MOT Collection: Seven Beauties in the Bamboo Forest / Special feature: NOMURA Kazuhiro / Eye to Eye

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo houses over 5800 works of art from modern to contemporary, with a particular emphasis on post-war art. The MOT Collection exhibitions present works from that collection, adopting a different approach on each occasion to advertise the diverse attractions of contemporary art. 　In a display dubbed “Seven Beauties in the Bamboo Forest” and dominated by recent acquisitions, the first floor will focus on seven female artists. The title “Seven Beauties in the Bamboo Forest” comes from that of a work by KONO Michisei held by the museum. In Kono’s painting, the ancient Chinese “Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove,” spurning worldly concerns to congregate in a bamboo grove and engage in philosophical chat are transformed into women in vibrantly-hued garb. Inspired by the sight of these seven women of different cultures and eras mingling harmoniously among the flowers and birds of a light-filled bamboo forest, for this exhibition we decided to illuminate the work of some female artists whom the museum has hitherto had few opportunities to showcase. The character 妍 (ken) of the title, meaning beauty, generally refers to a certain grace or refinement in appearance, but here refers to how each of the seven artists has engaged with the idea of beauty, and produced art accordingly. Offerings from MADOKORO (AKUTAGAWA) Saori and TAKAGI Toshiko, both born exactly a century ago, URUSHIBARA Hideko, KOBAYASHI Donge, and MAEMOTO Shoko will comprise mainly new additions, while the works of FUKUSHIMA Hideko and ASAKURA Setsu, already in the collection, will be grouped together. To coincide with this display of work by the seven women, the first floor will also play host to a special exhibit by NOMURA Kazuhiro, an artist with a career characterized by the exploration of the creative act via conceptual works.　The third-floor exhibition, titled “Eye to Eye,” turns its attention to different types of gaze. Kicking off with gaze as painted by the likes of Alex KATZ, NAKAMURA Hiroshi, and NAKAZONO Koji, “Eye to Eye” goes on to include a diverse array of works, including sculptures in reflective materials by TADA Minami and Monir Shahroudy FARMANFARMAIAN; the works of Georges ROUSSE, who creates illusory installations in derelict buildings and photographs them; and an installation by KAIHATSU Yoshiaki, who brings a playfulness to the space between the visible and invisible. There will also be a special exhibition of work by HASEGAWA Shigeru, a painter consistently dedicated to interrogating the status of paintings as “things to be seen.”