‘Basically, writing and painting are the same thing. Even without tracing the origins and transformations of pictographs, unconscious play with writing will naturally result in the creation of a painting. The result is ‘characters at play’. The joy of life springs up within it. It is truly art.’ Taro Okamoto

Taro Okamoto produced a huge quantity of calligraphy. It was quite unique, part picture, part painting, and demonstrated the true value of Okamoto’s art. It can certainly be considered one of the representative genres of Okamoto’s art.

Taro’s attitude towards writing was one of ‘play’. That is why he called it called ‘characters at play’.

This exhibition is the first time that the original artwork for his 1981 book Asobu Ji (Characters at Play) has been shown. We hope that you will come and experience this world of Taro Okamoto’s play, that differs from that of his paintings and sculpture.

From January 14, 2009 (Wednesday) we will also be presenting new work by Junpei Ueda, winner of the ‘Toshiko Okamoto Prize’ in the 11th Okamoto Taro Memorial Award for Contemporary Art and we hope that you enjoy this too.