ARTFORUM CRITICS' PICKS: "Jack McLean"

My latest Critic's Pick from Tokyo is up on ARTFORUM website. The show—Jack McLean's "Salt Mine," curated by Shai Ohayon, will be up at The Container gallery through May 23rd. 

The artist during installation. Photo courtesy of The Container.

Jack McLean at The Container

Jack McLean and Peter Star

Beatriz Inglessis with the show's curator Shai Ohayon

Jack McLean's "Salt Mine" is the inaugural show in Tokyo's newest gallery—"The Container." As promised, the visitors found themselves entering an actual shipping container reassembled inside a hip hair salon located in the hip Nakameguro district. The container, painted in white and stenciled on the outside, provided a perfect space for an assemblage of anthropomorphic wooden planks that were sporting various anatomical fragments and fashion accessories. Inside The Container, the angry, happy, scared, frustrated and surprised planks arranged in groups of two or three mimicked the mimicked the less dramatic groupings that made up the opening crowd. A definite must-see.

The show is on view through May 23. Curated by Shai Ohayon. 

Clear Your Calendars: New Permanent Exhibition Space to Open March 7

Tokyo gallery scene is about to grow by about 15.5 cubic meters. The new permanent exhibition space called "The Container" (is literally the size of a standard shipping container) will hold two-and-a-half months long shows of the artists selected by the curator Shai Ohayon. The opening reception will be held on March 7th from 7 to 9 pm, and will feature the inaugural exhibition by Tokyo's own Jack McLean. 

The location of the new gallery is inside the Bross hair salon in Daikanyama. You can find the address of the venue here.