About the Exhibition

Since his spectacular debut in the early 1980s, Shinro Ohtake (b. 1955) has always been a lead runner with an exceptional creative urge, producing an enormous number of works ranging from painting, printing, drawing, sculpture, videos, and picture books to audio, writing, installation, and huge structures. He has earned an international reputation as a leader in contemporary Japanese art after his participation in the 2012 documenta, and the 2013 Venice Biennale.
The long-awaited exhibition presents under seven themes about 500 items including works shown at international exhibitions and is held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo that will celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2022. The artist utilizes every material, every image, and every method. While tracing his career that he has maintained for nearly a half century under a theme he calls “what’s already there,” this show presents his works, without sticking to chronology, in a way that enables viewers to be immersed in the world of his art, to offer an opportunity to travel inside his strikingly individual brain that keeps running.

Highlights

The first major retrospective in sixteen years

The first major solo show after the 2006 Zen-Kei: Retrospective 1955–2006 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo provides a complete view of his nearly a half-century career.

Overwhelming scale and density

Presenting about 500 exhibits including his earliest works, those shown at recent international exhibitions, and latest works produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the exhibition space will be packed with objets and sound ranging from small handmade books, huge cottage-shaped installations to sound emitted from works.

Seven themes enabling you to experience the world of his art

Organized without sticking to chronology under seven themes—Self/Others, Memory, Time, From One to Another, Dreams/Retina, Layer/Stratum, and Sound—the show offers a space where viewers can be immersed in the world of Ohtake’s art and experience his creative energy.

Shinro Ohtake

Born in Tokyo in 1955. Major solo exhibitions include Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto / Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito (2019); Parasol unit, London (2014); Takamatsu Art Museum (2013); Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa (2013); Art Sonje Center, Seoul; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art / Fukuoka Art Museum (2007); and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2006). Group exhibitions include the National Museum of Art, Osaka (2018); the New Museum, New York (2016); and Barbican Art Gallery, London (2016).　Among the many international art festivals in which Ohtake has participated are Hawai’i Triennial 2022, the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial (2018), Yokohama Triennale 2014, the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), documenta 13 (2012), the 8th Gwangju Biennale (2010), and The Setouchi Triennale (2010, ‘13, ‘16, ‘19’, ‘22). He has also participated in such historically significant exhibitions as Against Nature: Japanese Art in the Eighties (1989), A Cabinet of Signs: Contemporary Art from Post-modern Japan (1991), and the 1st Asia Pacific Triennial (1993).
Artist website

List of Works

Free App for list of works and sound.

1. Install “Catalog Pocket” app from App Store or Google Play Store.
2. Start the app and search “Shinro Otake”.

• You can use the app outside the galleries.
• Please use earphones inside the museum.
• Free public Wi-Fi access “momat-free-wifi” is available in the museum.

Exhibition Catalogue

Contributors: Doryun Chong, Massimiliano Gioni, Hajime Nariai, Barbara London, Shinro Ohtake

Size and Number of pages: Three newspaper formats (16 pages each), a 16-fold sheet, three panorama sheets (8 pages each), and A4 sized booklet (128 pages)

Price: 2,700yen (including tax) available at the National Museum of Modern Art Museum Shop.

Hours & Admissions

Location

Special Exhibition Gallery (1st floor) and Gallery 4 (2nd floor)

Date

November 1, 2022—February 5, 2023

Time

10:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m. (Fridays and Saturdays open until 8:00 p.m.)
*Last admission: 30 minutes before closing.

Closed

Mondays (except January 2 and 9), December28—January 1, and January 10

Admission

Adults ¥1,500 (¥1,300)
College/University students ¥1000 (¥800)

• All prices include tax.
• Admission in the parentheses is for groups of 20 persons or more.
• Admission is free for high school students, under 18, and those with Disability Certificates and one caregiver accompanying each of them. Please present ID at the entrance.
• Including the admission fee for MOMAT Collection.

Ticket

Same-day tickets can be purchased at the ticket counters, while online tickets with a designated date and time can be purchased on e-tix

Organized by

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Nippon Television Network Corporation

Sponsored by

Benesse Holdings, Inc.
Fukutake Foundation
Onion Newspaper Corporate
Culture Vision Japan Foundation Inc.

With the special cooperation of

TAKE NINAGAWA

Supported by

J-WAVE

Exhibition Tours

May 3—July 2, 2023 The Museum of Art, Ehime
August 5—September 18, 2023 Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design