Human Form

<Human Form> has been expressed since human being started making things using their hands, that is, since the beginning of the history of art.  In the long history, portrait paintings and sculptures of specific persons, historical paintings that depict historical events, allegorical paintings based on myths and legends (often personified and animalificated) were created.  Invisible gods and buddhas are expressed in human forms to be worshipped.  Drawings of human forms based on anatomy are also made.  Moreover, stories of mythical and historical persons became an important subject matter in Asia.

In modern times, allegory and sacredness in <Human Form> were denied as actual existence such as people around the artists and the artists’ self portraits were depicted without idealized.  At the same time, carved line of body and the ideal beauty of composition were sought in abstracted ways.  In contemporary time, <Human Form> is sometimes distorted to imply social criticism.

Various <Human Form> works from different genres are still being created and developed in a diverse way.  It is indeed impossible to present a complete introduction of this huge theme which has been in existence from the beginning of the history of art.  Thus, the exhibition shows <Human> in funny and strange <Form> from the collection of the FAAM.  We hope you will enjoy each <Human Form> with the artists’ unique viewpoints and messages.