending themes and images from both traditional Japanese art and contemporary Los Angeles pop culture, Yamamoto creates a rich "dream space" that makes the mundane take on otherworldly qualities.

The textured quality of the paintings create a strong sense of space in which the mental or spiritual states of the subject manifests as perceptible force, form or color. Be it the wind in ripping though the hair or a haze of snow, the psychological state dominates the space in which the subject figure resides. It's a very powerful presentation.

Snow by Yoskay Yamamoto

And there is a refreshing sense of humor, a lightness of mood, that pervades Yamamoto's work. I especially enjoyed the image above. The title and white hair bring to my mind the legendary Yuki-onna. It's delightfully ironic that she seems entranced by music. ;-)

Tiger, Boar, Monkey, and Frog

Netsuke: Tiger by Matsushita Otoman


Just a quick post today. I've been meaning to write about the excellent collection of netsuke at LACMA for the past few weeks, but time slips away. And I've been writing a whole lot about LACMA over the past month, what with the Tim Burton exhibit, the Ai Weiwei Zodiac Heads, and the Jeff Koons sculptures. I kind of feel bad spamming the museum photos.

But I'm pressed for time today and the netsuke deserves some blog love. ;-)

So, here are a few of my favorites on display from the Bushell Collection at LACMA's Japanese Pavillion.

Netsuke: Wild Boar Rooting



Queen of the Triple Axels

Midori Ito at the 1996 Figure Skating World Championship (Photo by J. Barry Mittan)

Here's wishing a Happy Birthday to figure skating great, Midori Ito, born on this date in 1969. I'm a big fan of skating, especially the Ladies events. Midori Ito is one of my all-time favorites in this sport. She really brought the athleticism to the competition. Her performances were transformative and served as an inspiration for the current generation of amazing Japanese skaters.

She won the World Championship in 1989, delivering on a triple axel and triple/triple jump combination. It was a record setting event. Here's a vid of her performance:

As the figure skating season draws closer, I'll probably start posting on this topic more.

Enjoy!!!

Windows of the Soul

Cloudy Sky (2010) by Hideaki Kawashima

A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to see an exhibit of Hideaki Kawashima's works at the Richard Heller Gallery entitled "Turning". I was fond of his previous work, but not really an "enthusiast" of it. His works are characterized by captivating eyes, filled with emotional expressiveness. However, his previous works tended towards abstract figural shapes around these powerful eyes.

Ghostly blobs with intense eyes, they were haunting and somewhat disturbing. They literally were "eyes without a face". I understand that there were Buddhist concepts of emptiness and transience underlying his paintings. They were powerful works, but I never felt comfortable with them. Something was lost in the cultural translation. These ghosts seemed forlorn.



Impossibility (2008) by Hideaki Kawashima


In "Turning", the eyes have found their face.

Mono No Aware

Coast Redwood by Elissa Hoxie

I had the opportunity to attend the Bonsai show at the South Coast Botanic Garden. Although I'm not a gardener myself, I appreciate the artistry of fine gardening. Perhaps the apex of botanical aesthetic design is the bonsai tree. The years of careful cultivation and arrangement that goes into a bonsai is impressive.

The aesthetic rules of bonsai cultivation can be simplified down to Five Basic Rules:

The first rule is miniaturization. The literal meaning of bonsai is "plantings in tray". But this isn't as easy as it sounds. The photo at the top is of a redwood, a tree type that can grow to over 300 feet tall!!! Controlling growth spurts while maintaining plant health is a difficult task.


Olive by Elissa Hoxie


The second rule is proportion. Although the tree is kept in miniature, all of its elements must be kept at a similar proportion. This includes the leaves!!! Check out the olive tree in the photo above. These trees are noted for having large clusters of small leaves. How can one replicate such an effect while keeping the tree healthy? Well, there is a functional minimal limit to how small you can get the leaves, but the cluster may be thinned out, giving the impression of proportionality. Therefore, although leaf size is disproportional, the overall foliage proportion is maintained. This effect takes a lot of maintenance.



What's New Pussycat?

Yuki Nagato as a nekomimi

The traditional media does a terrible job of covering stories about science and technology. Fortunately, the internet picks up the slack. Sites like PopSci, Discovery News, or the New Scientist provide better coverage than the trad med ever did. Likewise, hardcore tech and gadgeteer stories can be found at Wired or Gizmodo. So, being a bit of a "sci-geek", I regularly make the rounds of this Internet "neighborhood".

For the last week or so, I've been seeing a story about mind-controlled "cat-ear" head accessories popping up at a variety of these sites. They're produced by Neurowear, a Japanese company, and are called "necomimi". At first, I paid no attention. I'm not really big on manga or anime, and I'm definitely not into "furry" cosplay. But, as more and more articles came to my attention, I started to think about it.

Alright, I get the whole cosplay angle. Everyone has things that give them thrills. I'm not one to determine what constitutes "having bad fun". If "cat ears" do it for you, then enjoy.

Apparently Catwoman's ears "do it" for Batman

However, under the whole cosplay angle, there was something that caught my attention. The cat-ears reveal mental activity. They are a form of nonverbal expression. That's kind of cool. In the current tech, it's a crude binary tell; ears up indicates mental stimulation, while ears down signifies mental rest. But this is a stepping-stone tech. Future forms of "expression accessories" may have greater nuances. I can get behind that.

But you won't find me wearing cat ears. ;-)

Here's an article from MTV Style that discusses the product in a humorous manner.

Here's an article from PopSci.

Here's Neurowear's website. There isn't much to see there, but it seemed rude to not include a link in an article that was discussing their product.

And here's a Wikipedia article on Moe Anthropomorphism, a subset of which is the aforementioned "cat girls" or nekomimi.

Enjoy!!!

Bunka Sai

Hina-Ningyō

The South Bay of Los Angeles is home to a fairly diverse ethnic community. The city of Torrance in particular is home to a notable Japanese-American community. And this is really excellent because every year they hold a Japanese Festival at the city cultural center. It's called a Bunkasai festival, which means that it focuses primarily on demonstrating the accomplishments of students or amateur performers. There is a wide arrangement of activities on display.

Among the crafts on display were various Japanese dolls (ningyo), miniature trees (bonsai), and floral arrangements (ikebana). Here are a couple photos:



Bonsai Bougainvillea



Ikebana on display

 There was also a performance stage at which various things were being demonstrated, including music and martial arts. Here are a few that I was able to view:



Koto performance

 The koto is a traditional Japanese instruments with 13 strings. It has a gentle, zither-like song. I was very happy to catch this brief performance. Lovely.

Of course, one of my favorite traditional weapon martial art forms is the naginata. It's essentially a curved blade on a pole. Of course, the demonstrations use practice weapons. ;-)



Naginata demonstration

 I love the sweeps and thrusts of the weapon. There is a dance-like grace to the motions. Moreover, it is traditionally associated with women, although not exclusively so. Fun stuff!!!

Finally, there was some fine Japanese food to enjoy. Yum!!!

This was the 39th annual Bunka Sai festival in Torrance. Good times.

We can't let an opportunity to play some koto music pass. Here's a vid:

Here's a link to Ikenbana Society of America.

And here's a link to Southern Californa Naginata Federation.

Enjoy!!!

Gateway: Japan Revisited

BIO by Yuki Yoshida

Gateway: Japan is closing tomorrow at the Torrance Art Museum. If you can swing by to check it out, I highly recommend it. I've already discussed a few works in a previous post, but there are many more works worth checking out.

For instance, Yuki Yoshida's BIO is an intriguing piece. On my first visit, I didn't give it much attention, but upon a second viewing I found it enthralling. These figures caught amber-like in stasis are fascinating. They have a slightly Lovecraftian quality that captures my imagination. Check out this vid:

Likewise, Akira Shikiya's Get Smart is a charming work that I overlooked upon my first visit. Here are a few images:

Finally, you really don't want to miss Nobuhito Nishigawara's Capitoline Donkey, do you? ;-)

LOL!!! Anyways, I really enjoyed this show.

Here's a link to the Torrance Art Museum's website.

Here's Nobuhito Nishigawara's website.

Enjoy!!!

Gateway: Japan at the Torrance Art Museum

It's easy to overlook small community museums and art galleries. The common image that many art enthusiasts have of such local small venues is one of being a location in which community amateurs get to display their earnest but unsophisticated aesthetic expressions. It's where the Watercolor Club holds their annual exhibition. The Torrance Art Museum is "Evidence A" in disproving this elitist misconception.

Gateway: Japan is a compelling show with an impressive range of pieces. The show's premise to to give a contextual comparison between contemporary Japanese and Japanese-American artists. With 21 different artists on display, there is plenty to assess and consider. Overall, I did a decent job of discerning the American from the Japanese, but a few pieces totally threw me. The globalized nature of contemporary aesthetic trends and influences has led to a fascinating synergy that transcends any attempt at localization.

Here are a few pieces that especially caught my attention:

Sumo Wrestling in Clay, Jocelyn Foye. Performance with clay, rubber casting artifact.

This is an intriguing work. At the exhibit's opening, a Sumo wrestling demonstration was performed upon a clay ground. After the event, Foye made a rubber cast of the impressions left upon the clay. The result is an engaging work that captures the energy and dynamic nature of the wrestling. My photo doesn't do it justice.

The Lookout, Macha Suzuki. Mixed Media.

This piece made me LOL. It has a serious pose, position and title that contrast with the whimsy of its appearance, provoking both amusement and confusion from the viewer. An engagingly ridiculous little figure.

Capitoline Donkey, Nobuhito Nishigawara. Clay, Iron, Bronze and Acrylic.

Another humorous work. No Romulus or Remus here! I'm a sucker for Classical references. ;-)

Yeah, I could go on and on, but you really ought to check it out in person. Here's a link to the Torrance Art Museum website.

And here are links to the websites of:

Jocelyn Foye

Nobuhito Nishigawara

Macha Suzuki

I highly recommend Gateway: Japan.

Enjoy!!!