Best Exhibitions Starting in February 2024
From left to right: Takuma Nakahira “Burn - Overflow” (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo), “Wim Wenders’s Lucid Gaze” (N&A Art Site), “Henri Matisse – Forms in Freedom” (The National Art Center, Tokyo)
SHARE
Tokyo Art Beat presents a selection of the best exhibitions opening in February 2024. Bookmark the exhibitions on the TAB website or TAB app and never miss the openings and closings.
- Henri Matisse – Forms in Freedom (The National Art Center)
- Takashi Murakami “Mononoke Kyoto” (Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art)
- Wim Wenders’s Lucid Gaze (N&A Art Site)
- Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024 - 30 Ways to Go to the Moon (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)
- Takuma Nakahira “Burn - Overflow” (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
- Nakaji Yasui 1903 - 1942: Photographs (Tokyo Station Gallery)
- Claude Monet: Journey to Series Paintings (Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka)
- Commemorating the Museum’s 40th Anniversary - The A to Z Guide to the Former Residence of Prince Asaka (Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum)
- Akutagawa Ryunosuke and His Aesthetics, Two Forerunners - Natsume Soseki and Suga Torao (Museum of Modern Art, Hayama)
- The Work of Shiro Kuramata: A Microcosmos of Memory (Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design)
Henri Matisse – Forms in Freedom (The National Art Center)
Following Henri Matisse: The Path to Color held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum last year, The National Art Center will host Matisse’s exhibition this February. With the full cooperation of the Matisse Museum in Nice, France, which boasts an essential collection of paper cutouts, this exhibition introduces approximately 150 works. On display are paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and textiles, focusing on Matisse’s paper cutouts.
Venue: The National Art Center
Schedule: February 14 - May 27
Takashi Murakami “Mononoke Kyoto” (Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art)
Takashi Murakami has questioned art’s value and essential meaning through the appropriation and collaborations with popular culture such as manga and anime. This exhibition will be his first major solo exhibition in Japan in approximately eight years and his first outside Tokyo. Numerous new works and special versions of works inspired by Japanese traditional art will be shown to the public for the first time in Kyoto.
Venue: Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art
Schedule: February 3 - September 1
Wim Wenders’s Lucid Gaze (N&A Art Site)
Wim Wenders is a renowned contemporary German filmmaker and photographer. His latest work, Perfect Days (2023), received acclaim both domestically and internationally, with Koji Yakusho winning the Best Actor Award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. The exhibition will showcase the vivid electronic paintings titled Electronic Paintings (1991), created from the climax scene of Until the End of the World (1991). The landscape photographs from the Written in the West (1983) series, captured by Wenders during the filming of Paris, Texas (1984), will also be featured.
Venue: N&A Art Site
Schedule: February 1 - March 2
Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024 - 30 Ways to Go to the Moon (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)
Through historical and contemporary works, the Yebisu International Festival has explored the possibilities for “images” from diverse perspectives. The theme comes from the title of Tsuchiya Nobuko’s exhibition, which was held in 2018. One of the features of this year’s festival is its focus on the one-time nature of moving images. The festival will also further strengthen connections between the screening and exhibition programs, attempting to create mutual crossovers among them.
Venue: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Schedule: February 2 - February 18
Takuma Nakahira “Burn - Overflow” (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
Takuma Nakahira (1938–2015) was a photographer who made a significant mark in both production and theory from the late 60s to the mid-70s, a turning point in postwar Japanese photography. This is the first major retrospective of Nakahira’s work after his death based on works and materials newly discovered in recent years. The exhibition invites visitors to trace the trajectory of his thoughts and activities in photography, which still raise questions that cannot be overlooked today.
Venue: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Schedule: February 6 - April 7
Nakaji Yasui 1903 - 1942: Photographs (Tokyo Station Gallery)
Nakaji Yasui was an amateur photographer active in the Kansai area before the end of World War II. Until his death from illness at the age of 38, Yasui worked on various photographic techniques and styles. The exhibition features approximately 140 negatives that have survived the war, along with about 60 modern prints created based on investigations of negatives and contact prints.
Venue: Tokyo Station Gallery
Schedule: February 23 - April 14
Claude Monet: Journey to Series Paintings (Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka)
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, this exhibition brings together approximately 70 representative works by Claude Monet. The exhibition introduces pre-Impressionist works, including the monumental portrait The Luncheon and his “series,” which focused on the same locations and themes, capturing momentary expressions through different weather, times, and seasons. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness the entire world of Monet’s grand artistic vision, where every displayed work is a masterpiece by Monet.
Venue: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka
Schedule: February 10 - May 6
Commemorating the Museum’s 40th Anniversary - The A to Z Guide to the Former Residence of Prince Asaka (Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum)
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the museum’s opening, this exhibition aims to thoroughly explore the history of its architecture, the former Asakanomiya Residence. Drawing on accumulated research and investigations, the exhibition will present key terms from A to Z, each representing aspects such as architectural techniques, the people involved in construction, interior design, materials, and anecdotes from different eras.
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
Schedule: February 17 - May 12
Reservation Required
Akutagawa Ryunosuke and His Aesthetics, Two Forerunners - Natsume Soseki and Suga Torao (Museum of Modern Art, Hayama)
Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892–1927), one of the well-known Japanese novelists, is still admired by generations today. In his works and letters, Akutagawa often refers to art, and Soseki Natsume (1867–1916), whom he admired as a mentor, shared his interest in literature and art. Torao Sugao (1864–1943), Akutagawa’s German teacher at Ichiko High School, introduced the concepts of Zen to Natsume. This exhibition focuses on the relationship between these three men and presents the literary world of Akutagawa and his perceptions of aesthetics.
Venue: Museum of Modern Art, Hayama
Schedule: February 10 - April 7
The Work of Shiro Kuramata: A Microcosmos of Memory (Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design)
Shiro Kuramata (1934-1999) is one of the best-known and most influential designers in the world today. His furniture and interior designs, frequently made of acrylic and glass as well as metal construction materials, possess the power to captivate the viewer. This exhibition, carrying Shiro Kuramata’s name, is the first in approximately ten years. It attempts to convey “Shiro Kuramata the person,” exploring his inner thoughts, backgrounds, late-night diary entries, and image sketches alongside his library, records, and words from his later years.
Venue: Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design
Schedule: February 17 - April 7
SHARE