WATARI-UM, THE WATARI MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
EXHIBITION
EXHIBITION
SIDE CORE: CONCRETE PLANET
Founded in 2012 by Sakie Takasu, Tohru Matsushita, and Taishi Nishihiro, with Kazunori Harimoto as their video director, the Japanese art collective Side Core develops art projects inside buildings, in public spaces, and on the streets. The collective’s fieldwork-like methods include photographing highways, railroads, and underground waterways using special methods as well as creating installations with streetlights, guardrails, and road construction signs found in public spaces. Highlights from this show—the collective’s first major solo exhibition in Tokyo—include a new series of sculptural pieces made from materials salvaged from the streets and the latest work from their under city series (2023–), in which skateboarding becomes a means of exploring the uncharted territory of Tokyo’s underground spaces.
VENUE
VENUE
WATARI-UM, THE WATARI MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
- D3
- Gaienmae
Watari-um, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, opened in 1990 as a private museum. The museum collection is based on works acquired by the founding director Shizuko Watari, a champion of postwar Western art in Japan. Watari-um holds three-to-four exhibitions per year that cover a broad range of topics, from contemporary art and Japanese culture to architecture. Guest curators have included such legendary figures as Jan Hoet, Jean-Hubert Martin, and Harald Szeemann. Accompanying lectures, workshops, and other events help visitors gain a deeper understanding of the exhibitions and their significance to contemporary society. The museum also organizes off-site exhibitions and events.
Swiss architect Mario Botta spent five years designing Watari-um’s building, which was his first museum project and is now known as one of his masterpieces. The striped granite and concrete façade, resembling a bird in flight over the city, has become a landmark of the Tokyo art scene.
Dining options on-site.
