Upcomming / Current Exhibition
Upcomming / Current Exhibition
Kenji Yanobe: Taro, Cat, and Sun
Once again, the prodigy of the contemporary art scene will be hijacking the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum.
Past Exhibition
Art in Daily Life
‘Carp streamers…they’re great. A giant fish swimming through the sky. What great imagination. They are not the creation of a single artist. They represent an image that emerged quite naturally and is shared by the ordinary people. I want to spread it around the world.’
With this thought in mind, Taro Okamoto set about making his own carp streamer. Large googly eyes, scales applied in primary colors and a lively, dynamic form. It is typical of Taro’s work—a carp streamer that looks as if it is alive.
Confronting Eyes
Taro Okamoto started his career as a ‘western-style’ painter, but the subjects of his paintingsdiffered greatly from those commonly used by other western-style artists. This is because he did not use any of the usual western-style genres, such as landscapes, portraits, still-lifes or nudes.
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Taro Okamoto’s Prints
This is how Taro Okamoto thought about art and he employed every possible channel to try and bring art into the lives of the people. His range of expression included a huge range of genres, from the Tower of the Sun to tiepins. One of the characteristics of his work was that he engaged positively with mass production to create large numbers of works, such as: tables, chairs, clocks, lighters, bags, carp streamers, skis, cups, ties, scarfs, playing cards, etc. His pièce de résistance was a ‘face glass’ that came free with a bottle of whiskey. Those around him were very against him producing this, saying it would harm his career, but he overrode their objections and was happy to create this kind of giveaway product.
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The Original Image of Japan
Taro Okamoto was a person who continually asked the question, ‘What is Japan?’ Having decided to leave Paris and return home to fight for Japan, Taro had a fateful encounter one day in November 1951.
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Life in Five Hundred Million Years’ Time — Yōichirō Kawaguchi: beyond AI
‘Let’s imagine what it will be like five hundred million years into the future, a time when humankind may no longer exist.’ So says Yōichirō Kawaguchi, a pioneer computer graphics artist who has been active on the world stage since the seventies. This is not simply a fancy.
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Art of the Sun—Taro Okamoto’s Public Art—
Art is like the sun. The sun provides limitless light and heat.
Even if you have been sunbathing, the sun doesn’t put out its hand and say, ‘Hey, that was lovely and warm, how about giving me some money?’ does it? Art is like the sun. That is what Tarō Okamoto thought.
Living Moment by Moment —Tarō Okamoto and Jazz—
‘In my life I ignore the past and I ignore the future. I live in the present, exploding, moment by moment.’
Neither clinging to the past nor presuming upon the future.
This was the way that Tarō Okamoto lived.
The Road to the Tower of the Sun
In March 2018, the Tower of the Sun was finally reborn. After half a century of neglect the interior has been restored and reincarnated as a permanent exhibition facility.
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Tower of the Sun 1967–2018 —What did Tarō Okamoto Question—
In March 2018 the Tower of the Sun will finally be reborn. Taking advantage of the opportunity presented by seismic retrofitting work on the tower, the long-neglected interior has been renovated and transformed into a permanent exhibition space.
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