Eyes of an Island - Japanese Photograhy 1945-2007

'Shashin' is the word for photography in Japanese. It translates literally as ‘truth copy’. It is a fitting description for the mood of this show, which surveys Japanese photography from the end of the Pacific War in 1945 to the present day. Following the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japanese surrender, the country faced reconstruction and the search for a new identity. In a society that had been saturated with wartime propaganda, people hungered for authenticity. This striving energizes the work of photographers who worked in the forties and fifties and who are featured in this show like Shigeichi Nagano and Takeyoshi Tanuma. Also included are many other well-known Japanese photographers: Shomei Tomatsu, Daido Moriyama, Hiroshi Hamaya, Hiromi Tsuchida and Eikoh Hosoe. There is more recent work from Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ryuji Miyamoto and others. It is an exhibition that you can really get your teeth into.

Many of the pictures have strong graphic elements, thanks to the fact that they were featured in newspapers or magazines. Until relatively recently, most photographers working in Japan showed their work mainly in print publications, rather than galleries. The first exclusively photographic gallery in Japan opened in 1973.

Some of my favourites: Nagano's 'Women Collecting Sand' (1957) focuses on the geometric quality of the women's hats. Hamaya's 'Woman Planting Rice' (1955) crops the figure's head and arm from the frame, so that the image is reduced to the sinuous dark shape of the woman against the light-filled background of the watery rice fields. Hamaya's 'Bathing in a Hot Spring' (1957) utilizes the angular outline of the tub for visual tension. For photographers like Hamaya, even photos of people in a hot tub are dynamically composed.

MCA Exhibit: Sympathy for the Devil

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Museum of Contemporary Art's opening gala for its new exhibit, "Sympathy for the Devil, Art and rock and roll since 1967". This was already destined to be an enjoyable experience, as four of my best friends were accompanying me. However, the MCA certainly delivered as well.

The place was packed, but the flow of traffic was controlled in a way that kept you from feeling crowded. Large white tents covered the expanse of the Museum's yard. Inside one could indulge in a variety of beverages while simultaneously sampling the techno/trance beats of Flosstradamus (described as sounding like hipster pirates that took over mainstream rap radio) . Then there was the exhibit itself......

I can honestly say that Sympathy for the Devil is among the best exhibits I've seen at Chicago's MCA. From a room thats floor is constructed entirely with vinyls, to an experimental film starring the Velvet Underground, the whole scene is just short of mesmerizing. One of the most noteworthy installments is an actual studio where local musicians are encouraged to record under the condition that they allow their recording to be part of an on-going tape.

The goal of the exhibit is to show the intimate correlation rock and roll has had with visual art since the sixties. It focuses particularly on cities like New York and Los Angeles, where rock and art first began to meld in noteworthy ways. It also explores the complex relationships between artists and musicians, beginning with Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground.

The MCA will showcase Sympathy for the Devil through January '08. If you're a classic rock fan, checking it out is a must. You can my word for it.

The Art of Lee Miller at the Victoria & Albert Museum

Lee Miller (1901-1977) was one of those people who seemed to have had many lives – photographer, model, writer and actress are some of the roles for which she is most well-known. The exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum attempts to encompass the full breadth of Miller’s work. Previous shows have tended to focus on one aspect or on her relationship to the artists in her circle.

Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Miller first travelled to Europe to study theatre. However, she had a desire to work in front of as well as behind the camera. She became acquainted with Man Ray and her iconic beauty was immortalized in his photos. She became his lover as well as his student, and began to develop her own accomplished body of work.

Miller not only modelled for Vogue but was employed by the magazine as a photographer and writer. She contributed fashion self-portraits to the French edition of Vogue and later worked as a World War II correspondent for the American edition.

The exhibition covers the various stages of Miller’s life, including work in which she is the subject as well as work in which she is the photographer. There are also some self-portraits in which she is both the subject and the photographer. Most compelling is her coverage of World War II. As a woman photographing the horrors of war in the 1940’s, Miller truly made her mark. The exhibition also includes Miller’s associations with some giants of her time, such as Picasso, Henry Moore, Man Ray and the Surrealist painter Colin Penrose, who became her husband. This is a fascinating exhibition of Lee Miller’s complex character and art.