6 Major Tokyo Art Exhibitions & Experiences for Spring 2018

[Marian Goldberg]

With April as the start of the new fiscal year in Japan, a number of new art exhibitions and “art experiences” are opening in April and May. Here are a few  of the most notable: 


Roppongi Art Night

This-all-night-long-beyond-dawn art event in Roppongi, includes all the major area art venues: Roppongi Hills, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo Midtown, Suntory Museum, 21-21 Design Sight, National Museum, and more, with additional outdoor installations and live performances. May 26-27.

"Holes & Buildings,"Teppei Kaneuji

Tokyo National Museum

Often considered a “gateway to Japanese culture,” the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park (itself famous for its vast number of blossoming cherry trees), houses a plethora of historic Japanese, and other Asian art.  The exhibition: Echoes of a Masterpiece: The Lineage of Beauty in Japanese Art celebrates the 130th anniversary of Kokka, a periodical of Oriental art that was first issued in October 1889 and whose mission was to challenge the primacy of Western art in Meiji Japan. The exhibition brings together approximately 120 works – including national treasures and important cultural properties – to uncover the stories surrounding their creation, explore their shared aesthetic, and study the influence they exerted on one another. April 13-May 27.

"Cactus & Domestic Fowl"

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Yokoyama Taikan: The 150th Anniversary of his Birth is the blockbuster exhibition coming to the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. He is most renowned renowend for his more than 1,500 paintings of Mt. Fuji and and Metempsychosis, a more than forty-meter long sumi  ink scroll.  April 13-May 27.

Poster for the Yokoyama Taikan: 150th Anniversary Exhibition

 

The Nezu Museum of Art

This museum houses the pre-modern Japanese and East Asian collection of Nezu Kaichirō (1860-1940), a prominent businessman and a former president of the Tōbu Railway Co., Ltd.. The upcoming spring special exhibition is: Kōrin and Kenzan: Brother Artists, Resonating Aesthetics.  Ogata Kōrin (1658-1716) elevated the decorative tradition in Japanese art to the level of contemporary design. In his Irises, he applied designs for use on kosode kimono to the large picture plane of a pair of folding screens. Kōrin’s younger brother Kenzan (1663-1743) was a ceramic artist who launched new trends in the world of ceramics.  April 14-May 13, 2018.

 

Tatsuo Ikeda's Procession

Nerima Art Museum

This museum's mission is to present “the art of now” to the visitors, and strives to discover new art and fresh talent. Its spring exhibition features 90-year-old Tatsuo Ikeda, a famous Japanese avant-garde artist who experienced the end of World War II, while he was a Kamikaze pilot trainee. His unique artwork reflects social movements of postwarJapan through today.  April 26-June 17.

Birds & Flowers of the Four Seasons, 19th-century Edo Period, Suzuki Kiitsu

Yamatane Museum of Art

The 52-year-old Yamatane is the first museum to specialize in Nihonga painting, which uses mineral pigments - including gold and/or silver, washi paper, and other natural materials - to depict natural and seasonal subjects. The next special exhibition will be The Rimpa School: From Tawaraya Sōtatsu (17th C) to Tanaka Ikkō (20.... May 12-July 8.

For more information on museum and museum exhibitions in Tokyo, visit the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau's website at www.GoTokyo.org and also explore Tokyo's brand site at www.tokyotokyo.jp.