No. 3948Anonymous 21st March 2012 Wednesday 11:44 pm3948ARRRRRRRRT shows in your area
This board is a little dead, here's an idea!
Post local or interesting art exhibitions/shows/events whatever here, on the off chance someone nearby is interested.
I'll start with something I plan to see tomorrow;
> "Kokoro: The Art of Horiyoshi III"
> Somerset House, London
> 21 March – 1 July 2012
> Courtyard Rooms, South Wing
> Free Admission
> Kokoro means 'heart' in Japanese; it is the 'feeling', the 'inner meaning' that underpins the Japanese approach not only to art, but to Japanese life as a whole. It is what makes Japan quintessentially Japanese. With this selection of paintings by Irezumi master Horiyoshi III and photographs by Alex 'Kofuu' Reinke and Matti 'Senju' Seldhom, we hope to make you 'feel' Kokoro; leading you on a journey where the typical japanese nature and legends take life in silk paintings and photographs.
>Internationally renowned tattoo artist Horiyoshi III is a great supporter of traditional japanese culture, history and craftsmanship but yet he embraced the modern western world, observed it, understood it and changed his art, evolving but keeping it japanese; this is ultimately the power and essence of Kokoro. It is a spirit that knows no time or physical limits.
Well, wasn't that exciting. Hoped it'd be more like photos in OP, something a little interesting visually, Instead I was treated to two rooms with a couple of silk hangings , which were pretty nice on their own but also quite cliche due to resembling all that manga/jap tattoo/stuff you'd draw on your pencil case vibe. Highlights, an abstract zen piece shoved above a fireplace and a little porcelain figure of a volumptious, heavily tattooed woman, bound up with a big grin on her face.
Also Somerset House has the greatest bogs in all London.
Also went to the Royal Academy to see a Hawksmoor exhibition, which again is tiny, just a little space on a ramp, mostly anecdotes and quotes from famous figures about his architecture, some paintings, photos, maps, plans. Nothing to write home about, so I've written about it here.
>>3951 It's a sort of cultural taboo. They're frowned upon at best, and generally associated with the Yakuza. It makes the "embrace of the modern western world" a lot more tangible.
>>3953 Those who do practice the traditional forms of tattooing tend to keep it behind closed doors, and it tends to be aged, highly-regarded "masters" of the hand-poking technique that do it. The style and method are different and distinct, and regarded differently (eg. with a lot more of a spiritual aspect to the process) to the Western style of tattooing. This article covers the fluctuations in cultural opinion of tattooing in Japan pretty well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irezumi