Mitsukuni Takimoto, Sō – Rabbit Ⅳ, inspired by the Choju Giga, 2025 camphor wood, white clay, pigment, 11 × 23 × 14 cm

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Tokyo Gallery + BTAP opened in Ginza in 1950 and celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2020, focusing on modern Japanese figurative paintings, such as Seiji Chokai in 1956, Goro Man-Goro and Matazo Kayama in 1957, and Yoshishige Saito in 1958 at the suggestion of art critic Shuzo Mizoguchi. In 1958, at the suggestion of art critic Shuzo Mizoguchi, the gallery held an exhibition of works by Yoshishige Saito, and since then, as Japan's first contemporary art gallery, it has been one of the first to introduce Western contemporary artists such as Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Jackson Pollock, and Hundertwasser to Japan. The gallery has also featured artists such as Jiro Takamatsu, Kazuo Shiraga, and Taro Okamoto, who would go on to become leaders in contemporary art in Japan. In 2002, B.T.A.P. in Beijing's Dashanzi district. Today, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP maintains the pioneering spirit that has been inherited since the opening of the gallery and is based in Tokyo and Beijing, presenting to the world contemporary art from Japan, China, Korea, and other Asian countries, as well as artists from a wide range of generations and regions.

Mitsukuni Takimoto "What you see there — when did it come from?"