| Contents |
Japan's postwar and after, 1945-1989 : an overview / Harry Harootunian -- 1. 1945-1957 : Postwar reconstruction : from occupation to the Cold War. Ground zero : a new beginnings ; Avant-garde, technology, mass culture ; In search of the real ; Modernity and tradition ; Disfigured corpses or the critique of humanism ; The experimental workshop and the Gutai Art Association -- 2. 1957-1964 : From postwar to international reemergence. Art informel ; The avant-garde in transition ; Anti-art ; Immateriality ; Photography and film ; Urban transformation -- 3. 1964-1970 : After the avant-garde, an expanding field. Art and everyday life ; Locality and the body ; Redefining the relationship between humans and the world ; Intermedia and Expo '70 -- 4. 1970-1980 : Restructuring toward the postmodern. Institutional critique of art ; Alternatives to subjectivity ; Environment and community ; Painting after the end of the avant-garde ; Consumer culture and everyday life -- 5. 1980-1989 : Postmodernism and global negotiation. The originality of architecture and design in Japan ; The new wave ; Minimalism and tradition ; Conceptualism and its critical alternatives ; Locality and global art -- Postscript: Japanese art after 1989 / Michio Hayashi, Kenji Kajiya, and Fumihiko Sumitomo -- Chronology : 1945-1989 / compiled by Masatoshi Nakajima with editorial assistance by Doryun Chong. |
| Abstract |
"A trove of primary source materials, From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan 1945-1989 is an invaluable scholarly resource for readers who wish to explore the fascinating subject of avant-garde art in postwar Japan. In this comprehensive anthology, an array of key documents, artist manifestos, critical essays, and roundtable discussions are translated into English for the first time. The pieces cover a broad range of artistic mediums -- including photography, film, performance, architecture, and design -- and illuminate their various points of convergence in the Japanese context. The collection is organized chronologically and thematically to highlight significant movements, works, and artistic phenomena, such as the pioneering artist collectives Gutai and Hi Red Center, the influential photography periodical Provoke, and the emergence of video art in the 1980s. Interspersed throughout the volume are more than twenty newly commissioned texts by contemporary scholars. Including Bert Winther-Tamaki on art and the Occupation and Reiko Tomii on the Yomiuri Independent Exhibition, these pieces supplement and provide a historical framework for the primary source materials. From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan 1945-1989 offers an unprecedented look at over four decades of Japanese art -- both as it unfolded and as it is seen from the perspective of the present day." -- Publisher's description. |
