VA 1 article

Joy Prior
VAEDU 397
Sec 001
Graham, Mark Allen
Holmberg, Ryan. Dystopiaman Tetsumi Kudo: Nuclear angst and ecological breakdown are specters haunting the first U.S. retrospective to treat this major figure of the Japanese postwar ear. International Review: Art in America. Print. March 2009. Page 96-103.
Summary
In the article that author Ryan Holmberg critiques some of the exhibits of Tetsumi Kudo. The author describes some of Kudo’s more recognizable works and discusses some of the signature elements in Kudo’s work through the summary of his life. In 1958, the artist Kudo began his career in performative painting. In the early 1960s when he moved to Europe he began making Nouveau Realisme art. In most of these paintings he continually attacks utopian ideals and humanist beliefs. After working in Paris for twenty years he divided his time between France and Japan. Throughout this time his artwork also began to evolve. In his latter life he uses multicolored string and sculptures to attack the “heart of the matter” in Japan’s culture.
Describes
Kudo used mutated human faces and bright colors in a variety of mediums to capture the audience in an almost grotesque displays. My favorite piece described in the article was Your Portrait May 66 from 1966. It has two lawn chairs beneath fluorescent orange and green parasol under a black light. On each of the chairs there is a wax like corps, one man and one woman. Both figures only have one hand left and in their hand they are holding their most prized organ in a bird cage. In the woman’s bird cage is a heart, and in the man’s is a brain.
The artwork that was my least favorite was Cultivation by Radioactivity in the Electronic Circuit. In this piece Kudo put a human nose, nappy toy mouse, penis, and small cattails growing out of a swamp of fat. All of this is covered in a bubble, and it almost look like a Halloween snow globe. I didn’t like this one for a few reasons, but mainly because of Kudo’s obsession with the male reproductive organ is overwhelmingly degrading. The critic emphasized that the penis represented Kudo’s idea of devolution and the idea that single celled organisms can reproduce. I think this portrayal of the male sex organ makes mankind appear as lowly as swamp slugs, which is an idea that I do not support.
Interprets
The interpretation of Kudo work is centered around a four key subjects: devolution, the effect holocaust nuclear warfare has on mankind, and Japan’s culture. Devolution, the idea that species can regress to a single celled organism, is shown throughout his work mainly through the use of displaying the male reproductive organ in primitive surroundings. His art work often displays organs in nature in an attempt to portray the effect of nuclear activity on mankind. These human figures are often hollowed eyed waxy lumps and seem victims of some unethical artistically choice. Kudo depicts human organs in cages expressing the idea that humans are impression by social ideals. In his later work Kudo included multicolored strings to represent hereditary chromosomes, what he believed linked humankind together, and critiques Japan’s historical problems through statues. The underlining declaration of his work is an anti-utopian perspective and mocks humanists ideals.
Judges
The author, Holmberg, critiques much of Kudo’s work as if he were visiting a freak show. Throughout the article there are phrases such as: pervasively disfigured, catastrophes, painted in awful combinations of pastel and fluorescents colors, and nightmarish vein of Cold War science fiction. Much of what the author has to say about Kudo’s art work seems a fit description of Kudo’s work. Despite the seemingly foul taste some of the pieces leave in the author’s mouth Holmberg recognizes the importance of understanding Kudo’s life perspectives and philosophies when critiquing his pieces. Holmberg describes some of the key theories used throughout Kudo’s work and concludes with a positive reflection on the influence his pieces had in Japan’s politics.
Theoretical Stance
I do not believe that the author agreed with Kudo, but the author did respect the artist enough to strive and understand his work. Holmberg states, “I do not agree that the work is so positive: after all, impotence instituted on a universal scale would entail the end of the species.” The author seems to believe that Kudo’s highly anti-utopia attitude did not formulate a robust political response and was extremely grotesque. Holmberg seems to enjoy some of Kudo’s latter work more, and believes that Kudo found a sort of immortal refuge in critiquing the history of Japan’s culture. He also believes that much of Kudo’s latter work would not be possible or as expressive if Kudo had not explored the profane and harsh subjects portrayed in his earlier art work.