This single-gallery installation employed objects from or inspired by Hirokazu Kosaka's performance piece Amerika Maru (1990) to restage, atmospherically, the earlier work’s poignant themes. An assemblage of historical objects, In the Mood included one hundred suitcases given to the artist by first-generation Japanese Americans, dozens of Singer sewing machines, a handmade model of a vintage ship, and woodblock prints by the artist. The exhibition, like Amerika Maru, intertwined Kosaka’s personal biography with the broader cultural history of Japanese American immigration. Its title derived from the Glenn Miller song, “In the Mood,” incorporated in the performance.
Focus Series: Hirokazu Kosaka: In the Mood was part of the museum’s Focus Series (1992–1998), which was dedicated to presentations of distinct bodies of work by artists working in all media and featured a roster of distinguished local and international artists.