Jan Jansen: Master of Shoe Design
Apr. 2 - May 8
Jan Jansen was born in 1941 as the son of a sales
chief in a shoe factory. He realized that his future lay in shoe
design at quite an early age and got an apprenticeship in 1962 with
an Italian firm that handcrafted shoes. Because of this experience,
he knows the ins and outs of the craft and knows exactly how to
make his shoes feel good as they look. He set up his own studio
in Amsterdam in 1963. His early designs came in two main themes:
the flamboyant and the simple.
In the 70s, he created the clog-like Woody in
which he retains the rustic look of the traditional clog but gives
it a modern touch. The young Japanese women know Jansen so well
because he is known as the godfather of the platform shoe and these
shoes helped bring Jansen international success. Its platforms,
along with those of Rattan and On Air are all made from natural
materials and have a light feel. Jansen has over the years settled
down and is designing more conservative styles but looking at Dodgem
(2002) and other designs from this century, his talent and desire
to create shoes as a form of art has not diminished.
Nishinomiya Otani Kinen Museum
Nearest stn: Hankyu Nishinomiya stn.
Open: 10am-4:30pm, closed Wed and national holidays
Admission: ¥800/¥600/300
Tel: 0798-33-0164
Kashiwa Sato — Beyond
Thru Apr. 15
Sato symbolizes trends in today's design world
as an artist who constantly expands the framework of art direction
in projects that lightly transcend traditional boundaries such as
graphics, product design and development, corporate identity, films
and architecture. His campaign series for the ever-popular wonder
boys, SMAP, created a new brand image by using a simple visual approach.
His integrated creative projects covering everything from product
development to advertising campaigns for the Kirin Gokunama beer
attracted global attention. He also is known for designing the Tsutaya
Roppongi branch. Come see what new innovations he has to offer in
the world of art.
DDD Gallery
Nearest station: Subway Nishi-Umeda or Higobashi
Open: 10am-5:30pm, closed weekends and holidays
Admission: Free
Tel: 06-6347-8780
Wada Makoto
Thru May 8
The Japanese cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator,
author and film director's world is now on display at Kirin Plaza
Osaka. On display
in the 4-6th floor gallery are many of Wada's film posters and illustrations,
a narrative on how many of his works came to life,
and many items from his moviemaking days. To commemorate this event,
KPO has brewed up an original beer titled KPO Kinema which is available
only for a limited time. Lots of information for anyone interested
in seeing his work or who wants to know how a film is actually created
in Japan.
KPO Plaza
Nearest stn: Shinsaibashi
Open: 11am-9pm
Admission: Free
Tel: 06-6212-65781
Hokusai
Apr. 2 - May 8
Hokusai (1760-1849), a Japanese
painter and wood engraver born in Edo, is considered one of the
outstanding figures of the Ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating
world" (everyday life), school of printmaking.
Hokusai entered the studio of Katsukawa Shunsho
in 1775 and there learned the new, popular technique of woodcut
printmaking. Between 1796 and 1802 he produced a vast number of
book illustrations and color prints, perhaps as many as 30,000,
that drew their inspira-tion from the traditions, legends, and lives
of the Japanese people. Hokusai's most typical woodblock prints,
silk screens, and landscape paintings were done between 1830 and
1840. The free curved lines characteristic of his style gradually
developed into a series of spirals that imparted the utmost freedom
and grace to his work, as in “Raiden”, the Spirit of
Thunder.
In his late works Hokusai used large, broken strokes
and a method of coloring that imparted a more somber mood to his
work, as in his massive Group of Workmen Building a Boat. Among
his best-known works are the 13-volume sketchbook Hokusai manga
(1814~) and the series of block prints known as the Thirty-Six Views
of Mount Fuji (circa 1826-33). Hokusai is generally more appreciated
in the West than in Japan. In this rare exhibition, feast your eyes
on over 200 of his works.
Himeji City Museum of Art
Nearest stn: JR/Sanyo Himeji, near Himeji Castle
Open: 10am-4:30pm, closed Monday
Admission: ¥800/¥500/¥200
Tel: 0792-22-2288
Kansai Art Listings
| Osaka
Thru April 17
Kokuritsu Kokusai Bijutsukan
(National Museum of Art Osaka)
Onodera Yuki: B&W Photos
Subway Yotsubashi line, Higobashi stn, exit 3.
Open: 10am-4pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥420/¥130/¥70
Tel: 06-6447-4680
Thru April 17
Suntory Museum, Tempozan
Victor Hugo et le Romantisme
Subway chuo, Technoport line, Osaka-ko stn, exit 1.
Open: 10:30am-7pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥900/¥630/¥450
Tel: 06-6577-0001
Thru June 5
Fujita Museum
Spring exhibition
Featuring ink paintings and rakuyaki (lightweight ceramic
tea bowls). From the museum collection.
Subway Kyobashi or JR/Keihan Kitazume stn.
Open: 10am-4pm. Closed Mondays
Admission: ¥800/¥500/¥300
Tel: 06-6351-0582
Thru May 31
The National Museum of Ethnology
New Collections from Polynesia: Lapita Culture
to the Chiefdom
Inside Expo (Banpaku) park
Open: 10am-4pm. Closed Wed
Admission: ¥420/¥250/¥110
Tel: 06-6876-2151
Thru May 31
Museum of Ethnology
Introduction of Polynesia
New Collections from Polynesia: Lapita Culture to the Chiefdom.
Subway Banpaku Kinen Koen stn., Inside Expo 70 park.
Open: 10am-4pm. Closed Wed.
Admission: ¥420/¥250/¥110
Tel: 06-6876-2151
April 4-16
Ban Gallery
Paintings and Prints by Yoshikazu Yamanaka
Subway Midosuji Line, Yodoyabashi Station, Exit #1
Open 11am-7pm. Closed Sunday
Admission: Free
Tel: 06-6362-7057
April 8 - May 29
Museum of Oriental Ceramics
Royal Copenhagen Exhibition
Midosuji line, Yodoyabashi Station
Open: 9:30am-4:30pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥900/¥600
Tel: 06-6223-0055
April 7 - May 27
Flanders Center
TOKYO ALONE
Photographic exhibition by at French photographer, Frederik
Froument.
International House of Osaka 3F, 8-2-1 Uehommachi, Tennoji-ku,
Open: 11:00-12:30, 13:30-18:00
Closed Sat; Sun; & National holidays
Admission: Free
Tel: 06-6773-8850
April 9 - May 22
Osaka Shiritsu Museum
A Walk Through the Peony Garden — Images of Women
in the Tang Dynasty
JR/subway Tennoji stn.
Open: 9:30am-4:30pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥1,200/¥1,000
Tel: 06-6771-4874
Kyoto
Thru April 3
Kyoto Kokuritsu Kindai Museum
Kawai Kanjiro Exhibition
Keihan Shichijo stn. Okazaki Park
Open: 9:30am-4pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥830/¥450/¥250
Tel: 075-761-4111
Thru April 10
Kyoto-shi Museum
Exhibition introducing Flo-rence and the Renaissance
Over 100 works by Botticelli, Michelangelo, etc.
A bus from eithe JR Kyoto/Hankyu Shijo, Kawaramachi /Keihan
Sanjo.
Open: 9am-4pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥1,300/¥900/¥500
Tel: 075-771-4107
Thru May 22
Hosomi Museum
Japanese lacquer crafts exhibition. Including a picnic set
from the Edo Period called sageju.
Tozai Subway line, Higashiyama stn. Corner of Nijo-dori and
the river
Open: 10am-5:30pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥1,000/¥800
Tel: 075-752-5555
April 2 - May 22
Kyoto Bunka Hakubutsukan
Mysteries of the Human Body
Subway Karasuma-Oike/Hankyu Karauma stn.
Open: 10am-5pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥1,400/¥700/¥400
Tel: 075-222-0888
April 12 - May 15
Kyoto National Museum
Soga Shohaju
Keihan Shichijo Stn.
Open: 9:30am-5pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥1,000/¥600/¥300
Tel: 075-541-1151
Hyogo
Thru April 10
Ashiya Shiritsu Bijutsu Hakubutsukan
Tomoko Yoneda Photo Exhibition
Hanshin Ashiya stn.
Open: 10am-4pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥500/¥400/free
Tel: 0797-38-5432
Thru May 22
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art
Recovery from the Earthquake Disaster,
10th Anniversary Dresden —
A Mirror of the World. Dresden in Japan:The State Collections.
Hanshin Iwaya stn. (ocean side)
Open: 10am-5pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥1,400/¥900/¥500
Tel: 078-262-0901
April 2 - May 8
Himeji City Museum of Art
Katsushika Hokusai Exhibition
JR/Sanyo Himeji stn., Behind Himeji Castle
Open: 10am-4:30pm. Closed Mon.
Admission: ¥800/¥500/¥200
Tel: 0792-22-2288
Nara
Thru May 8
Nara National Museum
The Dawning Age
A Japanese archaeology Exhibition on Return from Germany.
Kintetsu Nara stn., inside Nara Park
Open: 9am-4pm
Admission: ¥1,000/¥700/¥400
Tel: 0742-22-7771
SHIGA
Thru June 12
Miho Museum
“Shaping the Sacred”
250 pieces of art from Egypt, Greece, Rome, West and Central
Asia, China, Korea and Japan.
From JR Ishiyama stn, take the Teisan bus to the museum. By
car, take the Meishin freeway to Kaname-Higashi I.C.
Open: 10am - 4pm Closed Monday
Admission: ¥1,000/800/300
Tel: 0748-82-3411
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ART section compiled by Maki Nibayashi
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