Hyper Japanesque

Japan has preserved its rich cultural heritage with a dignified sense of purpose, keeping its traditional practices and crafts pure and uncorrupted. As the world changes, the country remains resilient, but societal behaviour and attitudes have gradually shifted, some as a reaction to landmark events in the nation's history.

In this exhibition, we share the works of eight artists who belong to a generation impacted by recent crises – such as the Japanese asset price bubble that burst in the 1990s, and the recent tsunami, which caused the nuclear accidents in Fukushima. What transpired was a shift in societal behaviour, in terms of ideologies, lifestyle readjustments, and subliminal discourse.

In Hyper Japanesque, we look at how the formalistic practices that are deeply rooted in their Japanese identity are being reinterpreted, broken down and reconstructed in many thought-provoking ways. It is interesting to discover that many of these artists, while trying to dismantle formal traditional art forms, often end up reinforcing them. More telling is how traditions can be preserved in a society with increasingly mixed, cross-cultural influences from other countries.

In conceptualising this exhibition, the superlatives “hyper-adaptive”, “hyper-evolution”, and “hyper-Japanese”, are coined as an urgent and poignant reaction to the tension of the fast and changing modern environments that calls for an immediate need for preservation.

Curatorially, each work in this exhibition is represented by a traditional Japanese character that is used to express the characteristics of the Japanese spirit that lies within; concepts of texture, symbol, happiness, vanity, diorama, echo, drop, decoration, and miniature are explored and rediscovered in new interpretations suited to a hyper-evolving society of art audiences as well as practitioners.

Artists: Saya Irie, Akiko Ozasa, Hiroko Masuko, Keiko Masumoto, Kouichi Okamoto, Naoko Yoshimoto, Yuki Hasegawa and Yuri Suzuki

Co-curated by NPO Hexaproject and POLA Orbis Holdings Inc.

About NPO Hexaproject

Hexaproject, a non-profit organisation, was established in 2006. Since then, it has been organising independent arts educational programmes in Japan and around the world through a variety of art and cultural activities, school workshops and art presentations.

Supported by POLA Orbis Holdings Inc.