Concrete Playground

Confucius thought that everything had it but not everyone could see it; for Kant it was located in our faculty of judgment; for Monet it was to be found in nature; Keats thought it was truth; and plastic surgeons earn money from it. What else could it be but that alternating and persistent obsession known as beauty.

Kitagawa Utamaro (c1753-1806) was not inactive on the subject either; a master of Ukiyo-e (woodblock prints, or 'pictures of the floating world'), this mysterious artist illustrated scenes from history, theatre, nature, domestic life, hobbies, and sexual pleasure. To coincide with the exhibition Hymn to Beauty: the art of Utamaro at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, a symposium has been organised with international and local speakers examining Utamaro and his world.

This world was late eighteenth–century Edo (now current day Tokyo), and Ukiyo-e was at the centre of an active and flourishing consumer market — perhaps similar to the intensity and engagement in which Manga (or 'whimsical pictures') is today. Renowned for his depictions of women, space, and subject matter, as well as his influence on Western artists (especially the impressionist gang), Utamaro's contribution to beauty is sure to be an intriguing and revealing reminder of how this subject both remains and changes through history.

Food and fluid is also supplied! Or, if the symposium isn't attractive, Hymn to Beauty: the art of Utamaro runs from 13 February to 2 May 2010.