NEW YORK, NY.- A shimmering taxidermy deer and a gasp-inducing canvas depicting a tumulus of minuscule salary men are among the compelling works that greet visitors to Japan Society Gallery from Friday, March 18 to June 12, 2011. The occasion is Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art, an exhibition introducing American audiences to a new wave of Japanese artists who challenge their country’s long love affair with the kawaii (cute) aesthetic. “This is grown up art, created for the most part by artists who are little-known here in the United States,” says exhibition organizer David Elliott, a noted independent curator who has directed several major modern art museums, including Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, Oxford’s MoMA and Istanbul’s Modern. The 16 participating artists range in age from