Sol LeWitt: Open Structure
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
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Artists
Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt (1928–2007), one of the most influential American artists of the latter half of the twentieth century, is renowned for exploring the possibilities of what art can be through works focused on ideas. This exhibition, the first substantial survey of his art at a public museum in Japan, offers an overview of his expansive practice, encompassing wall drawings, structures, works on paper, and artist's books that radically transformed the terms of artistic production.
In the 1960s, LeWitt challenged the conventional notion that art expresses the artist’s inner self or emotions. By combining cubes as basic units into modular structures, he demonstrated how serial progression could determine the form of a work, as in Structure (One, Two, Three, Four, Five as a Square) (1978-80). For him, the origin and core of artistic creation lay in its underlying idea, structure, plan, or process, not in the object itself. He articulated this principle in his seminal essay "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art" (1967): "When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art." One of LeWitt's lifelong projects, wall drawings began with the first installation at Paula Cooper Gallery in 1968 and ultimately comprised over 1,300 pieces. Most were executed not by the artist himself but by others following his instructions or diagrams, and were often painted over after exhibitions. This approach and process serve to question the premises of authorship, permanence, and uniqueness in art. Beginning in the 1980s, his work featured more complex forms and superimposed vibrant, opulent hues. These developments, however, remain consistent with his prior practice based on simple systems and instructions and represent an expansion of the scope of his artistic thought. In this exhibition, six wall drawings will be presented, offering visitors the opportunity to experience the unfolding of LeWitt’s conceptual approach.
This exhibition illuminates the notion of "open structure," which characterizes LeWitt’s art. Many of his cubic works expose the framework that supports their forms by eliminating surfaces and emphasizing side lines. Works such as Incomplete Open Cube (1974), where certain edges are absent, evoke the dynamics of a structure in a state of sequential transformation, much like a single frame in chronophotography, thus dismantling notions of perfection and invariability. It is also notable that his wall drawings can take on different forms depending on the space and conditions in which they are installed, as well as those who execute them. No matter how precisely the artist’s instructions are followed in translating ideas into form, a degree of unpredictability and interpretation by others inevitably intervenes, an aspect the works embrace. His statement, "Ideas cannot be owned. They belong to whoever understands them," reflects his belief in resisting the notion that ideas are the property of a single person and in committing to sharing them with all who might receive them. To make his ideas more accessible, LeWitt produced numerous artist’s books. This led him to co-found Printed Matter in 1976, with art critic Lucy R. Lippard and others, an organization dedicated to distributing artists’ books independent of the established art market.
From the 1960s onward, as art came to be regarded not merely as an object to be viewed but as a space for thought, LeWitt played a decisive role and has remained a lodestar, particularly in the field of idea-driven and instruction-based art. By reconfiguring existing systems and structures and opening a creative interstice within them, his work suggests possibilities for alternative perspectives and frameworks, offering opportunities to reflect on how we perceive and engage with the world.
In the 1960s, LeWitt challenged the conventional notion that art expresses the artist’s inner self or emotions. By combining cubes as basic units into modular structures, he demonstrated how serial progression could determine the form of a work, as in Structure (One, Two, Three, Four, Five as a Square) (1978-80). For him, the origin and core of artistic creation lay in its underlying idea, structure, plan, or process, not in the object itself. He articulated this principle in his seminal essay "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art" (1967): "When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art." One of LeWitt's lifelong projects, wall drawings began with the first installation at Paula Cooper Gallery in 1968 and ultimately comprised over 1,300 pieces. Most were executed not by the artist himself but by others following his instructions or diagrams, and were often painted over after exhibitions. This approach and process serve to question the premises of authorship, permanence, and uniqueness in art. Beginning in the 1980s, his work featured more complex forms and superimposed vibrant, opulent hues. These developments, however, remain consistent with his prior practice based on simple systems and instructions and represent an expansion of the scope of his artistic thought. In this exhibition, six wall drawings will be presented, offering visitors the opportunity to experience the unfolding of LeWitt’s conceptual approach.
This exhibition illuminates the notion of "open structure," which characterizes LeWitt’s art. Many of his cubic works expose the framework that supports their forms by eliminating surfaces and emphasizing side lines. Works such as Incomplete Open Cube (1974), where certain edges are absent, evoke the dynamics of a structure in a state of sequential transformation, much like a single frame in chronophotography, thus dismantling notions of perfection and invariability. It is also notable that his wall drawings can take on different forms depending on the space and conditions in which they are installed, as well as those who execute them. No matter how precisely the artist’s instructions are followed in translating ideas into form, a degree of unpredictability and interpretation by others inevitably intervenes, an aspect the works embrace. His statement, "Ideas cannot be owned. They belong to whoever understands them," reflects his belief in resisting the notion that ideas are the property of a single person and in committing to sharing them with all who might receive them. To make his ideas more accessible, LeWitt produced numerous artist’s books. This led him to co-found Printed Matter in 1976, with art critic Lucy R. Lippard and others, an organization dedicated to distributing artists’ books independent of the established art market.
From the 1960s onward, as art came to be regarded not merely as an object to be viewed but as a space for thought, LeWitt played a decisive role and has remained a lodestar, particularly in the field of idea-driven and instruction-based art. By reconfiguring existing systems and structures and opening a creative interstice within them, his work suggests possibilities for alternative perspectives and frameworks, offering opportunities to reflect on how we perceive and engage with the world.
Schedule Now in session | Dec 25 (Thu) 2025-Apr 2 (Thu) 2026 63 days left Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults ¥1600; University Students, Seniors 65 & Over ¥1100; High School and Junior High School Students ¥640; Elementary School Students and Under free. | ||||
| MuPon | 10% discount / Up to 2 people Not valid for sets. No other discounts.  Download the TAB app to get a discount on entry to this event. ※Paid subscriber only | ||||
| Website | https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/exhibitions/LeWitt/ | ||||
| Venue | Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/ | ||||
| Location | 4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0022 | ||||
| Access | 9 minute walk from exit B2 at Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station on the Hanzomon line, 15 minute walk from exit 3 at Kiba Station on the Tozai line. | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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「アイデアは芸術を生み出す機械となる」 それはソル・ルウィットの作品の原理というより、その原理から作品が生み出されているといえる。 微妙なニュアンスの違いですが、この展覧会でその違いが少し理解できたような気がします。 会場内には芸術の種となるアイデアが沢山蒔かれてます。 ぱっと見、幾何学的な模様は近くで見ると線がゆらいでいたり間隔が一定ではなかったりします。 別の人が同じ模様を描いても完全に同じにはならないし、地面に描くのと真っ白なキャンパスに描くのでも結果は全く別物になる。 いざアートと向かい合うとどうしても見た目の部分を知覚しその意図を探ろうとする。 芸術がどんな見た目を持つかは重要ではない。とソル・ルウィットは言う。 そうアイデアが重要なんだと。 作品を見て、自分なりの自由な解釈や、新しい発想につなげていく、そうすることで一つの作品から100人100様のアウトプットが生み出される。 僕自身も大きな刺激をもらいました。 AIが画像を生成する昨今、作者性とか唯一性とかを考える良い機会になりました。 新しい発想の道具を得るような気持ちで見ると楽しいと思います。