Recommended Exhibition in Japan for August 2023
NPO Aoyama Design Forum presents the recommended exhibitions of art galleries and museums in August 2023. In addition to the schedule of events, we will provide you with detailed information such as the works on display. Please check the website of each museum for current opening hours before visiting.
Solo Exhibition at The National Art Center, Tokyo "Cai Guo-Qiang Traveling in Space - Beginning with the Primordial Fireball"
From June 29, 2023, the National Art Center, Tokyo and Saint Laurent will hold a large-scale solo exhibition of Cai Guo-Qiang (born 1957), a contemporary artist who has attracted a great deal of attention internationally. The exhibition “Starting with the Primordial Fireball”, directed by Eriko Osaka (Director of the National Art Center, Tokyo), has been held. For Saint Laurent, led by Anthony Vaccarello, this exhibition is the latest opportunity to support various creativity such as visual art, film, and music, which can be said to be the mission of the brand.
- Date: June 29, 2023 (Thursday) to August 21, 2023 (Monday)
- Closed: Every Tuesday
- Hours: 10:00-18:00
*Every Friday and Saturday until 20:00
*Admission until 30 minutes before closing - Venue: The National Art Center, Tokyo Special Exhibition Room 1E
- URL: https://bit.ly/3Yexq0A
The National Art Center, Tokyo "Tate Museum Exhibition Light - Turner, from Impressionism to the Present"
"Tate Museum Exhibition Light - Turner, Impressionism" has been held from July 12th (Wednesday) to October 2nd (Monday), 2023, at the National Art Center, Tokyo in Roppongi. The exhibition consists of selected works from the collection of the Tate Museum in the United Kingdom with the theme of "light", focusing on the trajectory of creative creation by artists for about 200 years from the end of the 18th century to the present. Please look forward to the competition of "works of light" that transcend eras, regions and genres, such as Turner, Constable, Monet, Yayoi Kusama, Richter, James Turrell, and Olafur Eliasson.
- Date: July 12th (Wednesday) to October 2nd (Monday), 2023
- Closed: Every Tuesday
- Venue: The National Art Center, Tokyo Special Exhibition Room 2E [Roppongi, Tokyo]
- Hours: 10:00-18:00 *until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays
*Admission until 30 minutes before closing - URL: https://tate2023.exhn.jp
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum Special Exhibition "Ueno no Sokokara 'Beginning, Beginning' Tamana Araki Exhibition"
The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum has been holding a special exhibition, "Ueno no Sokokara 'Beginning, Beginning' Tamana Araki Exhibition" until October 9th (Mon/holiday).
Based in New York, Tamana Araki (1970-) continues her wide-ranging artistic activities. Her world view, which is a mixture of strange cuteness and thrilling sensations, is an attractive artist. Araki studied abroad in Mexico in her twenties and was fascinated by the unique culture where "brightness and darkness" and "life and death" coexist. Araki's works affirm the very existence of human beings. This exhibition features poetic prints and three-dimensional works that have been exhibited both in Japan and overseas, as well as installations created in collaboration with children from various countries, including Ukraine, and picture books created in collaboration with the indigenous people of Mexico. This is the artist's first retrospective exhibition, presenting more than 90 works ranging from early works to recent works, including installations in which viewers can participate, as well as new large-scale installations inspired by the venue "Memories of Ueno." . In addition, as a related program, we will hold a number of molding workshops and appreciation programs. Please look forward to a slightly scary and nostalgic mysterious exhibition that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.
- Dates: Saturday, July 22, 2023 to October 9, 2023 (Mon/holiday)
- Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum Gallery A/B/C
- Closed: Mondays, Tuesday, September 19th
*Open on August 14th (Monday), September 18th (Monday/holiday), and October 9th (Monday/holiday) - Hours: 9:30-17:30 (Last entry 30 minutes before closing)
- Open at night: 9:30-20:00 on Fridays (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
- URL: https://onl.tw/cRJXHYa
Towada Art Center "Liu Jianhua Pours the Hollow"
At the Towada City Museum of Contemporary Art, from June 24th (Sat) to November 19th (Sun), 2023, Shanghai-based Liu Jianhua's solo exhibition "Liu Jianhua: Hollow Pour" has been held for the first time in Japan. Raised in Jingdezhen, the birthplace of porcelain, Liu learned carving after working as a craftsman in a porcelain workshop. He creates three-dimensional works and installations using clay, stone, glass, ceramics, etc., with the theme of economic and social changes in China and the problems that accompany it.
In the main exhibition room of this exhibition, Abandonment (2001-2015), which is made of porcelain of daily necessities such as plastic bottles and shoes, will be displayed. Most of the daily necessities that we use are abandoned, broken and become garbage after fulfilling their temporary role. This work makes us imagine that we live surrounded by materials that do not return to the soil, and that we continue to accumulate things that cannot be disposed of. In addition, the latest work "Pagoda" (2021-2022), which cuts only the mouth and neck of bottles and jars, and a floating pillow that is connected to the form of the museum's permanent work "Traces" (2010). Works from Liu's early days to recent years will be on display, including "Ephemeral Daily Life" (2001-2003) and "Signs" (2011), which evokes the fluid glazes used to finish pottery and the ink that drips down the wall.
- Dates: Saturday, June 24, 2023 to Sunday, November 19, 2023
- Hours: 9:00-17:00 (Admission until 30 minutes before closing)
- Closed: Mondays (the next day if Monday is a holiday)
*Please check the website for information on other closed days, temporary opening days, etc. - Venue: Towada City Museum of Contemporary Art
- Admission fee: General 1,800 yen (including permanent exhibitions) Free for high school students and younger
- URL: https://bit.ly/3OBiR3W
Pola Museum of Art "Shin Japanese Painting: Revolutionary Nihonga - From Taikan Yokoyama and Yasushi Sugiyama to Contemporary Artists"
From Saturday, July 15, 2023 to Sunday, December 3, 2023, the Pola Museum of Art has been hosting the exhibition “Shin Japanese Painting: Revolutionary Japanese Paintings: From Taikan Yokoyama and Yasushi Sugiyama to Contemporary Artists.” This is a large-scale exhibition that dynamically introduces the development of Japanese painting from its birth to the present with the theme of "innovation." This exhibition explores the methods of expression of the Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa era painters who led modern Japanese painting, as well as post-war Japanese painters such as Yasushi Sugiyama, as well as current Japanese painting and the future of Japanese painting.
- Date: July 15th (Sat) to December 3rd (Sun), 2023
- Venue: Pola Museum of Art Exhibition Rooms 1, 2, 3, Atrium Gallery
- Organizer: Pola Art Foundation, Pola Museum of Art
- URL: https://bit.ly/3K69dUl
Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo Cerith Wyn Evans solo exhibition "L>espace)(..."

CERITH WYN EVANS - L>espace)(... エスパス ルイ・ヴィトン東京での展示風景(2023年) Courtesy of the artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris Photo credits: © Jérémie Souteyrat / Louis Vuitton
Solo exhibition "L>espace)(..." by Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans has been held at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo from July 20, 2023 to January 8, 2024. This exhibition is titled "Hors-les-murs (Beyond the Walls)," which presents the collection of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, an art institution, at the Espace Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul, and Osaka. done as part of the program.
- Date: July 20, 2023 - January 8, 2024
- Hours: 12:00-20:00
- Closed: Same as Louis Vuitton Omotesando store
- Venue: Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo
- Fee: Free
- URL: https://bit.ly/44OmwRy
Shiseido Art House Exhibition 2nd "Make Crafts for Us'' the 4th Exhibition
From July 27th to October 29th, 2023, the Shiseido Art House has been hosting the 4th Exhibition of "Make Crafts for Us". This is a group exhibition sponsored by Shiseido Art House that began in 2015, continuing with "First" (2015-2017) and "Second" (2019- ) while changing members. In this exhibition, in addition to new works by Imaemon XIV (Ceramics), Iori Nakajo (Lacquerware), Yohei Hane III (Metalwork), Masayoshi Adachi (Glass Art), at the tea room by widely renowned Shioko Fukumoto for her indigo dyeing works, the members are planning to showcase tools for enjoying tea.
- Date: July 27th (Thursday) to October 29th (Sunday), 2023
- Closed: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, public holidays
- Summer holidays: August 7th (Monday) to 16th (Wednesday)
* From Thursday, July 27, the museum will be closed every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (even if it falls on a national holiday, the museum will be closed). - Hours: 10:00-16:30 (admission until 16:00)
- Venue: Shiseido Art House
- Fee: Free admission
- URL: https://bit.ly/44HVlb8
Shingon Buddhism Sohonzan To-ji Temple/Dining Room “Baju Sham Kyoto”
From August 11th (Friday/holiday) to August 29th (Tuesday) at the World Heritage Shingon Buddhism Sohonzan Toji and Refectory, Bajj Shahm, the leading contemporary Gond art in India, will present his work for the first time in Japan. "Bajj Shyam Kyoto" is the first solo exhibition in Japan by "Bajj Shyam," an artist from the Gond tribe, a minority ethnic group in central India, who is also called "the people of the forest." In 2023, the 1200th anniversary of the founding of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, Toji Temple, the head temple of It will be exhibited in the dining room.
- Date: August 11, 2023 (Friday/holiday) to August 29 (Tue)
- Venue: Shingon Buddhism Sohonzan Toji Temple [Kyogokokuji Temple]・Diner (Jikido)
- Address: 1 Kujo-cho, Minami-ku, Kyoto City
- Hours: 9:30-16:30
- Fee: free
- URL: http://bhajju-shyam.jp/
√K Contemporary Reen Barrera solo exhibition "Yes, Can Do!"
√K Contemporary (Route K Contemporary/Shinjuku, Tokyo) will host the first exhibition "Yes, Can Do!" in Japan by contemporary artist Reen Barrera from the Philippines from August 5th (Sat) to August 26th (Sat), 2023. Barrera has held solo exhibitions at museums and galleries in Southeast Asia and the United States and has drawn an attention from collectors in the world.
- Date: Saturday, August 5, 2023 to Saturday, August 26, 2023
- Artist: Reen Barrera
- Venue: √K Contemporary (6 Minamimachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)
- URL: https://bit.ly/3DUiFqB