"Koh-jutsu" means skillful technique in Japanese. The serial exhibition entitled "Koh-jutsu" is held at SPIRAL every year since 2010, with the subject to indicate the essence and future image of Japanese art. The series has been introducing art works comprising delicate skillfulness and powerful techniques which unveil the practices conducted by Japanese artists and characteristics of the Japanese.

The third "Koh-jutsu" exhibition titled "KOWAKU" means fascination, will be held at SPIRAL in April 2012. As a preview of the third show of the series, this exhibition titled "Koh-jutsu 2.51" is scheduled to hold at Radi-um von Roentgenwerke in January of 2012.

In this exhibition, works of artists who represent "Koh-jutsu" will be gathered, providing a chance to recollect and review the meaning and concept of "Koh-jutsu", also serving as a connection to "Koh-jutsu vol.3-Kowaku" in April.

The concept of "Koh-jutsu"

Art history in Japan is composed of history of Japanese craft descended from old times, art history artificially built in Meiji Restoration in late 19th century, and history of contemporary art compulsively imported to Japan. It can be described peculiar because each history above develops in parallel and meanwhile imposing impact on each other.

As for now, due to the fast economic growth in Asia, contemporary art is likely to have become a target of consumption and opportunism before its essential value is commonly recognized. Hence, it can be concluded as current situation in Japan that the nobility and elegancy of contemporary art are not thoroughly established.

In regards to the market aspect, Chinese investment grows conservativeness recently and this indirectly influences Japan's art market. Thus, nowadays Japanese contemporary art even has to face the fact that international economic value no longer has the firmness as before.

"Koh-jutsu" was planned as a response to such instability and sence of crisis concerning Japanese contemporary art. "Koh-jutsu" means skillful technique in Japanese. For most time, the Japanese art featuring with physical delicacy and dexterousness is easily classified as craft rather than art. If judged by western-European aesthetic values, Japanese art with this kind of features receives disregards instead of fair artistic rating.

However, while grouping what Japanese art could be if eliminating the foreign perspectives such as exoticism and Japonism, the skillful technique in the craftsmanship appears as a suggestion that the crafts could turn out to be amazing art works. Moreover, that would not only bring elevation in technique but also allows artists to pursue selt-improvement that can be considered as a spiritual practice, a philosophy that exist in many ways among Japanese culture.

By raising the idea and introducing artists whose presentations are real practice of "Koh-jutsuﾓ, this series of exhibitions aim to create new values different from the past Japanese art and to indicate future Japanese art and a possible identity.