It’s a pre-Christmas extravaganza at Tokyo’s The Container to celebrate an exhibition of new works by the Tokyo-based artist Jack McLean, known for his large and detail packed surreal canvases.

The opening night will include a special performance art act by the artist as The Sad Clown, live Jazz performance by saxophonist Anthony Magor, and the finest gin from the exhibition’s sponsor Hendrick’s Gin.

 

Entitled It’s a long story, in full colour, without a happy ending, the installation comprises of an oddly shaped triptych (two drawings, each, 9 x 450 cm; and a third, 133 x 178 cm) depicting a narrative. The artist, who is famed for his large black and white large drawings through a 30 years career, is showing, for the first time, large colour works. The works have been made especially for The Container and reflect the space’s restrictions.

 

A bilingual, Japanese/English, exhibition catalogue (full color, 134 pages) is available at The Container, Createspace, and Amazon. The publication features essays by the renown art critics / writers: Eleanor Heartney and Edward Madrid Gomez, as well as a commissioned piece of fiction, a short story, “The Unhappy Guest”, authored by Charles Knudsen. The author drew inspiration from McLean’s drawings and his persona character The Sad Clown. The story is printed only in English.