PRESS RELEASE

2020.2.5

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
are carrying out this exhibition as part of the Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL.

The Potentiality of Drawing
14 March – 14 June 2020

Exhibition Summary
This exhibition endeavors to re-examine drawing’s potential in a number of different contexts throughexpression, varied in kind, that employs line as a core medium of exploration. Featured are works that
demonstrate contemporary approaches to drawing.
Hand drawing, contrary to expectation, has gained in significance today, when digital technology is allaround us; not as a study for the preparation of a finished piece but as a raw expression of the continual
process of change that people and society are in. This exhibition views handwritten words as well as visual
images as drawing and explores the relationship between them.
Drawing on paper is an act that clearly records the drawer’s developing thoughts as they waver andsometimes break off or else take flight. This exhibition, however, looks at drawing not only as a compositionof lines on a flat surface but also with a view to lines that cut into their support and lines composed inthree-dimensional space. The exhibition, then, furthermore looks at “visions” of flowing water, seen in theimagination, as a subject for drawing—a motif that holds a powerful attraction for artists.
In our increasingly complex contemporary society, drawing—the simplest and most fundamental
expression of art—remains a source of endless possibilities.

Contact

Media Inquiries about the Exhibition: Yoshiko Nawa
E-MAIL: info@relayrelay.net
Inquiries about the Museum: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Public Relations
Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako KudoE-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp
TEL: +81-3-5245-1134
URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en1

Highlights
1Words and Visual Image ・・・・・ Henri Matisse, Kyuyo Ishikawa

The interplay of words and visual images is among the most essential topics of visual art today. Under thekeyword of drawing, this exhibition will reconsider the relationship between words and images in visualexpression, and what lies between them.

1 Kyuyo Ishikawa,

September 11, 2001, Clear Sky —A Tale of Vertical Line and Horizon I, 2002

2 Kyuyo Ishikawa, The poet who wrote if I die please bring peace to the world has died- Rest in peace: Takaaki Yoshimoto, 2012
Collection of the artist

Contact

Media Inquiries about the Exhibition: Yoshiko Nawa
E-MAIL: info@relayrelay.net
Inquiries about the Museum: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Public Relations
Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp
TEL: +81-3-5245-1134
URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en2

2 Looking at Space ・・・・・ Shigeo Toya, Keita Mori, Yayoi Kusama, Saburo Aso
The work of painters and sculptors begins with an eye to the space around them. What the eye sees finds
development in a drawing and, eventually, in a finished work capturing the space. This section considers themeaning of drawing as a core element of the production process and a work’s composition.

3 Shigeo Toya, Exposing ‘Sculpture’ Ⅳ, 1976/1991
Collection of the artist photo: Tetsuo Ito

4 Shigeo Toya, Body of the Gaze, 2019 Collection of the artist
photo: Shigeo Muto copyright the artist courtesy of ShugoArts

5 Keita Mori, Bug report, 2019
photo: Keizo Kioku ［reference image］

6 Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Nets, 1953Collection: MOT

Contact

7 Yayoi Kusama, Go & Stop, 1952
Collection: MOT

8Yayoi Kusama, Untitled, 1952
Collection: MOTMedia Inquiries about the Exhibition: Yoshiko Nawa
E-MAIL: info@relayrelay.net
Inquiries about the Museum: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Public Relations
Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp
TEL: +81-3-5245-1134
URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en3

3 Visions of Water ・・・・・ Yukihisa Isobe, Yasushi Yamabe
Drawing, a means of instantly rendering the imagination visible,
has been integral to many artists’ production process. Visions ofceaselessly moving, changing water, seen in the imagination,
particularly fascinate artists as a subject of line -basedexpression.

9Yukihisa Isobe, ANCIENT ILLUSION, 1959
Collection of the artist

10

Yukihisa Isobe, The Shinano River once flowed
25 meters above where it presently flows, 2002
Collection of the artist

12

Yasushi Yamabe, Working Water across the Landscape, 2014
Collection of the artist

Contact

11

Yukihisa Isobe, Sea, Beach Wind and Field , 2006
Collection of the artist

Media Inquiries about the Exhibition: Yoshiko Nawa
E-MAIL: info@relayrelay.net
Inquiries about the Museum: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Public Relations
Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp
TEL: +81-3-5245-1134
URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en4

Information
Exhibition Period

Sat. 14 March – Sun. 14 June, 2020

ClosedMondays (except 4 May), 7 May

Opening Hours

10:00 - 18:00 (Tickets available until 30 minutes before closing.)

Admission

Adults – 1200yen /University & College Students, Over 65 – 800yen /High School & Junior High School Students – 600yen /Elementary School Students & Younger – FreeVenue

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Exhibition Gallery 3F

Organized by

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Foundationfor History and Culture

Curated by

Naoko Seki （MOT Curator）

Exhibition Staff

Hikari Odaka（MOT Curator）

Concurrent Exhibitions
Olafur Eliasson: Sometimes the river is the bridge
Sat. 14 March – Sun. 14 June, 2020
Collaborative exhibition with KADIST

Things Entangling

Sat. 14 March – Sun. 14 June, 2020

MOT Collection: Present Day and in Times Past―Multiple Perspectives
Sat. 14 March – Sun. 14 June, 2020

* All information provided here is subject to change without notice.

Contact

Media Inquiries about the Exhibition: Yoshiko Nawa
E-MAIL: info@relayrelay.net
Inquiries about the Museum: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Public Relations
Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp
TEL: +81-3-5245-1134
URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en5

IMAGE REQUEST FORM

FAX. +81-3-5245-1141

We have prepared 14 PR images for members of the press for the purpose of creating or supporting timely news stories related
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The images can be obtained upon request using the following image request form. Please provide the following information via
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CoverContact

Kyuyo Ishikawa, After the 9.11 Incident I, 2004

Collection of the artist

1

Kyuyo Ishikawa, September 11, 2001, Clear Sky—A Tale of Vertical Line and Horizon I, 2002

2

Kyuyo Ishikawa, The poet who wrote if I die please bring peace to the world has died - Rest in peace:
Takaaki Yoshimoto, 2012 Collection of the artist

3Shigeo Toya, Exposing ‘Sculpture’ Ⅳ, 1976/1991

4Shigeo Toya, Body of the Gaze, 2019 Collection of the artist
photo: Shigeo Muto copyright the artist
courtesy of ShugoArts

5Keita Mori, Bug report, 20196

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Nets, 1953

Collection: MOT

7

Yayoi Kusama, Go & Stop, 1952

Collection: MOT

8

Yayoi Kusama, Untitled, 1952

9

Yukihisa Isobe, ANCIENT ILLUSION, 1959

10

Yukihisa Isobe, The Shinano River once flowed 25 meters above where it presently flows , 2002
Collection of the artist

11

Yukihisa Isobe, Sea, Beach Wind and Field, 2006

12

Yasushi Yamabe, Working Water across the Landscape, 2014

Collection of the artistphoto: Tetsuo Itophoto：Keizo Kioku ［reference image］

Collection: MOT
Collection of the artist

Collection of the artist
Collection of the artist

Media Inquiries about the Exhibition: Yoshiko Nawa
E-MAIL: info@relayrelay.net
Inquiries about the Museum: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Public Relations
Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp
TEL: +81-3-5245-1134
URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en6