Press Release 2024/07/10

A Dive Into Art from the Center of the Heart
Saturday, September 14, 2024 – Monday, national holiday, January 13, 2025

Welcome to a blissful experience of art!
The industrialist Rokuro Hara collected traditional Asian art during the early
Meiji period. Over a century later, his great grandson Toshio Hara amassed
over a thousand pieces of contemporary art. These works spanning centuries
of art history now comprise two major collections showcased under one roof
at Hara Museum ARC. Here, the works with their unique characteristics
and historical backgrounds dialog and vie with one another to provoke new
discoveries and fresh insights for both first time and repeat visitors.

[1] Jean-Michel Othoniel, Kokoro, 2009

Exhibition Overview＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿The present exhibition is the second part of a year-long exploration of the ideas that surround the word “center.”
The first part, under the title A Shout Out for Art from the Center of Japan, placed the spotlight on Hara Museum
ARC's role as a transmitter of art to the world with a perspective informed by its place at the geographical centerof Japan. This second part places the focus on the actual experience of the viewer itself. As implied by the title, A
Dive Into Art from the Center of the Heart, this exhibition invites visitors to not only look with their eyes, but todive into art with all of their senses in order to discover pathways that connect to their hearts.
Contemporary art is often thought to be something that cannot be enjoyed without specialized knowledge. But
most art still depends on the physical senses for their intended effect. In this exhibition, those senses are
represented by the word “taste.” In the metaphorical sense, we “taste” the world (not only food!) with oursenses and make judgments based on our feelings. The expression “personal taste” suggests art is a highly
personal experience based on cues that we must process with our bodies and our minds. This exhibition invites
you to leave your preconceptions behind and to trust your senses. In the world of contemporary art, allinterpretations are valid and no interpretation is wrong.
How did a work make you feel? Was it uplifting, interesting, fun or beautiful? Or was it difficult, sad orfrightening? There are myriad ways to feel about art, all of which depend greatly on the conditions surrounding
the encounter. Does knowing about the artist, the technique or the historical context add to or detract from theexperience? This exhibition suggests that all feelings have their justifications, but also that letting go of
preconceptions might open your mind to something new and unexpected.
We hope during your visit that you will experience a wide range of feelings: confusion, arousal, curiosity or
perhaps the urge to take a photo of something that captivates and touches your heart.

[2] Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with
Scalloped Bowl, 1972 oil on canvas,
105 × 120 ㎝ © Estate of Roy
Lichtenstein, New York & JASPAR,Tokyo, 2024 G3526*About Hara Rokuro (illustrated
guide by Manpukuya Mogumogu).

*Press release for A Shout Out
for Art from the Center ofJapan.

Theme and Featured Works by Gallery (slated)＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿■Permanent Installations■Gallery A: From a DistanceYayoi Kusama, Mirror Room (Pumpkin)
Max Stricher, Kae Masuda, Izumi Kato, Tadanori
Yoshitomo Nara, My Drawing Room
Yokoo, Toeko Tatsuno, Katsuro Yoshida, Kumi Sugai,
Tatsuo Miyajima, Time Link
others.
Tabaimo, Midnight Sea
Yasuhiro Suzuki, Bench of the Japanese Archipelago■Gallery B: With Fresh Eyes
Yasumasa Morimura, Rondo (Twins)
Richard Serra, Tomoko Yoneda, Jasper Johns, Kohei
Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Tomato Soup
Nawa, Lai Chi Man, others.
Olafur Eliasson, Sunspace for Shibukawa
Jean-Michel Othoniel, Kokoro■Gallery C: Diving into the Senses
Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Miran Fukuda, Yayoi
Kusama, Roy Lichtenstein, others.
■Kankai Pavilion: Immersion
Jasper Johns, Tabaimo, Kano Tanyu, Maruyama Okyo,
others.
[3] Tabaimo, Shinju Trail, 2018 single-channel video, hanging scroll
131.5 × 148.7 cm ©Tabaimo / Courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi

Related Events (slated)＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿■Guided Tour for Press
Time and date: 11:00 on Tuesday, September 17th
Duration: approx.60 min.

■Open-View Storage Guided TourTime and date: 11:00 on Sunday, November 3
Duration: approx. 40 min.
Participation fee: 1000 yen
Capacity: 5■Guided Tour of Outdoor WorksTime and dates: 11:00 on Sunday, September 22,
Saturday, October 5
Duration: approx.60 min.
Participation fee: 500 yen
Capacity: 10*This normally members-only event is open to the generalpublic as well.

■Meet the Artist: Tabaimo
Time and date: 16:00-17:30 on Sunday, October 13
Location: Café d'Art
Capacity: 80 (slated)■Guided Tour by the Curator in Charge
Time and date: 13:30 on Saturday, November 3
Duration: approx. 60 min.
Participation fee: 500 yen
Capacity: 10

■Interactive Art Appreciation Session(Cooperation: Interactive Art Viewing Lab)Time and date: 11:00 on Saturday, November 9
Duration: approx. 60 min.
Participation fee: free
Capacity: 10■Free Admission for Educators
Teachers at any educational facility will be admitted
free of charge from December 23 (Mon.) to
December 29 (Sun.). *Persons wishing information
about the current exhibition and museum facilities
are requested to contact the museum in advance.
*In Japanese only.
*Please check our website for details.

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Information

Title: A Dive Into Art from the Center of the Heart
Dates: Saturday, September 14, 2024 – Monday, national holiday, January 13, 2025 *Exhibited items in the
Kankai Pavilion are subject to change during the exhibition period
Venue/Organized by: Hara Museum ARC
2855-1 Kanai, Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture 377-0027
Tel: 0279-24-6585 Email: arc@haramuseum.or.jp Official Website: https://www.haramuseum.or.jp
X: @haramuseum_arc Instagram: haramuseumarc
Hours: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm (Admission until 4:00 pm)
Closed: Thursdays (open on January 2), January 1 *Closed in winter from January 14, 2025 to mid-March
Admission: General 1,800 yen, 70 and over 1,500 yen, University and high school students 1,000 yen, Elementaryand junior high school students 800 yen*Advance online tickets (date-specific) https://e-tix.jp/haramuseum_arc/*Free for Hara Museum ARC members, free for elementary and junior high school students in Gunma prefecture
on Saturdays when school is in session.
Images for Publication＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

[4]

[5]

[8]

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[6]

[9]

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[7]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[4] Kae Masuda, Faraway Songs – Voices Nearby, 2012 oil on canvas 194 x 259 cm ©Kae
Masuda[5] Izumi Kato, Untitled, 2006 oil on canvas 227 x 181.8 cm ©Izumi Kato
[6] Tadanori Yokoo, Who Shall Forget about Homeland?, 2001 acrylic on canvas 227.5 x
182 cm ©Tadanori Yokoo[7] Tomoko Yoneda, Gandhi’s Glasses – Viewing a note on his ‘day of silence’ shortly
before his death, 2003 gelatin silver print 120 x 120 cm ©Tomoko Yoneda, courtesy of
ShugoArts[8] Kohei Nawa, PixCell-Bambi#2, 2006 mixed media 31.5 x 51.0 x 20.0 cm[9] Miran Fukuda, Still Life with Cardoon and Francolin, 1992 acrylic on canvas, string,
paper, vinyl sheet 90 x 110 cm ©Miran Fukuda[10] Hiroharu Mori, After a painting, 2004 video (loop) ©Hiroharu Mori[11] Kano Tan’yu, Dragon and tiger, Edo period pair of hanging scrolls[12] Tiered boxes decorated with vine scrolls and squirrels in maki-e, Edo-Meiji period[13] attributed to Oguri Sotan, Scene with two monkeys and a full moon, Muromachi period hanging
scroll[13]

Permanent and Semi-permanent Installations

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[14] Yoshitomo Nara, My Drawing Room, 2004/2021 312.0 x 200.5 x 448.0 cm ©Yoshitomo Nara
[15] Tabaimo, Midnight Sea, 2006 video installation ©Tabaimo photo: Shinya Kigure[16] Olafur Eliasson, Sunspace for Shibukawa, 2009 stainless steel, glass prisms ©2009 Olafur Eliasson[17] Yasuhiro Suzuki, Bench of the Japanese Archipelago, 2014/2021 mixed media 🄫Yasuhiro Suzuki photo:
Shinya Kigure*Regarding Plate 2, Still Life with Scalloped Bowl by Roy Lichtenstein, permission to print is required not only
from Hara Museum ARC, but also from the respective copyright-holder. Please contact us for details.

■About Hara Museum ARC
Hara Museum ARC opened in Shibukawa, Gunma in 1988 as an annex to theHara Museum of Contemporary Art in Shinagawa, Tokyo, which opened in
1979. When the Hara Museum closed in January 2021, Hara Museum ARC
was re-launched as the sole venue integrating the functions and activities ofboth museums and offering viewers with the opportunity to experience art
surrounded by verdant nature against a backdrop of expansive blue skies.
The Hara Museum Collection includes a wide selection of contemporary art
by Japanese and overseas artists dating from the 1950s onward. The
Hara Museum ARC photo by Shinya Kigurecollection began around the time the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
opened and was amassed by Toshio Hara, chairman of the Foundation Arcen-Ciel under which the museum operates. It encompasses a diverse rangeof expression, from paintings and sculptures by masters who spearheaded
the major art movements of the 20th century such as Abstract
Expressionism and Pop Art, to works in the areas of photography and video
by artists active in the art scene of the 21st century.
The museum also houses the Hara Rokuro Collection, a collection of earlymodern Japanese paintings, crafts, and Chinese art acquired by Rokuro Hara
Kankai Pavilion photo by Shinya Kigure(1842-1933), the great-grandfather of Toshio Hara, who contributed to theindustrialization of Japan during the Meiji Era. Notable holdings include a
National Treasure-designated celadon vase representing the epitome ofChinese porcelain; an Important Cultural Property-designated masterpieceof the bijin-ga (beautiful women) genre showing a woman passing through areed portiere, considered a precursor to the ukiyoe paintings of beautiful
women; the masterful Landscape of Yodo River by Maruyama Okyo; andpartition paintings that originally adorned the Nikko-in Guest Hall at Mi′idera
temple by Kano Eitoku and other artists of the Kano school.
The buildings that comprise Hara Museum ARC were designed by Arata
Isozaki, winner of the 2019 Pritzker Prize, considered the Nobel Prize in theOpen-View Storage photo by Sadamu Saito
field of architecture. Gallery A, with its impressive pyramid-shaped roof thatechoes the peaks of Mount Haruna, and Galleries B and C, which face thefront garden like extended wings, comprise exquisite spaces in which
contemporary artworks can shine. On the other hand, the Kankai Pavilion,
whose design was inspired by the traditional shoin-zukuri (drawing room)
style of the Nikko-in Guest Hall at Mi'idera (Onjoji) temple in Shiga
prefecture, is a quiet Japanese-style space where the skill of mastercraftsmen is apparent in every feature of the interior.
Within the expansive grounds of the museum, visitors can enjoy a stroll
while enjoying various outdoor art installations by Japanese and overseas
Café d’Art menu selection
artists such as Andy Warhol and Olafur Eliasson.
A part of the Hara Museum Collection is kept in the Open-View Storage and made available to curators, critics
and other art professionals affiliated with educational and research institutions for viewing and research
purposes. Tours of the facility are also held once a month for Hara Museum ARC members.
With its high ceiling and large windows, the Café d'Art provides a restful setting where visitors can enjoy a wide
selection of sandwiches, pasta and other dishes made with fresh, local produce and ingredients, as well as drip
coffee carefully prepared by hand. Visitors can partake of the cafe's signature Image Cake which features avarying motif inspired by the current exhibition.

Museum Shop

The Museum Shop offers a full selection of products that bring theenjoyment of contemporary art into daily life. These include original
museum goods, exhibition catalogues and related publications and modern
goods made with traditional Japanese craftsmanship, not to mention the
periodic introduction of items created by Gunma-based artists.
The Hara Museum ARC membership program was set up for those whowant to make the enjoyment of art a bigger part of their life. By presenting
their membership card, members receive free admission, discounts at the
Café d'Art and Museum Shop and invitations to members-only events suchas tours of the Open-View Storage. The aim of the program is to allow
members to experience art from a variety of perspectives while providing
support for the museum's activities. For details, please go to our website.
https://www.haramuseum.or.jp/en/membership/■Access Information□Train and Bus
From the West Exit of JR Takasaki Station, take the shuttle bus to Hara Museum ARC (scheduled to run every
Sunday from April to October). Takes about 1 hour. Or from JR Takasaki Station, take the Joetsu / Agatsuma Lineand disembark at JR Shibukawa Station. From JR Shibukawa Station, ARC is 10 minutes away by taxi or 15
minutes by bus (take the Kanetsu Kotsu bus going to Ikaho Onsen or Ikaho Harunaguchi, get off at "Green Bokujo
Mae" and walk about 7 minutes).
□Highway Bus
JR Bus “Joshu Yumeguri” http://time.jrbuskanto.co.jp/bk03010.html (In Japanese)
JR Shinjuku Station ⇔ JR Shibukawa Station/Ikaho/Kusatsu Onsen
Kanetsu Kotsu Bus https://kan-etsu.net/en/
Ikaho Shima Onsen, Haneda Line (via JR Tokyo Station) https://kan-etsu.net/en/publics/index/137/
Departs from Haneda Airport. Get off at “Green Bokujo Mae.”
Takasaki/Ikaho/Shima Onsen Hachioji Line https://kan-etsu.net/en/publics/index/164/
Departs from JR Hachioji. At JR Shibukawa Station, change to the local bus and get off at “Green Bokujo Mae.”
Kusatsu-Kichijoji Line (via JR Shibukawa Station) https://www.kanto-bus.co.jp/nightway/kusatsu.php
Departs from JR Kichijoji Station. At JR Shibukawa Station, change to the local bus and get off at “Green Bokujo
Mae.”

□Car
8 kilometers (about 15 minutes) from the Shibukawa Ikaho Interchange on the Kan-etsu Expressway. Free parking
is available.
□Chartered Helicopter
Approx. 35 min. from Tokyo Heliport to Ikaho Onsen Nagamine Heliport and approx. 10 min. by taxi from Ikaho
Onsen Nagamine Heliport to Hara Museum ARC.
*Please contact the respective helicopter charter company for details.
=Selected Japan Rail (JR) Train Schedules=*Current as of April 2024. Please check the relevant time tables for the most recent information.
Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen (weekdays, weekends and Holidays)
Hakutaka No. 553
Depart JR Tokyo Station at 7:52 → Arrive at JR Takasaki Station at 8:42 → Depart on the Agatsuma Line bound forOmae at 8:53 → Arrive at JR Shibukawa Station at 9:19 → Take the Kanetsu Kotsu bus bound for Ikaho
Harunaguchi at 9:25 → Arrive at Green Bokujo at 9:40.
Toki No. 317
Depart JR Tokyo Station at 10:41 → Arrive at JR Takasaki Station at 11:32 → Depart on the Agatsuma Line boundfor Naganohara Kusatsuguchi at 11:44 → Arrive at JR Shibukawa Station at 12:08 → Take the Kanetsu Kotsu bus
for Ikaho Onsen at 12:14 → Arrive at Ikaho Green Bokujo at 12:29.
Limited Express “Kusatsu/Shima”
Kusatsu/Shima 31 (weekends and holidays only)
Depart from JR Ueno Station at 9:00→ Arrive at JR Shibukawa Station at 10:38 → Take the Kanetsu Kotsu bus
bound for Ikaho Onsen at 10:55 → Arrive at Green Bokujo at 11:10.
Kusatsu/Shima No. 1
Depart from JR Ueno Station at 10:00 → Arrive at JR Shibukawa Station at 11:36 →Take the Kanetsu Kotsu bus
bound for Ikaho Harunaguchi at 11:42 → Arrive at Green Bokujo at 11:53.
Kusatsu/Shima No. 3
Depart from JR Ueno Station at 12:10→ Arrive at JR Shibukawa Station at 13:50 → Take the Kanetsu Kotsu bus
bound for Ikaho Harunaguchi at 13:55→ Arrive at Green Bokujo at 14:06.

■Press Enquiries
Email: press@haramuseum.or.jp