MODERN TIMES IN PARIS 1925: ART AND DESIGN IN THE MACHINE-AGE
HAPPENINGText: Alma Reyes
Harue Koga, Intellectual Expression Traversing a Real Line, 1931, The Nishinippon Shimbun Co., Ltd. (Deposited in Fukuoka Art Museum)
Avant-garde artists Harue Koga and Masahisa Kawabe also surfaced in this period with their rendition of mechanical imagery. Koga was immensely inspired by Surrealism in the Taishō period. Despite suffering from illnesses, his impeccable creativity injected sharp perspective and contrast of light and shadow. His captivating work “Intellectual Expression Traversing a Real Line” (1931) points to a horse rider, clad as a robot, who jumps over an obstacle while being targeted by a markswoman dressed in male attire. The moving tension in all angles of the screen, from the raised hands of both the robot and the shooter to the clear blue sky void of clouds breathe the air of surrealism.
Gallery view, Hajime Sorayama, Untitled_Sexy Robot type II floating/Untitled_Sexy Robot_Space traveler/Untitled_Sexy Robot_Space traveler, 2022/Untitled, 2023, Courtesy of NANZUKA © Hajime Sorayama, Modern Times in Paris 1925: Art and Design in the Machine-age, Pola Museum of Art, Photo: Ooki Jing
In the final section covering the 21st century, contemporary artists, such as Mounir Fatmi, Hajime Sorayama, and Rafaël Rozendaal interpret the present generation enveloped by computer operating systems, semiconductors, digital devices and AI. Sorayama’s painting “Untitled” (2023) and installation of “Untitled_Sexy Robot” (2022) series of metallic androids project an eerie and spellbinding sensation. The painting reveals the humanoid robot Maria derived from the futuristic city adapted in the movie “Metropolis” (1926) by Fritz Lang. The three female robots caged in glass cases are freed from gravity and appear to float in the infinite cosmos after the extinction of humanity.
Raoul Dufy, Paris, 1937, Pola Museum of Art
Other outstanding featured artists – Raoul Dufy, Wassily Kandinsky, Claude Monet, Moïse Kisling, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Marie Laurencin, Amedeo Modigliani, Kees van Dongen, Man Ray, Elsa Schiaparelli, Max Ernst, René Magritte, and many more – add spectacle to the extensive showcase. The presentation helps us analyze the complexities of our current state of living, practically dictated by the Internet and AI that have become indispensable tools even in the inception of art.
MODERN TIMES in Paris 1925: Art and Design in the Machine-age
Date: December 16th, 2023 – May 19th, 2024
Opening Hours: 9:00 – 17:00
Place: Pola Museum of Art, Gallery 1, 2
Address: 1285 Kozukayama, Sengokuhara, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa
Tel: +81 (0)460 84 2111
Organizer: Pola Museum of Art, Pola Art Foundation
Supported by Ambassade de France au Japon / Institut français du Japon
https://www.polamuseum.or.jp
Text: Alma Reyes
Photo: Courtesy of Pola Museum of Art, Pola Art Foundation