Exhibitions

Current

There are no Exhibitions currently on view.

Upcoming

The Kyoto Art World Comes of Age
A New Generation Takes Over from Seiho and Shoen

2023.10.13 fri. - 12.10 sun.

It would be no exaggeration to say that the history of the Kyoto art world in the late 19th and 20th century was a history of confrontations with Tokyo and the West. The youthful period of modern Kyoto painting from the late Meiji to the early Showa era is considered to be especially important, and in this exhibition, consisting of four sections, we present some 80 masterpieces of the period by the group’s leader Tsuchida Bakusen (1887-1936), Ono Chikkyo, Sakakibara Shiho, and Okamoto Shinso. But not only did these painters include younger figures like Tsuchida, they also encompassed a group of older artists such as Uemura Shoen, Kikuchi Keigetsu, and Konoshima Okoku, and masters such as Takeuchi Seiho. In addition to challenging Tokyo, the West, and even the traditions and history of Kyoto, the site of the artists’ own activities, they combined qualities such as excess and delicacy, which are often a hallmark of youth, and realized a body of works that exudes a charm unlike that of a mature artist.

KOBAYASHI Masakazu and His Contemporaries – Beyond Fiber Art

2024.01.06 sat. - 03.10 sun.

Although Kobayashi Masakazu (1944-2004), who was born in Kyoto City, majored in lacquer art at Kyoto City University of Arts, his desire to employ color in a freer way led him to take a job in the design department at Kawashima Selkon Textiles. It was there that he first encountered fiber.
Kobayashi’s works, which explore the artistic potential contained in a single thread, came to be known as “fiber art,” a genre that transcends the conventional textile framework, and led to great acclaim both in Japan and abroad. While taking a look back at Kobayashi’s activities as a trailblazing pioneer in the field, this exhibition introduces work by some of his contemporaries in an effort to reconsider the past, present, and future of fiber art.
* Main Image: KOBAYASHI Masakazu, KAZAOTO-87, 1987, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, /Photo:KARAMATSU Minoru