Taro Okamoto―Mother, people immediately think of Kanoko Okamoto and it is a fact that his mother, Kanoko, was a big influence in the making of Taro Okamoto, the artist. Intense, pure, devoted. Mother and child resembled each other closely.
The original paintings of playing cards shown in this exhibition will probably come as a surprise to those of you for whom the name Taro Okamoto conjures up an image of large-scale, intense, dynamic works. In 1977 a specialist Belgian playing card company wanted to produce some original, artistic cards and Taro was commissioned to create hand-drawn designs for the kings, queens, jacks and aces for the four suites as well as two jokers, a total of eighteen cards in all.
The eleven ceramic wall designs that were produced to decorate the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in 1956 disappeared when the building was demolished.
In this exhibition we will present the original large-scale sketches for this work as well as the actual-size plaster molds.
The studio, guest room and garden all remain exactly as they were in Taro’s day, retaining so much of Taro Okamoto’s power that you almost expect him to appear at any moment.
Care has been taken to preserve the studio, guest room and garden just as they were when Taro Okamoto was still alive. We hope that you will be able to meet Taro in this explosive space, filled with his energy, together with artistic furniture and a forest of molds for his sculptures and monuments.