What is Micropop?
Micropop represents a playful, often child-like style of art which masks a deeper philosophy of the inventive power of the banal and the forgotten. The term was coined by independent art critic and curator Midori Matsui in 2007. While some comment that the philosophy behind the movement was elusive and difficult to understand (PDF download), it can be summarised simply as an art practice that:
The above description was used by Australia’s M16 Art Space, who recently hosted the travelling exhibition “Winter Garden: The Exploration of the Micropop Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Art”. Curated by Midori Matsui, the show was co-presented by the Japan Foundation and the Embassy of Japan in Canberra.