After the reality

This slim but explosive glossy-magazine-sized paperback, designed by the talented Japanese art collective, Enlightenment, and edited by the Tokyo-based curator and gallerist, Hiromi Yoshii, collects new work by a small and tightly interrelated group of Japan's most exciting new artists, all of whom are involved in portraying what could be described as a 'post-reality world.' Brought together by Yoshii for the exhibition, After the Reality, at New York's Deitch Projects this past summer, the works present a blend of fantasy and reality, fears and emotions, all set amidst an optimistic embrace of life and a foreboding of death. Featuring works on canvas by Yoshitaka Azuma, C-prints by Enlightenment, watercolors by Koichi Enomoto, video collages and drawings by Taro Izumi, drawings and installation work by Soichiro Matsubara and more drawings and video clips from Aya Ohki, it's a skinny, sexy glimpse into what's happening in Japanese contemporary art right now.