WORLD ART:

The latest big tuna auction in Tokyo’s newly relocated Tsukiji Fish Market has created quite a splash. Kiyoshi Kimura of the Sushizanmai sushi chain has paid a whopping ¥333.6 million JPY (approximately $3.1 million USD) for large 613-pound tuna fish.

Kimura wins back his title for the most expensive price paid for a single fish at the new year’s auction, where he reigned number one for six years straight before losing his title in 2017 to another sushi chain. When asked what he felt about the price after the auction, Kimura responded with, “The tuna looks so tasty and very fresh, but I think I did too much, I expected it would be between ¥30 million JPY and ¥50 million JPY, or ¥60 million JPY at the highest, but it ended up five times more.” Kimura’s buyer’s remorse is justified as his ¥333.6 million JPY paid doubles what he paid six years ago.

It was reported the fish was moved directly to one of his restaurants located at the old Tsukiji Fish Market. With the number of tuna fish decreasing, the price of the threatened species continues to grow while remaining as one of the more popular fishes on sushi menus.

Artist Masayo Fukuda is a master of kirie, a unique style of Japanese paper-cutting art. Though it’s found in a variety of cultures around the globe, the Japanese variant is supposedly derived from religious ceremonies originating in 700 AD. To create her work, Fukuda delicately slices negative space from a single sheet of plain white paper, which is then placed on a black background to reveal the intricate design.

As 2018 comes to a close, Fukuda took to Twitter to showcase what she believes is her best piece of the year: a stunning, layered octopus rendering. With multiple patterns linked throughout, the details almost appear to be rendered in ballpoint pen, but when the artist places her hands beneath the piece it’s clear that the entire creation was neatly cut out from just one frail piece of paper.

Head to Masayo Fukuda’s website for more information and check out more of her work below, including a preview of her exhibition with fellow kirie artist Jun at Osaka’s Miraie Gallery in April 2019.

New York-based conservator Emily Macdonald-Korth recently found Jean-Michel Basquiat‘s secret drawings after being tasked to authenticate and examine a private owner’s Untitled 1981 painting by the late iconic artist. In her investigation, Macdonald-Korth found the concealed sketches that were drawn by Basquiat ostensibly with UV paint. The never-before-seen drawings portray a series of arrows that are pointing down. According to Artnet, this isn’t the first time Basquiat used fluorescent UV materials in his works. The publication noted that Sotheby’s London uncovered a hidden signature by Basquiat on his painting entitled Orange Sports Figure from 1982.

Following the discovery, Macdonald-Korth suggested: “Anyone who owns a Basquiat should get a long-wave UV flashlight. They’re compact little flashlights. You can get one Amazon,” she said to Arnet. “It’s so exciting to see something that’s literally invisible that the artist pu t there on purpose, completely intentionally.”