NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, TOKYO
EXHIBITION
EXHIBITION
MODERN IMAGES OF ANCIENT CLAY FIGURES
Haniwa—terracotta clay figures that were buried with the dead as ritual funerary objects in ancient Japan—and dogu clay figures of humans and animals have long been important sources of inspiration for Japanese artists and designers. Stories about how modern Japanese artists and designers such as Isamu Noguchi and Taro Okamoto “rediscovered” the aesthetic values of these excavated objects, which had previously been treated solely as archaeological artifacts, have become integral to recent Japanese art and design histories. Focusing primarily on the art historical context, this exhibition genealogically traces the shifts in the reception and interpretation of haniwa, dogu, and Jomon pottery from the Meiji period (1868–1912) to the contemporary era.
VENUE
VENUE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, TOKYO
- A1
- B2
- Takebashi
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, is Japan’s first national art museum, founded in 1952. MOMAT’s collection of more than 13,000 artworks, dating from the end of the 19th century to the present, provides an authoritative overview of the development of modern and contemporary art in Japan and beyond. Highlights include important works by early modernist painter Ryusei Kishida, formative works by On Kawara and Yayoi Kusama, and new media art by contemporary artists Koki Tanaka and Chikako Yamashiro. International movements, from Minimalism and Land art to feminist video, are also represented in the collection.
From its inception MOMAT has been the site of historic exhibitions, such as 1953’s “Abstraction and Surrealism,” which highlighted Japanese practitioners of nonfigurative painting, and “August 1970: Aspects of New Japanese Art,” which helped define the emerging Mono-ha art movement. The museum now features an annual program of substantive solo and thematic exhibitions. Recent shows include a survey of the 20th-century Mingei movement and a retrospective of multimedia artist Shinro Ohtake.
Dining options on-site.
