The National Art Center, Tokyo
Roppongi
7-22-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 050-5541-8600（Hello Dial, within Japan）
The National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT) was founded in 2007. Since then, the NACT—the fifth institution to be established under the Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art—has functioned as an art center without a permanent collection that provides the public with a place where they can experience many different forms of artistic expression, make new discoveries, and share diverse values. In addition to hosting a broad spectrum of art shows in one of Japan’s largest art exhibition spaces (150,690 square feet), the NACT also collects, provides, and makes publicly accessible diverse art-related information and resources and runs various educational and public programs.
Designed by Kisho Kurokawa following the concept of “an art center surrounded by green spaces,” the facade of the NACT is a beautiful wavelike glass wall that creates a unique appearance with its conical main entrance. From the lobby on the first floor (1F), visitors can enjoy the views through this curtain-like wall during all four seasons. Additional facilities include a restaurant, three cafes, and museum shops.
Designed by Kisho Kurokawa following the concept of “an art center surrounded by green spaces,” the facade of the NACT is a beautiful wavelike glass wall that creates a unique appearance with its conical main entrance. From the lobby on the first floor (1F), visitors can enjoy the views through this curtain-like wall during all four seasons. Additional facilities include a restaurant, three cafes, and museum shops.
Exhibition Information
Lee Ufan: 15th Anniversary of the National Art Center, Tokyo
August 10–November 7
It is with great pleasure that the NACT presents a major retrospective by Lee Ufan (b. 1936), a contemporary artist who has received a great deal of attention internationally as a prominent member of the Mono-ha movement that emerged in Tokyo in the mid-1960s. The exhibition also commemorates the 15th anniversary of the National Art Center, Tokyo.
Lee’s work liberates art from the world of images, subjects, and meaning, and raises questions about the relationship between things, and things and people in an effort to show that the entire world exists synchronically and is mutually related.
The exhibition assembles Lee’s most important works, including everything from his earliest pre-Mono-ha pieces, which consider the problem of vision; the “Relatum” series, which challenges the existing concept of sculpture; and his highly spiritual paintings, which create a sense of a tranquil rhythm. In addition to showcasing Lee’s previous works, enabling visitors to trace the trajectory of his artistic practice, the exhibition will also include a selection of his latest ground-breaking efforts.
Lee’s work liberates art from the world of images, subjects, and meaning, and raises questions about the relationship between things, and things and people in an effort to show that the entire world exists synchronically and is mutually related.
The exhibition assembles Lee’s most important works, including everything from his earliest pre-Mono-ha pieces, which consider the problem of vision; the “Relatum” series, which challenges the existing concept of sculpture; and his highly spiritual paintings, which create a sense of a tranquil rhythm. In addition to showcasing Lee’s previous works, enabling visitors to trace the trajectory of his artistic practice, the exhibition will also include a selection of his latest ground-breaking efforts.
