Left alone following Tarō Okamoto’s death, Toshiko proved much more resilient than many of us had feared. She said that it was her job to transmit a knowledge of Tarō’s work to the next generation and set about achieving this without delay.
Her first projects were the establishment of the Tarō Okamoto Memorial Museum and the TARO Award. In order to carry this out, she first set up a incorporated foundation, and despite her small build, she devoted her last nine years to working actively on these.
We are delighted that the TARO Award has now continued for twenty years and what began as a small event, organized by Toshiko, has grown until now it is widely recognized as a major contemporary art award.
Over the last twenty years a total of four hundred and ten artists (groups) have been selected for award and the wonderful thing is that all of these artists have gone on to play leading roles in their various fields. I believe that this is what upholds the significance and value of the award.
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the TARO Award we will be holding an special exhibition featuring ‘twenty enfants terrible’ together in one place. All of them are unique artists and so the result will undoubtedly be chaotic.
We hope that you will enjoy the unrivaled richness of art presented here.

The Tarō Okamoto Contemporary Art Award, 20th Anniversary Committee (Noi Sawaragi, Hidee Hōjō, Yuji Yamashita, Kōichi Watari, Akiomi Hirano)

Participating Artists

• UJINO Muneteru／UMETSU Yoichi／OIWA Oscar／OLTA／KAZAMA Sachiko／KATO Tsubasa／KATO Tomohiro／
• KANAZAWA Kenichi／Kyun-chome／AITO Kouheita／Saeborg／SEKIGUCHI Koutaro/TENMYOUYA Hisashi／
• Is it possible“TOHOKU-GA”?／SNAGASAWA Takahiro／NISHIO Yasuyuki／MURAI Yuki／YAMAGUCHI Akira／
• YOSHIDA Shinnosuke／WAKAKI Kurumi