TAMPA, FLORIDA.- The Tampa Museum of Art presents ’My Reality: Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation,’ on view through June 23, 2002. East meets West in a pivotal exhibition organized by the Des Moines Art Center that investigates the influence of Japanese animation, commonly called anime, on today’s art. My Reality: Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation is timely because anime, for decades only enjoyed by a cult fan base, is becoming wildly popular in America and abroad.
The exhibition features sci-fi concepts including futuristic technology, cyborgs and other humanoid robotics, aliens and fantastical creatures, and post-apocalyptic landscapes. It also plumbs social and economic themes such as gender roles, consumerism, and pop culture. Anime is a complex subject, and this exhibition comments on its multiplicity.
My Reality follows on the path created by Almost Warm and Fuzzy: Childhood & Contemporary Art, the Art Center’s interactive exhibition of work by international artists aimed at children. This exhibition attracted record-breaking crowds in Fall 1999, and is now traveling to museums across the country and around the world.
While anime has its origins in American animation, it is equally connected to Japanese art history, particularly the technique of wood-block printing. Much anime has a futuristic flavor because it affirms technology as a positive force in contemporary society. Anime initially became popular through comic books and film, later expanding to include phenomena such as Pokemon and similar animated series.
The exhibition showcases works by Asian artists, such as Mr. (Masakatsu Iwamoto), Kenji Yanobe, Lee Bul, Yoshitomo Nara, Momoyo Torimitsu, Mariko Mori, Taro Chiezo, and Takashi Murakami. Although Murakami, Nara, and Mori have exhibited widely in the United States, this is not the case with many of the Asian artists in My Reality. The exhibition broadens the exposure of these important artists and presents their works within the context of international contemporary art.
Murakami is a particularly noteworthy figure in the discussion of anime-related art and its commercial implications. His prolific production involves videos, paintings, sculpture, and an array of mass-produced consumer goods including t-shirts, computer mouse pads, and inflatable toys. Like many of his colleagues, Murakami’s primary Western influences include Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Walt Disney.
The Western artists in the show, including Paul McCarthy, Micha Klein, Tom Sachs, Richard Patterson, Inka Essenhigh, Miltos Manetas, James Esber, and Charlie White, share similar concerns and influences as their Asian counterparts. Their work draws from parallel sources, from Paul McCarthy’s fascination with cartoon characters of all kinds, to Micha Klein’s glossy, club culture-inspired images.
My Reality is curated by Des Moines Art Center Senior Curator Jeff Fleming and Director Susan Lubowsky Talbott. A national tour of the exhibition is being organized by Independent Curators International (ICI), NY.
