Yumi Karasumaru's Pop Art Confronts Hiroshima at MAMBO

At MAMBO in Bologna, Japanese artist Yumi Karasumaru presents 'Facing Histories,' a solo exhibition curated by Uliana Zanetti. The show, running until October 23, 2016, features Karasumaru's methodical reproductions of iconic photographs—from wartime images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to personal family photos—rendered in a vivid pop style rooted in traditional Japanese decorative aesthetics. Her small-scale works use bright colors and meticulous detail to gradually lead viewers toward the shock of the depicted tragedies. Karasumaru, born in Osaka, also incorporates performance, blending Eastern and Western expressive modes. The exhibition revisits the trauma of the atomic bombings, which remain central to reflections on World War II seventy-one years later.