Thursday 15 March, 2018
6:00pm GMT
Weston Room, Norwich Cathedral Hostry, Norwich NR1 4EH
Speaker
Professor Adrian Favell (University of Leeds)
About the Speaker
Adrian Favell is Chair in Sociology and Social Theory at the University of Leeds. A 2006-7 Japan Foundation Abe Fellow, he is the author of Before and After Superflat: A Short History of Japanese Contemporary Art 1990-2011 (2012), and has also published essays in Art in America, Bijutsu Techō, Impressions, Artforum, and ART-iT online. More info: www.adrianfavell.com
About the Talk
What effect have the Triple Earthquake disasters of March 2011 had on Japanese contemporary art? Japanese contemporary art since the 1990s has mainly been associated with the popular culture inspired work of artists such as Murakami Takashi, Nara Yoshitomo, Mori Mariko and Aida Makoto. The rupture of 2011 however made clear a major shift in Japanese art towards more community based, socially engaged, and politically critical work, including among this older generation. While explaining the longstanding roots of socially engaged “art projects” as a distinctive feature of the Japanese art world, the talk will focus on the changing output of younger generation of artists: including names such as Tanaka Koki, Shiga Lieko, Sakaguchi Kyohei and Kato Tsubasa, and the controversial art units Chim↑Pom and Chaos★Lounge.
The talk is based on a new chapter for a forthcoming revised and updated edition (in Japanese and English) of the book, Before and After Superflat.
The Third Thursday Lecture series is funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and Yakult UK.