Art Fair Kyoto

Produced by Nanzuka Underground with the support of Globally Local Media.

Gelman’s Chess
Pennisi, Milan, Italy

Produced by Globally Local Media with the support of Japan Brand.

Pennisi, via Manzoni, 29. Milan, Italy

Hokkoku Shimbun (p. 21)
February 28, 2010

Mainichi Shimbun (News Column, Evening, Tokyo)
February 04, 2010

Mainichi Shimbun (News Column, Evening, Nagoya)
February 04, 2010

Mainichi Shimbun (News Column, Evening, Osaka)
February 04, 2010

Mainichi Shimbun (News Column, Evening, Kitakyusyu)
February 04, 2010

Mutsu Shimpo (Interview)
January 31, 2010

Hokkaido Shimbun (Review)
January 24, 2010

Daily Tohoku (Interview)
January 18, 2010

Yamaguchi Shimbun (Interview)
January 15, 2010

Tomakomai Minpo (Interview)
January 14, 2010

Kita_Nippon Shimbun (Interview)
January 14, 2010

Chitose Minpo (Interview)
January 14, 2010

Nishi Nippon Shimbun (Review)
January 10, 2010

Nihonkeizai Shimbun (News Column, Tokyo)
January 07, 2010

Nihonkeizai Shimbun (News Column, Nagoya)
January 06, 2010

Nihonkeizai Shimbun (News Column, Fukuoka)
January 06, 2010

Nihonkeizai Shimbun (Feature Headline, p. 41)
January 01, 2010

Syukan NY Seikatsu (p. 9)
December 29, 2009

Hokkoku Shimbun (News Column, p. 2)
December 22, 2009

Kyoto Shimbun (Review, p. 11)
December 20, 2009

Syukan NY Seikatsu (p. 9)
December 19, 2009

Nara Nichinichi Shimbun (News Article)
December 09, 2009

Gifu Shimbun (News Column)
November 30, 2009

Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun (News Column)
November 28, 2009

Hokkoku Shimbun (Op-Ed)
November 26, 2009

Sankei Express (News Column, Tokyo)
November 25, 2009

Sankei Express (News Column, Osaka)
November 25, 2009

Sankei Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Japan Times (News Column, Tokyo)
November 25, 2009

Japan Times (News Column, Osaka)
November 25, 2009

Miyazaki Nichinichi_Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Shikoku Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Fukui Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Shimotsuke Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Ibaraki Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Chiba Nippo (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Kanagawa Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Yamanashi Nichinichi_Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Akita_Sakigake Shinpo (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Yamagata Shimbun (News Column)
November 25, 2009

Hokkoku Shimbun (Centerfold)
November 25, 2009

Kumamoto Nichinichi_Shimbun (News Column)
November 24, 2009

Oita Goto Shimbun (News Column)
November 24, 2009

Too Nippo (News Column)
November 24, 2009

Nishi Nnippon Shimbun (News Column)
November 24, 2009

Sanyo Shimbun (News Column)
November 24, 2009

Hokkoku Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Tokyo Shimbun (Interview)
November 24, 2009

Chunichi Shimbun (Interview)
November 24, 2009

Kyodo News
November 24, 2009

Breitbart
November 23, 2009

Syukan NY Seikatsu (Review)
November 21, 2009

Seikyo Shimbun (Interview, p. 7)
November 12, 2009

Minami Nippon_Shimbun (Morning, p. 18)
November 07, 2009

Hokkoku Shimbun (Morning, p. 18)
November 03, 2009

Yomiuri Shimbun (Interview, p. 2)
October 29, 2009

Yukan Fuji (Interview, p. 13, Tokyo)
October 27, 2009

Yukan Fuji (Interview, Osaka)
October 27, 2009

Asahi Shimbun (Interview, p. 10)
October 26, 2009

Sankei Shimbun (Interview, p. 16)
October 20, 2009

Asahi Shimbun (Globe, Interview, p. 7)
October 14, 2009

Tokyo Shimbun (Column, p. 1)
January 18, 2009

Chunichi Shimbun (Column, p. 1)
January 18, 2009

Hokuriku Chunichi_Shimbun (Column, p. 1)
January 18, 2009

Hokkoku Shimbun (Morning, p. 16)
January 15, 2009

Hokkoku Shimbun (Morning, p. 21)
December 02, 2008

Hokkoku Shimbun (Op-Ed, p. 4)
October 07, 2008

Hokkoku Shimbun (Morning, p. 22)
April 10, 2008

Fuji Sankei Business i (Interview, Tokyo)
December 05, 2009

Fuji Sankei Business i (Interview, Osaka)
December 05, 2009

Rikunabi Next (Interview)
December 02, 2009

Sanin Chuo Shinpo
November 24, 2009

Nikkkan Sports
November 24, 2009

Sankei Sports
November 24, 2009

Iwate Nippo
November 24, 2009

Nagasaki Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Kyoto Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Shizuoka Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Tokushima Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Saga Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Yamagata Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Chugoku Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Kochi Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Hokkaido Shimbun
November 24, 2009

Nikkei Business Online
November 05, 2009

JB Press
October 27, 2009

NHK BS1 Kyo-no-Sekai (23:20 – 23:40)
January 04, 2010

Hokuriku Asahi Hoso Super J Channel
December 12, 2009

J-Wave Tokyo Morning Radio (8:30 – 8:45)
November 26, 2009

+ing (#34, Spring 2010)
March 2010

Sotokoto (Interview, pp. 24 – 27)
March 2010

Waraku (Review, p. 221)
February 2010

Eyescream (Review)
January 2010

Squet (Review)
January 2010

Gekkan Seiryu (Review)
January 2010

Voice (Dialogue with Kenichiro Mogi, pp. 194–203)
January 2010

Voice (Color Feature, pp. 11–13)
January 2010

Modern Living (Review)
January 2010

Nile’s Nile (Cover Feature, pp. 26 – 39)
December 2009

PHP Honto no Jidai (Interview, pp. 122 – 123)
December 2009

Gekkan Bungei Shunju (Column, pp. 84 – 86)
December 2009

Gekkan Ushio (Interview, pp. 40 – 41)
December 2009

Theory No.6, Main Feature)
November 2009

Syukan Post (Review)
November 24, 2009

Bises (Review)
November 16, 2009

Seiron (pp. 202 – 205)
November 2009

Dime (Review, p.163)
October 26, 2009

Tsubasa no Okoku (pp. 128 – 131)
May 2009

Pen (No.241, pp. 140 – 141)
April 01, 2009

Departures (Cover Feature)
April 2009

Actus (p. 6)
February 2009

Postglobal

Kateigaho International Edition

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Gelman’s Chess

A masterpiece chess set series created by Alexander Gelman

New York/Tokyo 2010

World-renowned media artist Alexander Gelman, whose work resides in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art and Cooper-Hewitt in New York, The Smithsonian Institution, and Bibliothèque National de France in Paris, has created a collection of masterpiece chess sets in collaboration with traditional Japanese craftsman using centuries-old lacquerware and porcelain techniques.

Inspired to bridge centuries old traditions in the context of the contemporary luxury lifestyle, Gelman, an admirer of the Yamanaka craftsmen and Kutani porcelain painters of Ishikawa prefecture, began a collaboration with them in March 2008 with the aim to create something lasting using lacquer, a material used commonly in Japan but rarely recognized for its exceptional characteristics like a smooth, glossy finish and lightness to the hand and eye. Combining Gelman’s uncompromising creativity with the artisans’ superlative skills, extraordinary precision, and knowledge passed down over generations, the chess sets capture the very essence of lacquer and convey its natural beauty to a global audience in the form of a game enjoyed by tens of millions worldwide, thereby liberating it from the functional aesthetics of tableware and elevating it to a new category of contemporary art-form.

As world cultures becoming more and more disposable, said Gelman to the reporters at the New York launch in December 2009, I cherish the opportunity to engage in the process informed by generations of artisans, a centuries-worth tradition of ingenuity and refinement. Collaboration of like-minded individuals empowered by creative integrity, skills, and pursuit of perfection brings best in everyone and enables the link between past and future. Nothing is more enjoyable than creating tangible lasting objects embodying thought, tradition and meaning.

As part of his foray into lacquerware, Gelman also created a custom, one-of-a-kind lacquer bicycle. To build it, he handpicked the highest grade components from Japanese, Italian, Spanish and the American manufacturers.

Each set, which took up to 10 months to create, is made of the finest materials, including four types of lacquer finish: matte vermillion lacquer, extra-glossy black lacquer, fukiurushi (wiped lacquer), and gold makie lacquer. The result is a stunning and unique chess set that conveys the Japanese spirit captured and interpreted by Gelman, a modern-day ambassador of Japanese culture.

Gelman now joins an illustrious group of international artists who have designed their own chess sets over the years, including Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Isamu Noguchi, Yoko Ono, and Damien Hirst. Gelman’s Chess debuted in Tokyo at Gallery Kakitsubata, followed by exhibitions in New York in November/December, Paris in January 2010 at Mitukoshi Etoile, Genova in February and Milan in March/April 2010. Prices range from $55,000.00 to $125,000.00.

About Alexander Gelman

Alexander Gelman (most commonly known as Gelman or Glmn) is an accomplished media artist based in New York. His work, widely shown around the world, is included in public and private collections including The Smithsonian Institution, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Bibliothèque National de France in Paris.

Employing various media, Gelman challenges the boundaries between art, science, politics and popular culture. His work, exemplified by stark simplicity and impeccable purity of form, is rich in conceptual complexity. Its referential philosophical nature implies various subtexts through the viewers’ interpretation. Gelman frequently collaborates with artisans, musicians, companies and institutions and some of his most recent collaborations include projects with Apple, Nike, Target and Warp Records (London).

Gelman also serves as guest professor at Yale University and MIT Media Lab. He had authored a number of books, articles, and was a subject of several monographs. His best-selling book, “Subtraction,” (RotoVision, 2000) reissued in four languages, has been acclaimed a “modern day classic.” His provocative publication, “Infiltrate” (BIS, 2004) redefined the notion of critical journalism in the new century; the book is currently in its second printing. A monograph entitled ‘Gelman Thinks,’(Browns, 2006) was launched in a special event at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in London. His new book, “Postglobal” (2009), was published exclisively in Japanese. It offers a unique perspective on traditional Japanese culture.

About Globally Local Media

Founded by an international group of editors, publishers, curators and creative directors Globally Local Media is the cultural foundation which promotes Japanese culture, especially local tradition, in and outside of Japan through books, exhibitions, and collaborations with local Japanese craftsmen and artisans.