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NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...

NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...

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m of a wicked demon and hid it the case, until th<br />

e demon returned in the guise of the warrior’s mot<br />

her and tricked him out it. On the second screen t<br />

he demon, rendered larger than life with exaggerat<br />

ed vigor, is shown speeding away, clutching her li<br />

vidly red arm. The work’s creator, Shibata Zeshin<br />

(1807-91), was known internationally during his li<br />

fetime as a master of lacquer; a nearby preparator<br />

y study for the image is just as large, but less s<br />

trained.<br />

The same storage case, this time in black, appears<br />

in the show’s final gallery in "Night Parade of 1<br />

00 Demons," where it is being torn apart by one of<br />

the hand scroll’s wonderfully grotesque creatures<br />

in an effort to free several more of his ilk trap<br />

ped inside. This final gallery is dominated by dep<br />

ictions of anthropomorphized animals, among them t<br />

he frolicking creatures on a 12th-century hanging<br />

scroll that was excised from a set of 12th-century<br />

hand scrolls revered in Japan as one of the start<br />

ing points of manga. Also here is "The Tale of Mic<br />

e," one of several impressive loans from the New Y<br />

ork Public Library, with its cast of well-dressed<br />

white rodents. One wonders if Art Spiegelman knew<br />

of its existence when he undertook "Maus," his gra<br />

phic novel of Jewish mice and Nazi cats.<br />

"The Tale of Mice" is one of many points in "Story<br />

telling in Japanese Art" where you may find yourse<br />

lf wondering if Japan, despite its small size, has<br />

contributed far more than its share to today’s po<br />

pular culture. There is no hard science by which t<br />

o arrive at a definitive answer. Still, this fasci<br />

nating show reverberates with that tantalizing pos<br />

sibility.<br />

"Storytelling in Japanese Art" is on view through<br />

May 6 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; (212) 535<br />

-7710, metmuseum.org.<br />

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