In this exhibition, we present approximately 90 works from the museum collection that shed light on the underlying presence of Japanese aesthetics in contemporary art, and the characteristics that are visible in these forms of expression.

In our rapidly changing contemporary society, we are constantly being impressed by a wide range of things and attempting to maintain our peace of mind in the course of our everyday lives. As values and tastes grow increasingly fragmented, works of art, which reflect our emotional state, emerge out of these diverse conditions.

Similarly, political, economic, and social conditions are constantly wavering. If art is a product of people’s mental workings during a given age, the act of tracing these changes serves as a reexamination of the postwar period.

At the same time, art from a given country or region shares similar traits. This is due to a common spirit that transcends the ages – one that was shaped by religious beliefs, lifestyles, and worldviews, and derived from ways of looking and thinking about things.

This exhibition, held in conjunction with the Japan Cultural Expo, based on the overall theme of “The Japanese People and Nature,” focuses on distinctively Japanese qualities found in contemporary art of the postwar era. It also explores a variety of subjects and issues that reflect the state of contemporary society. The exhibition is divided into the following three sections: 1. Cultural Styles and Undercurrents, 2. People and Society: Gazing into the Depths, and 3. Images as Worldviews.

Art is sometimes said to function as a mirror of an age. It is our hope that this exhibition will provide you with an opportunity to identify aspects of yourself reflected in the works while also helping you discover some kind of new truth.

Artists
Shoichi IDA, Yuichi INOUE, Koji ENOKURA, Kazuyo KINOSHITA, Tadaaki KUWAYAMA, Kazuo SHIRAGA, Fujiko SHIRAGA, Jiro TAKAMATSU, Waichi TSUTAKA, Yutaka HATTA, Shiryu MORITA, Kazuo YUHARA, Jiro YOSHIHARA, Isamu NOGUCHI, Toshikatsu ENDO, Masaji KASHIO, Kishio SUGA, Shigeo TOYA, Kazuo YAGI, Tatsuo IKEDA, Sachiko KAZAMA, Yoshio KITAYAMA, Susumu KINOSHITA, Tetsuya NODA, Chimei HAMADA, Katsuro YOSHIDA, Motoyuki SHITAMICHI, Toshio SHIBATA, Tatsu NISHINO, Naoya HATAKEYAMA, Ryuji MIYAMOTO, Hajime IMAMURA, Kazuo OKAZAKI, Tsuyoshi OZAWA, Tam OCHIAI, Yoshihisa KITATSUJI, Yuki KIMURA, Tetsumi KUDO, Eri TAKAYANAGI, Natsuyuki NAKANISHI, Tomio MIKI, Yasuko IBA, Takanobu KOBAYASHI, Koji SAGAWA, Hiroshi SUGITO, Toeko TATSUNO, Kazumi NAKAMURA, Reika NAKAYAMA, Yoshishige FURUKAWA, Naofumi MARUYAMA, Kyoko MURASE, Masaaki YAMADA, Toshihisa YODA, Noe AOKI, Keiji UEMATSU, Susumu Koshimizu　

• List of Works (Japanese/English)
• List of Works (Chinese/Korean)