HAMILTON.- This groundbreaking Canadian presentation of Japanese art examines new and recent work by emerging and mid-career artists. After its economic collapse in the 1990s, Japan’s Superflat movement, epitomized by the work of Takashi Murikami and Yoshimoto Nara, catapulted these and like-minded artists onto the contemporary art world stage. Today, an exciting new wave of work follows in the wake of the Superflat aesthetic, defined by a new generation of Japanese artists. Their diverse works, on view in Canada for the first time, reflect an acute consciousness of cultural tradition, while simultaneously proposing visions of a globalized future.

The exhibition will include work in a variety of media including drawing, installation, photography, sculpture, textile and video. In addition to new and recent work by Manabu Ikeda, Kohei Nawa, Tabaimo and Miwa Yanagi, the exhibition will also showcase two site-specific works created in Hamilton: utilizing discarded consumer packing material gathered over many months from local residents, internationally-known artist Yoshiaki Kaihatsu will transform our waste into a contemporary take on the traditional Japanese teahouse, and textile artist Sayaka Akiyama will spend four weeks in the community, ultimately translating her experiences of Hamilton’s environment, geography, history and sensibility into a large-scale signature mapping project.