Today I visited the Tokyo National Art Centre, in Roppongi/Nogizaka. At the moment, it houses an exhibition called “Utopia: the Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye”, which I learned about when I was in Alice Springs a few weeks ago. Emily Kngwarreye was an artist from Utopia, an outback settlement about 230 km north east of Alice Springs. She is billed as one of the greatest Australian artists of the 20th century, which is all the more remarkable given that she began painting only late in her life, and had little or no access to the outside world.
The gallery is an impressive building. It seems to contain only non-permanent collections.
The exhibition took me back to my trip to Alice Springs and the Macdonnell Ranges, still only 3 weeks ago. Since I’ve been having troubles linking to these photos through my website’s gallery, this post seemed a good segue to put a few of them online. The colours of the rocks, white ghost gums and the patterns of the landscape visible from above were all evident in Emily Kngwarreye’s works, and although I didn’t go to Utopia, I felt some sort of connection through having recently visited central Australia only a short time ago. It’s strange that I had to come all the way to Tokyo to visit this impressive and extensive an exhibition.
This is Trephina Gorge, in the East Macdonnell Ranges.
This is Glen Helen Gorge, in the West Macdonnell Ranges.
Ormiston Gorge
Simpsons Gap
The East Macdonnells from above.
Anyway, back to the present. Dinner tonight was an outdoor BBQ type place at Jingu-Gaien, with Jamie, a friend of a friend who has been introduced to me. It was a pleasant evening (although it’s been getting quite humid), and a few beers went down well.
