We have seen a lot of interesting Asian art shows over the past few years. It started with Tokyo Pop at the Gallery at Village Shalom in 2002, a show that brought Yoshitomo Nara, Aya Takano, Takashi Murikami and other major players in the sexy-yet-childish, sweet-but-still-dark Japanese pop-art movement to Johnson County. Then there was the Pop Goes Godzilla exhibition at the Spencer Museum this past winter, an incredible study of the export of Japanese culture (offering Godzilla posters in several languages as well as newer gizmos) that provided a sense of how Japanese culture is perceived everywhere but in Japan. Both of these shows were enlightening, but it came as a refreshing change of pace to see the Kemper's most recent exhibition of Asian art. Past in Reverse was a show without a thesis. In place of a thesis was variety -- a wide range of Asian art, proving that the images most frequently crossing the Pacific make up an impressive but streamlined cross-section of what is actually being created on the other side of the ocean. It was about time someone brought the reality check to our table.
