KISHIO SUGA, Divergent Space (Detail), 1975. Wood and cement blocks, 184 × 216 × 456 cm. Courtesy Tomio Koyama Gallery.
A new curated sales platform with a historical scope, AWT Focus invites a guest curator to reassess existing narratives of modern and contemporary art through works drawn from Art Week Tokyo’s participating galleries.
The inaugural edition of AWT Focus is curated by Kenjiro Hosaka, Director of the Shiga Museum of Art, Otsu. “Worlds in Balance: Art in Japan from the Postwar to the Present” explores the productive tensions that have driven the emergence of new expression in Japan over the past century, such as those between art and craft, abstraction and figuration, material and immaterial, and nature and technology. Installed across three floors of the Okura Museum of Art, the exhibition assembles more than 100 works by 64 Japanese and Japan-based artists representing a broad range of generations and practices.
Kenjiro Hosaka is Director of the Shiga Museum of Art, Otsu. He was formerly Curator at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, where he organized major exhibitions of figures ranging from painters Leiko Ikemura (2011) and Francis Bacon (2013) to avant-garde poet and multimedia artist Yoshimasu Gozo (2016) and architect Kengo Kuma (2021). His thematic surveys include “Where Is Architecture? Seven Installations by Japanese Architects” (2010) and “The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945” (2017), both at MOMAT, as well as “Double Vision: Contemporary Art from Japan,” which toured from the Moscow Museum of Modern Art to the Haifa Museum of Art in 2012.
Highlights
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KIYOJI OTSUJI, From <i>Window Display</i>, 1950, printed 1980s. Gelatin silver print, 50.9 × 40 cm. Courtesy PGI. KIYOJI OTSUJI, From Window Display, 1950, printed 1980s. Gelatin silver print, 50.9 × 40 cm. Courtesy PGI.
KISHIO SUGA, <i>Divergent Space</i>, 1975. Wood and cement blocks, 184 × 216 × 456 cm. Courtesy Tomio Koyama Gallery. KISHIO SUGA, Divergent Space, 1975. Wood and cement blocks, 184 × 216 × 456 cm. Courtesy Tomio Koyama Gallery.
LEE UFAN, <i>Untitled</i>, 2008. Terracotta, 43 × 50.5 × 5 cm. Photo by Nobutada Omote. Courtesy SCAI The Bathhouse. LEE UFAN, Untitled, 2008. Terracotta, 43 × 50.5 × 5 cm. Photo by Nobutada Omote. Courtesy SCAI The Bathhouse.
MAKOTO AIDA, O-HI, from <i>Lunchbox Paintings</i>, 2016. Disposable lunchbox, urethane foam, and acrylic gouache, 23 × 29.2 × 4.4 cm. Courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery. MAKOTO AIDA, O-HI, from Lunchbox Paintings, 2016. Disposable lunchbox, urethane foam, and acrylic gouache, 23 × 29.2 × 4.4 cm. Courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery.
YUKIE ISHIKAWA, <i>Impermanence—Kudzu</i>, 2020. Acrylic and sand on canvas, 92.7 × 80 × 4.4 cm. Courtesy Blum & Poe. YUKIE ISHIKAWA, Impermanence—Kudzu, 2020. Acrylic and sand on canvas, 92.7 × 80 × 4.4 cm. Courtesy Blum & Poe.
MASAKAZU HORIUCHI, <i>Work A</i>, 1958. Iron, 48.7 × 23 × 32.5 cm. Photo Kei Okano. Courtesy the estate of the artist and Tokyo Gallery + BTAP. MASAKAZU HORIUCHI, Work A, 1958. Iron, 48.7 × 23 × 32.5 cm. Photo Kei Okano. Courtesy the estate of the artist and Tokyo Gallery + BTAP.
ARATA ISOZAKI, <i>Kankai Pavilion, Hara Museum ARC</i>, 2019. 3D-printed resin model (scale 1/100), spray paint, 55.5 × 44.2 × 8.7 cm. Courtesy Misa Shin Gallery. ARATA ISOZAKI, Kankai Pavilion, Hara Museum ARC, 2019. 3D-printed resin model (scale 1/100), spray paint, 55.5 × 44.2 × 8.7 cm. Courtesy Misa Shin Gallery.
All works in AWT Focus are available to purchase through their respective galleries. Visit the exhibition’s dedicated Artsy page to buy artworks online.
Located on the grounds of The Okura Tokyo, the Okura Museum of Art is Japan’s first private art museum. The museum was established in 1917 by Kihachiro Okura as a permanent home for his collection of premodern Japanese and East Asian art, which includes three National Treasures and 12 Important Cultural Properties. Designed by early-modern architect Chuta Ito, the current building was constructed in 1927 and has since been expanded and renovated.
Due to limited capacity, advance purchase of timed tickets is required to guarantee entry to AWT Focus, with reservations open through November 1. General admission tickets will be sold at the door pending availability.
NOVEMBER 2, 10AM–5:30PM
1,800 yen (advance purchase online); 3,400 yen (advance purchase of two tickets online); 2,000 yen (at the door)
NOVEMBER 3–5, 10–11AM
1,800 yen (advance); 3,400 yen (advance pair); 2,000 yen (at the door)
NOVEMBER 3–5, 11AM–5:30PM
2,000 yen (advance); 3,800 yen (advance pair); 2,200 yen (at the door)
*Free admission for students with a valid student ID and for disability certificate holders (along with one care partner). *Use of the Okura Museum of Art Museum Passport, the Okura Tokyo Restaurant Set Ticket, and the Gurutto Pass is welcomed. *Tickets are valid for multiple entries on the day of your visit.
KIYOJI OTSUJI, From <i>Window Display</i>, 1950, printed 1980s. Gelatin silver print, 50.9 × 40 cm. Courtesy PGI. 
KISHIO SUGA, <i>Divergent Space</i>, 1975. Wood and cement blocks, 184 × 216 × 456 cm. Courtesy Tomio Koyama Gallery. 
LEE UFAN, <i>Untitled</i>, 2008. Terracotta, 43 × 50.5 × 5 cm. Photo by Nobutada Omote. Courtesy SCAI The Bathhouse. 
MAKOTO AIDA, O-HI, from <i>Lunchbox Paintings</i>, 2016. Disposable lunchbox, urethane foam, and acrylic gouache, 23 × 29.2 × 4.4 cm. Courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery. 
JUNKO OKI, <i>exposed</i>, 2022. Cotton, silk, linen, bandage, and iron, 110.2 × 83 × 7 cm. Photo by Osamu Sakamoto. © Junko Oki, courtesy Kosaku Kanechika. 
ATSUKO TANAKA, <i>Work (Title Unknown)</i>, 1972. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 65 × 53 cm. Courtesy Kotaro Nukaga. 
SHIRO KURAMATA, <i>Cabinet de Curiosité</i>, 1989. Acrylic, 190 × 46 × 46 cm. Photo by Kei Okano. © The Estate of Shiro Kuramata, courtesy Take Ninagawa. 
YORIKO TAKABATAKE, <i>CAVE / rediron oxide</i>, 2022. Stucco, earth, pigment, PVA, acrylic, and canvas on panel, 116.5 × 80.5 cm. Courtesy ShugoArts. 
HIROSHI SUGIMOTO, <i>Opticks 016</i>, 2018. Chromogenic print, 119.4 × 119.4 × 7.6 cm. Courtesy Gallery Koyanagi. 
YUKIE ISHIKAWA, <i>Impermanence—Kudzu</i>, 2020. Acrylic and sand on canvas, 92.7 × 80 × 4.4 cm. Courtesy Blum & Poe. 
MASAKAZU HORIUCHI, <i>Work A</i>, 1958. Iron, 48.7 × 23 × 32.5 cm. Photo Kei Okano. Courtesy the estate of the artist and Tokyo Gallery + BTAP. 
ARATA ISOZAKI, <i>Kankai Pavilion, Hara Museum ARC</i>, 2019. 3D-printed resin model (scale 1/100), spray paint, 55.5 × 44.2 × 8.7 cm. Courtesy Misa Shin Gallery. 
