BLUM Los Angeles presents “Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood,” an exceptional exhibition marking the gallery’s thirtieth anniversary. The exhibition, curated by Tim Blum and Mika Yoshitake, showcases a comprehensive inter-generational survey of Japanese art from the 1960s to the present day. Spanning three locations – Los Angeles, Tokyo, and New York – this milestone event is a testament to BLUM’s longstanding dedication to showcasing groundbreaking Japanese and international art.
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The exhibition’s title, derived from a line in Yukio Mishima’s Nobel Prize-nominated novel “Runaway Horses,” encapsulates themes of national identity, self-actualization, and the power of reincarnation. It reflects BLUM’s journey over the past three decades, highlighting the gallery’s profound influence on and connection with Japanese art. Tim Blum’s first visit to Japan forty years ago ignited a passion that led to a series of foundational exhibitions, including works by artists such as Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami, and surveys like “Requiem for the Sun: The Art of Mono-ha” in 2012 and “Parergon: Japanese Art of the 1980s and 1990s” in 2019.
The Los Angeles segment of “Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood” occupies over 6,500 square feet of exhibition space, offering a rich exploration of postwar Japanese art movements. Visitors will experience works from Gutai, Hi-Red Center, Mono-ha, New Painting, and Superflat, providing a unique insight into the evolution of Japanese art from postwar reconstruction to contemporary expressions.
The exhibition opens with Yukinori Yanagi’s “Study for American Art – Three Flags” (2019), a thought-provoking piece that deconstructs Jasper Johns‘s “Three Flags” (1958) using an ecosystem of ants in painted sand. This sets the tone for the show, challenging traditional narratives and exploring the fluidity of national identity.
In Orange, 1975, Courtesy of BLUM
Visitors will encounter Susumu Koshimizu’s “From Surface to Surface (Wooden Logs Placed in a Radial Pattern on the Ground)” (1972/2004), a monumental installation of hand-cut wooden beams, alongside early paintings by Gutai artist Fujiko Shiraga and Hi-Red Center artist Natsuyuki Nakanishi. These works represent the visceral aftereffects of war and the shifting perspectives of the human experience.
Secret Game, 2023, Courtesy of BLUM
Yoshitomo Nara’s poster-sized portrait drawings serve as contemporary signposts, while his sculpture “Ennui Head” (2020) expresses a poignant blend of vulnerability and defiance. The exhibition also features works by Kazumi Nakamura, Yukie Ishikawa, Hiroka Yamashita, and Yu Nishimura, illustrating the interplay between critical awareness and resistance in figural painting.
DOB in the Strange Forest, 1999, Courtesy of BLUM
In another gallery, Takashi Murakami‘s “DOB in the Strange Forest” (1999) presents a surreal landscape populated with mushrooms and hundreds of eyes. This piece, created just before Murakami’s first solo exhibition at Blum & Poe in 1997, showcases his distinctive style that merges fine art with pop culture.
The Garden Gallery offers an immersive experience with Ryoji Ikeda’s “data.tecture [nº1]” (2018), a striking installation projecting molecular data and high-pitched sound frequencies, exploring the boundaries of perception and technology.
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Upstairs, key works by Mono-ha artists Koji Enokura, Lee Ufan, Nobuo Sekine, Kishio Suga, and others are presented alongside contemporary ceramic works by Kazunori Hamana, Yukiko Kuroda, Yuji Ueda, and Akane Saijo. These pieces explore the relationship between materials, their properties, and the architectural space, creating a dialogue of mutual co-existence and perception.
Pumpkin, 1999, Courtesy of BLUM
“Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood” also features archival photography and ephemera documenting significant moments in BLUM’s history. The exhibition will conclude with public programs, including an artist panel and live performance. A publication commemorating the milestone and expanding on the presented histories is set to be released later this year.
Stars and Stripes, 2001, Courtesy of BLUM
The exhibition’s second installment is on see at BLUM Tokyo from January 20 to March 10, 2024, followed by a final chapter at the inaugural exhibition of BLUM New York in Tribeca, fall 2024.
