Exhibitions 21


UNDERDOGS AND ANTIHEROES


Eight Beauties of Korea folding screen, 1900-1950, attributed to Chae Yong Shin, ink and colour on cotton © OCI Museum of Art


HALLYU! The Korean Wave


Tis exhibition celebrates the colourful and dynamic popular culture of South Korea, following its early origins to its place on the global stage today. Te Korean government’s belief that its investment in culture would produce a robust economy was a gamble that has paid off. From K-pop costumes a to K-drama and cinema props and posters, the phenomenon, kmown as hallyu (Korean Wave) is explored through photography, sculpture, fashion, video and pop culture ephemera. Also on show is Mirage Stage by Nam June Paik. Hallyu rose to


prominence in the late 1990s, rippling across Asia before reaching all corners of the world and challenging the currents of global pop culture today. It also looks at the makings


• Until 25 June, 2023, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, vam.ac.uk. Catalogue available.


of the Korean Wave through fandoms, and underlines its huge cultural impact on the beauty and fashion industries. On show are around 200 objects across four thematic sections, including transformational technology and digital displays.


Mirage Stage by Nam June Paik. Seoul, South Korea, 1932 - Miami, USA, 2006 © Nam June Paik Estate


Yayoi Kusama, courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Photo: Yusuke Miyazaki © Yayoi Kusama


Onoe Matsusuke IV as Komori Yasu in the play Nasake Ukina no Yoroguchi by Yamamura Toyonari, from the magazine Shin Nigao, 1915, Taisho era, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, 17.3 × 11.4 cm


To inaugurate a new gallery devoted entirely to works on paper, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is showing a selection of Japanese prints focusing on the captivating stories and urban legends of individuals who lived on the fringes of society in early modern Japan. Key subjects in theatre, literature, and visual arts reveal antiheroes and underdogs whose virtues are often embodied by their rejection of societal norms, making them misfits and moral exemplars at the same time. Te exhibition takes a look at


different types of antiheroes and underdogs that were seen in early modern Japanese society. From scenes of tattooed firemen brawling with rival groups to those of sumo wrestlers enjoying a feast under cherry blossom trees, the exhibition features subjects that


• Underdogs and Antiheroes: Japanese Prints from the Moskowitz Collection, until 29 January, 2023, National Museum of Art, Washington DC, asia.si.edu


are not commonly associated with traditional Japanese print culture but were nevertheless central to the interests of an early modern public. Sumo wrestlers were celebrated and respected even though they lived outside of the traditional class system. Like other ancient rituals, sumo first appears in one of Japan’s national epics, the 8th- century Kojiki, and evolved into a national sport. Its popularity peaked in the late 18th century, eventually eclipsing even that of kabuki theatre, the early modern period’s most influential form of entertainment.


Mu Chun and Xue Yong (Shosaran Boku Shun, Byotaichu Setsu Ei) Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), from the series One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water, woodblock print, circa 1827-1830, Edo period, 37.8 x 25.6 cm


JUXTAPOSING CRAFT


YAYOI KUSAMA 1945 to Now


M+, the new contemporary art museum in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Cultural District is now showing its first special exhibition of the work of Yayoi Kusama, to coincide with the museum’s first anniversary. Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now


is the largest retrospective of renowned artist Yayoi Kusama in Asia outside Japan, featuring more than 200 works from major collections from museums and private collections in Asia, Europe, and the United States, the M+ Collection, as well as from the artist’s own collection. Co-curated by Doryun Chong, deputy director, curatorial and chief curator, M+, and Mika Yoshitake, independent curator, the exhibition introduces a new interpretative approach to


Kusama’s over seven-decade career and invites viewers to discover the transformative power of art. Te retrospective highlights the core aesthetic elements of Kusama’s work and foregrounds her recurring philosophical questions about life and death and her longing for interconnectedness. Te exhibitionalso explores how Kusama has become a global cultural icon who creates vital and influential work to this day. Organised chronologically


and thematically, and spanning from Kusama’s earliest work to her most recent output, the exhibition features a wide range of paintings, installations, sculptures, drawings, collages, moving images, and


Te show is also presenting


Self Portrait ( 2015) by Yayoi Kusama, acrylic on canvas, 145.5 × 112 cm, Collection of Amoli Foundation Ltd © Yayoi Kusama


archival materials. Te exhibition examines Kusama’s practice as it developed in Japan, the United States, Europe, and beyond through six themes: Infinity, Accumulation, Radical Connectivity, Biocosmic, Death, and Force of Life.


three brand-new works for the first time. Death of Nerves (2022) is a large- scale installation commissioned by M+. Installed in the lightwell that connects the museum’s ground floor and the basement levels and draping down to the Found Space on the B2 level, the work can be viewed from multiple vantages throughout the M+ building. Dots Obsession—Aspiring to Heaven’s Love (2022), in Te Studio, is an ambitious immersive environment that includes one of the artist’s signature mirrored spaces, and two large sculptures titled Pumpkin (2022) can be seen in the Main Hall on the ground floor.


• From 12 November to 14 May, 2023,


M+, Hong Kong, mplus.org.hk


Japanese crafts on show this autumn at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm


ASIAN ART | NOVEMBER 2022


In Stockholm, an exhibition of Japanese crafts, a selection of historical and contemporary objects from the Nordic countries and Japan are placed side by side. In their juxtaposition, the visitor is invited to uncover a greater story about the objects, look back at history, and see how knowledge fluctuates over time. Te objects are also used


to uncover a way of relating to craft today and how we care and encourage craft in the future. Tis project has been an ongoing process over the


• Until March 2023, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, ostasiatiskmuseet.se


course of several years, in which curators Rebecca Ahlstedt and Anna Senno of Undeni, have been given access to explore the collections of the National Museums of World Culture with the aim to find new perspectives towards the historical objects. Also on display is a large-scale installation by the artist Toshimasa Kikuchi (b 1979) and a piece by Chiharu Nishijima (b 1951).


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