Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art March 12, 2011

'Bye Bye Kitty!!!' is an exhibition introducing American audiences to a new wave of Japanese artists who challenge their country's long love affair with the kawaii (cute) aesthetic. The 16 participating artists range in age from their late 20s to their mid-40s, with the exception of the senior Yoshitomo Nara, well known both in Japan and the West for his engagement with popular manga culture, who contributes the touchstone work of the exhibition: a color photograph of two large, symmetrical "Hello Kitty" polychrome stone figures atop a beautifully maintained gray granite gravestone (2008). Many of the paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations and videos in 'Bye, Bye Kitty!!!' illustrate the manner in which today's vanguard artists in Japan freely and creatively sample Japanese pictorial conventions, ultimately reframing tradition - whether it be the conservative aesthetic of traditional Japanese painting and sculpture, the graphic ingenuity of Ukiyo-e prints, or neo-traditional styles developed in the early decades of the last century.