Against the As-It-Is: An Inquiry into Sculptural Bodies in Recent Japan

This article aims to propose the way of an interpretation on recent sculptural works in Japan, especially ones with bodily figuration. Although they would share some features with artistic production outside the country and the proposed approach is not comprehensive considering variegated contemporary sculptural practices, it is suggestive that there was a historical situation where artists criticized the human-based representation of the world and turn to a kind of naturalism, as led by Mono-ha in the context of postwar Japan. Some succeeding sculptors have struggled against the naturalism that demands to leave things as it is.