February 8 (Sat.) - June 2 (Mon.), 2025
Along with the “Welcome back, Yokohama” exhibition commemorating the reopening of the Yokohama Museum of Art, the first collection exhibition on the 3rd floor introduces newly acquired works during the three-year closure under two separate themes.
The first is "To the Forest of All Living Things," a new work by an artist with deep connections to Yokohama: Asai Yusuke (b. 1981). The work was funded by a donation to the Yokohama City Culture Fund made by The Yokohama Shinkin Bank in 2023 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the bank’s founding.
Asai is an artist who uses familiar materials like soil, water, masking tape, and pens to depict animals, plants, and the spirits that inhabit mountains, rivers, and trees. He is also known for his collaborative projects held in Japan and around the world in which he collects local soils and uses them to make paintings. The creation of this work began with volunteers making pigment using soil from all over Yokohama. The work was then painted in four different locations: Yokohama Shinkin Bank’s Tsurugamine branch, Head Office, and Ichiba branch, and BankART Station. Don’t miss this opportunity to view this giant work that is three meters in height and consists of nine panels of different sizes.
The second theme is contemporary art since the 1980s. The Yokohama Museum of Art’s policy is to collect art from the 19th century to the present. When acquiring contemporary art, we look for works that speak to the present day and that also resonate with existing pieces in the collection.
Here the focus is on works from the 1980s and 2010s that were acquired during the museum’s temporary hiatus. The 1980s saw Japan’s contemporary art become more diverse against the backdrop of the nation’s booming economy. Female artists creating works about everyday events and the body emerged, as did male artists who worked with their hands or were concerned with issues of gender. Gender issues and the approach of viewing the world through the lens of everyday life have been inherited by contemporary artists since the 2010s.
This exhibition will be the first of several spanning approximately one year that will introduce the collection with a focus on new additions made over the last three years.
Asai Yusuke, Hernan Bas, Fukuda Miran, Hirabayashi Kaoru, Chris Huen Sin-Kan, Ishihara Tomoaki, Iwasaki Takahiro, Matsui Chie, Morimura Yasumasa, Sputniko!, Tatsuno Toeko, Tsubaki Noboru, Yoshizawa Mika
*Alphabetical order
New work by Asai Yusuke made especially for Yokohama!
Asai Yusuke’s work "To the Forest of All Living Things" was exhibited to the public free of charge for three days from July 5 to 7, 2024. The work consists of nine panels that can be arranged in one of seven patterns specified by the artist. For this exhibition, visitors will be able to see the work in a different arrangement to that used in July, as well as new materials and videos documenting the work’s creation.
New works added to the collection during the renovation!
During its three-year hiatus, the Yokohama Museum of Art acquired a range of artworks. This exhibition focuses on post-1980s contemporary art and the contemporary art of the 2010s. The 1980s saw the emergence of several female artists who sought to overturn the male-dominated values of the art world. Among male artists, those who worked with their hands or made works dealing with the human body started attracting attention. Jump forward to the art of the 2010s, with its focus on gender and the environment, and you can see how themes first explored in the 1980s continue to be relevant today.
