Garage’s program in partnership with UNIQLO continues with a lecture on the key contemporary artists of Japan by art historian Tatyana Bortnik.
In the public mind, Japan of the past few decades has become an example of a futuristic society—a country that has been at the forefront of science, technology, and progressive ecological thinking. However, when it comes to Japanese art, many will think of the Edo-period prints of mountains and sakura before anything else. To explain this seeming contradiction, Tatyana Bortnik will introduce listeners to several contemporary artists who represent Japan on the international art scene of today.
Focusing on the work of Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami, whose first solo exhibitions were shown in Russia at Garage, she will show how the boldest new ideas can be combined with classical tradition. One of the latest examples of such collaborations is UT Doraemon, a new collection of T-shirts and toys, which brings together the popular cartoon character Doraemon the cat and Takashi Murakami's works.
How has post-war Japan been influenced by the Russian avant-garde and American pop art? How do contemporary artists bring videogames, manga, anime, and other genres of mass culture into their practice? Which Japanese contemporary artists apart from Kusama and Murakami have gained acclaim in the West? The lecture offers an opportunity to get a better understanding of contemporary art in Japan, and the role the country’s artists play on the international scene.
Tatyana Bortnik is an art historian specializing in art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. She graduated in Art History from the Russian State University for the Humanities in 2012 and has been developing courses and teaching at Garage since 2014. She has published articles and lectured on contemporary art.
