Japan Society Unveils New Noh-Inspired Project by Simon Starling

Left to right: Simon Starling, “At Twilight / Mask of W.B. Yeats,” “At Twilight / Mask of Nancy Cunard,” and “At Twilight / Mask of Ezra Pound (After Henri Gaudier-Brzeska),” 2016. Masks by Yasuo Miichi; Courtesy of the artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow.

Japan Society Gallery opens Simon Starling: At Twilight (After W. B. Yeats’ Noh Reincarnation), the debut solo exhibition of the Turner Prize winner’s work at a New York City institution. On view October 14, 2016 through January 15, 2017, this ambitious new multimedia project reveals the ways in which Japanese traditional culture – particularly noh, Japan’s masked drama – has inspired new forms of creativity among the Western avant garde in the early 20th century and today.

The anchor for Starling’s project is Irish poet and playwright W. B. Yeats’ noh-inspired dance play At the Hawk’s Well, which premiered at a London salon in 1916, at the height of World War I. That staging was realized in collaboration with members of the international art community, many of whom had escaped the war-torn European continent. To commemorate the centennial of this landmark moment in the history of East-West cultural exchange, Starling re-imagines the scantily documented original production, with newly created masks, costumes and a dance on video juxtaposed with examples of classical Japanese art and masterpieces of Western Modernism that inspired the new works.

Organized in collaboration with The Common Guild, Glasgow, UK.

Japan Society Gallery is located at 333 East 47th Street. For more information visit japansociety.org.