Best Exhibitions Starting in December 2023
From left to right, Yasuko Toyoshima: Origination Method (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo), Marie Laurencin: An Eye for Her Time (Artizon Museum) and Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto: Music / Art / Media (NTT ICC Inter Communication Center)
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Tokyo Art Beat presents a selection of the best exhibitions opening in December 2023. Bookmark the exhibitions on the TAB website or TAB app and never miss the openings and closings.
- Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto: Music / Art / Media (NTT ICC Inter Communication Center)
- Marie Laurencin: An Eye for Her Time (Artizon Museum)
- Keith Haring “Art to the Streets” (Mori Arts Center Gallery)
- Yasuko Toyoshima: Origination Method (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)
- Osaka in the Eyes of Women Painters (Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka)
- Modern Times in Paris 1925: Art and Design in the Machine-age (Pola Museum of Art)
- The Beloved Gods and Buddhas of Northeastern Japan (Tokyo Station Gallery)
- The Spirit of “Avant-garde” Photography: The Transformation of Nothing - Shuzo Takiguchi, Nobuya Abe, Kiyoji Otsuji, and Shigeo Gocho (The Shoto Museum of Art)
- The Fault Lines in Printing/Printmaking/Graphic Design 1957 - 1979 (National Crafts Museum)
- Special Exhibition 35th Anniversary Gaudi and Sagrada Familia Exhibition (Nagoya City Art Museum)
- Yasui Nakaji 1903 - 1942: Photographs (Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art)
Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto: Music / Art / Media (NTT ICC Inter Communication Center)
An exhibition memorializing Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away this March, is set to be held at NTT ICC Inter Communication Center. Co-curated by Daito Manabe of Rhizomatiks, this exhibition comprises works based on Sakamoto’s performance data, works associated with Sakamoto, and records of previous exhibitions at ICC.
Venue: NTT ICC Inter Communication Center
Schedule: December 16 - March 10, 2024
Marie Laurencin: An Eye for Her Time (Artizon Museum)
Marie Laurencin, who studied at the Académie Humbert and began her career as a cubist, was a female painter active in the first half of the 20th century. She lived almost entirely in Paris, even after the outbreak of World War II, and continued creating there until her death at the age of 73. This exhibition explores the fascinating nature of her paintings by exploring different themes and comparing her work with associated artists.
Venue: Artizon Museum
Schedule: December 9 - March 3, 2024
Keith Haring “Art to the Streets” (Mori Arts Center Gallery)
Keith Haring is known for drawings inside subway stations and on the streets of New York in the 1980s. He is also well-known and popular in Japan, especially for fashion items imprinted with his work. This exhibition is a rare opportunity to experience Haring’s art through approximately 150 works, including large pieces up to 6 meters long.
Venue: Mori Arts Center Gallery
Schedule: December 9 - February 25, 2024
Yasuko Toyoshima: Origination Method (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)
What determines “up or down” and “left or right”? How about inverting “front or back”? Yasuko Toyoshima (1967-) has maintained the perspective of the “I” and, in her way, has continually confronted the various systems, values, and rules surrounding us. This is the first-ever museum exhibition to bring together nearly 400 works by Toyoshima, from the earliest to the latest pieces, and to examine her artistic activity in its entirety.
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Schedule: December 9 - March 10, 2024
Osaka in the Eyes of Women Painters (Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka)
Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, will hold an exhibition introducing approximately 150 works of more than 50 female Japanese-style painters from modern Osaka. While male painters remain the majority in Tokyo and Kyoto, many female painters, such as Seien Shima, Chigusa Kitani, and Kacho Ikuta, were active in Osaka. The exhibition focuses on artists’ activities and Osaka as an urban cultural environment that nurtured them.
Venue: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka
Schedule: December 23 - February 25, 2024
Modern Times in Paris 1925: Art and Design in the Machine-age (Pola Museum of Art)
In the 1920s, Paris underwent rapid industrialization to reconstruct the French capital in the wake of World War I, ushering in a prosperous and dynamic era known as the Machine Age. This exhibition examines various aspects of the relationship between machines and humans in the 1920s and 1930s, focusing mainly on the city of Paris. The featured artists are Fernand Léger, René Lalique, Raoul Dufy, Hajime Sorayama, and others.
Venue: Pola Museum of Art
Schedule: December 16 - May 19, 2024
The Beloved Gods and Buddhas of Northeastern Japan (Tokyo Station Gallery)
Tokyo Station Gallery presents an exhibition featuring Buddhist statues with a focus on “folk Buddhas.” The statues were made by carpenters and woodworkers, not Buddhist priests or craftsmen, and not heavily decorated. This exhibition introduces approximately 130 unique wooden statues created in the northern Tohoku region of Aomori, Iwate, and Akita and explores the form of Japanese religious belief.
Venue: Tokyo Station Gallery
Schedule: December 2 - February 12, 2024
The Spirit of “Avant-garde” Photography: The Transformation of Nothing - Shuzo Takiguchi, Nobuya Abe, Kiyoji Otsuji, and Shigeo Gocho (The Shoto Museum of Art)
The Shoto Museum of Art presents an exhibition exploring photography in Japan during the Showa period (1926-1989), focusing on four artists. Shuzo Takiguchi pioneered surrealism in photography; Nobuya Abe founded the Avant-garde Photographic Society with Takiguchi; Seiji Otsuji was fascinated by Takiguchi and created the Nandemo Nai Shashin series; and Shigeo Gocho was a favorite student of Otsuji.
Venue: The Shoto Museum of Art
Schedule: December 2 - February 4, 2024
The Fault Lines in Printing/Printmaking/Graphic Design 1957 - 1979 (National Crafts Museum)
After World War II, the dramatic development of printing technology and the growing link between art and popular culture further stimulated interest in expression through reproductive media. The “Tokyo International Print Biennale Exhibition,” held 11 times between 1957 and 1979, was a notable example. This exhibition introduces the artists who participated in the Biennale from the collection of the National Museum of Art, Tokyo.
Venue: National Crafts Museum
Schedule: December 19 - March 3, 2024
Special Exhibition 35th Anniversary Gaudi and Sagrada Familia Exhibition (Nagoya City Art Museum)
Nagoya City Art Museum in Aichi Prefecture presents an exhibition featuring Spanish architect and designer Antoni Gaudí. This exhibition will focus on Sagrada Família, often called the “unfinished cathedral,” to reveal the origins of Gaudí’s architectural vision and creativity and the social significance of this monumental cathedral project.
Venue: Nagoya City Art Museum
Schedule: December 19 - March 10, 2024
Yasui Nakaji 1903 - 1942: Photographs (Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art)
Nakaji Yasui was an amateur photographer active in the Kansai area before the end of World War II. Until his death from illness at the age of 38, Yasui worked on various photographic techniques and styles. The exhibition features negatives that have survived the war and approximately 200 works.
Venue: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art
Schedule: December 16 - February 12, 2024
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