2015 | Special Exhibitions

Genichiro Inokuma: All Kinds of Shapes and Forms

4 Oct 2014 - 18 Jan 2015
closed: 25-31 Dec 2014

[Detail]

Sun and Primitive Bird, 1988
©The MIMOCA Foundation

1 February 2015 - 31 May 2015
Open everyday

This exhibition will display some 100 photographic works and 3 video pieces with a focus on Risaku Suzuki’s new and previously unseen works. His works taken by a large-sized camera using 8×10 inches film invites viewers to enjoy the pure act of seeing. By confronting the photograph before us without preconceptions, conscious of all it depicts, we will re-experience the world “seen” by Suzuki and know the fresh delight of seeing. [Detail]

Risaku Suzuki, Étude 10,F-5, 2010
©Risaku Suzuki / Courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi

Martino Gamper　
100 Chairs in 100 Days

13 June 2015 - 23 September 2015

Martino Gamper (born 1971 in Italy, resides in London), known for his crossovers between fine art and design, came to major acclaim with 100 Chairs in 100 Days (2007), for which he culled disused chairs from London alleyways and friends' homes and reassembled them one per day into poetic, often humorous forms. Drawing upon the history of furniture yet altogether unique and original improvisations, he has toured 99 chairs around the globe, always creating another 100th chair in each new location. So for this exhibition, he will create a yet-unveiled 100th chair from a find here in Marugame. Working within self-imposed parametres — found materials, structures, designs and a single day — Gamper's 100 chairs showcase his wit and experiments in transforming limitations into elements of possibility. Transcending mere design and function, Gamper's unprecedented methodology lets us glimpse the stories hidden within things. [Detail]

Installation View: Triennale Design Museum, Milano, 2009
Photo: Åbäke/ Martino Gamper

Genichiro Inokuma
Cats

13 June 2015 - 27 September 2015
Open everyday

Cats were a motif Genichiro Inokuma (1902-93) felt a particular fondness for. Both he and his wife liked cats, and at one time, they kept a dozen cats in their house. Living with cats around him every day, Inokuma naturally came to view them with an artist’s eye. This exhibition will look at Inokuma’s cat pictures from varying perspectives, such as style, technique, and how he combines cats with other motifs. [Detail]

Genichiro Inokuma, Title Unknown, around 1987
©The MIMOCA Foundation

Genichiro Inokuma—Sharing Our Impressions and Coming to Like Him

3 October 2015 - 6 December 2015
Open everyday

Genichiro Inokuma (1902-93) enjoyed drawing pictures since childhood and painted prolifically with great energy until just before his death at the age of 90. His works, many of which surprise the viewer, are brimming with a cheerfulness that makes us smile, an aspect perhaps reflecting his strong curiosity and his ability to thoroughly enjoy himself, no matter what he did. This exhibition features works ranging from childhood sketches to large-scale paintings of his later years around a core of artworks chosen by Inokuma himself for the opening exhibition of this museum in 1991. In our galleries, we place warmly affectionate impressions and anecdotes related to Inokuma and his work, received from numerous people. With these as our “exhibition guide,” we present the entire scope of Inokuma’s paintings and pictures. Let us all—whether Inokuma newcomers or longtime enthusiasts—join in sharing our perceptions (impressions) of works of captivating charm and discovering little known aspects of Genichiro Inokuma the man. Together, we can come to know his works and like them even more. [Detail]

Our Beloved World

20 December 2015 - 27 Mach 2016
(closed from 25 to 31 December)

The world in which we live is fraught with problems—problems we are apt to simply turn our backs on. If we want to keep living happily and comfortably, hereafter, it is important that we take a stance of looking sincerely at the world and trying to find some small way to make a change. The artworks by four artists in this exhibition in each case emerged from the artist’s efforts to examine his world and ponder its problems as if they were his own. The works suggest to us possible approaches to problems and, moreover, throw light on the direction that society is taking. The works, thus, present us with an occasion to stop and look at the state of the world around us, and begin to move—even if very slowly—toward meaningful change in the world. [Detail]

Past Special Exhibitions