Lecture at Sac State with curator Kendall H. Brown about Bidou Yamaguchi's Noh Masks

Traditional Noh masks by Bidou Yamaguchi. Photo: Frida Berntson, 04-13-16 

The Japanese Noh theater is a traditional theater in Japanese culture heavy with poem, includes music and dance and the stories are mainly about people seeing and dealing with ghosts from the past. Noh theater has been performed since the 14^th century. Traditional costumes are worn by the actors as well as masks; specific masks that have a special look to them. Bidou Yamaguchi is one of few contemporary masters of mask carving in Japan, and he is also a pioneer since he is the first artist to go beyond the traditional norm and create non-traditional Noh masks. His masks are currently on display in the Sac State Library Gallery in the exhibition “Traditions Transfigured – The Noh Masks of Bidou Yamaguchi”, and on April 13 a lecture was held there with the curator Prof. Kendall H. Brown of California State University Long Beach.

Kendall H. Brown speaking, beside him the mask of Mona Lisa. Photo: Frida Berntson, 04-13-16

The curator started the lecture by telling the story of how the exhibition was made, which I thought was interesting. The exhibition was made in collaboration with graduate students at Cal State Long Beach, and the show was specifically done for universities. The exhibition had a lot of different elements like video, sound and an interactive part which the curator explained was the student’s idea. The interactive part consisted of a mirror and “toy” Noh masks that you could handle yourself and maybe take a “selfie”, which the curator thought was very amusing but also a great idea.

Mask depicting Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring by Bidou Yamaguchi. Photo: Frida Berntson, 04-13-16

Mask depicting Munch's Madonna by Bidou Yamaguchi. Photo: Frida Berntson, 04-13-16

The exhibition was done in three parts; the first part with traditional masks and the art that inspired them, the second part with the new non-traditional masks, and the last and third part about the making of the masks. The first part is Yamaguchi’s day job, Brown explained. For several hundred years no new masks were made in Japan, the actors just kept using the traditional old ones. But of course that wasn’t sustainable, so new masks started to be made, and the new carvers copied the old masks. This can seem uncreative and boring to westerners, but Asia has a tradition of copying old masters, as in Chinese landscape painting for example, everyone copying make subtle changes which lead to new ideas. So the new mask artists learned how to age the masks; add little cracks all over the paint and make it look worn where the actors would hold it. So Noh mask carvers are also masters in aging techniques. One important thing that the curator pointed out is that Noh mask makers are not only carvers but also painters, they carve and paint their objects, so it is a truly dynamic work.

The second part of the exhibition was the most exciting with the new non-traditional masks; Bidou Yamaguchi started a series with famous European portraits of women. Masks of Mona Lisa, Botticelli’s Venus, Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Munch’s Madonna were displayed at the exhibition to name a few. When asked why the artist chose this subject the explanation was that he was simply drawn to their faces. These masks are however not simple appropriations; since the Noh play is about ghosts, the masks are considered to express the ghosts of the women, their spirits and their persona. Yamaguchi even re-created all the little oil paint-cracks that most of these paintings have, and according to the curator it took somewhere between eight to nine hours to create! All masks have the sophistication of the traditional ones, and the artist has expertly re-imagined legendary women of art history from 2D to 3D magic.

The process of carving a Noh mask, by Bidou Yamaguchi. Photo: Frida Berntson, 04-13-16

The third and last part of the exhibition was about the making of the masks and also about how the masks appear in different angles and light. Brown explained that the traditional mask “young lady” actually appears to change its expression in different angles and light. There was a video showing this where a robot turned the mask in different ways, and we could all see how the mask turned slightly sad, a little angry, or happy when the smile was accentuated.

The lecture was a very positive experience, the audience walked around in the exhibition and the curator talked about the different parts as we walked through it which is a different format than just sitting down before a slideshow. It is a very good format, it keeps your interest up and you are engaged in the art at the same time you learn everything about it.

The exhibition is on display at Sac State until May 21, 2016.

A video showing the masks from the Sac State Youtube channel.