Curatorial Studies 11: Artists around Mannequin Factory
   NANASAI --- Experiments of Art + Design + Crafts in 1946–1980

HOME　＞　Collection Gallery　＞　The 3rd Collection Gallery Exhibition 2016–2017　＞　Artists around Mannequin Factory NANASAI --- Experiments of Art + Design + Crafts in 1946-1980

 In July 1946, not long after the end of World War II, a mannequin company called Nanasai Kogei (now Nanasai Co., Ltd.) was established in Kyoto. The company’s founder, Mukai Ryokichi, who later went on to become a leading contemporary sculptor, opened the business as part of a promise he made to one of his predecessors in the field, Shimazu Ryozo, the creator of Shimazu mannequins. Nanasai assembled a large group of artists, including sculptors, painters, and craftsmen, and the company’s creative ethos was presented in the Hi no geijutsu no kai exhibition, held in March 1959.
 To illustrate some of the activities that were going on in the Kyoto art world immediately after the war, this exhibit introduces works by artists such as Okamoto Taro, Yanagihara Yoshitatsu, and Nambata Tatsuoki, who later emerged as important artists, alongside small works that Nanasai presented to its customers and the company’s mannequins.

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