PRESS RELEASE

30 October 2023

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

Yasuko Toyoshima: Origination Method
Saturday, 9 December 2023 – Sunday, 10 March 2024
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo is pleased to announce Yasuko Toyoshima: Origination Method, thefirst major museum exhibition dedicated to the artist’s works. For over 30 years since 1990, Yasuko Toyoshima(1967–) has kept the perspective of “I” and continually confronted, in her own ways, various systems, values,and rules that surround us. Toyoshima leverages her interests and feelings of alienation to reexamine andreinterpret the frameworks and rules that govern our thoughts and actions—from the mechanisms of objects
and tools, school education, and economic activities to various everyday actions—which we have inevitablyinternalized and automated. By doing so, she questions how human thought patterns, society, and the self areformed.
Toyoshima’s artistic career began with works such as Endless Abacus andPencil from 1990, in which she follows the objects’ usage and structure
and, at the same time, paradoxically takes advantage of them to present
them in different ways while suspending the functions in midair. From thelate 1990s, she began to extensively examine the scope of artistic
expression and expanded her media to include social and economic
activities, such as opening bank accounts and buying stocks and insurance,
which led to pieces like Open Bank Account and Mini Investment that
irradiated specific systems as a whole from a single point “I.” In Color
Compensation 1 from 2005, Toyoshima attempts to diligently repaint thegenerally shared color system using her own settings. These pieces havediverse appearances, but they are all conceived to inject new perspectives
into the existing systems, frameworks, and sequence by using “I” while
preserving the context, and to deviate, distort, invert, and idle the original
signification to capture the “origination” of the structures and ourunderstanding and experience. The series works such as Place in a Certain
Order (2009–), Cover-up Maneuvering (2012–), the Panel series (2013–), and
1. Pencil, 1996, Museum of Contemporary
The Copernican Theory (2020–) can be understood as abstract
Art Tokyo. Photo: Shizune SHIIGI.
development of such structures. Order, front and back, a support medium
and an image, up and down, making and not making—such dichotomies
are continually shifted, layered, and inverted in Toyoshima’s works to reveal
multiple perspectives.

4. Panel #32, 2014, Private collection.
Photo: Yasuko TOYOSHIMA

Contact

This is the first exhibition to bring together nearly 400 works by Toyoshima,from the earliest to the latest pieces, to examine her artistic activity in its
entirety. Converging a myriad of worldly rules and “I,” her works offer manyhints to those of us who remain inseparable from the systems. What
determines “up or down” and “left and right”? How about inverting “frontand back”?
With a certain assertiveness and humor of using her own thoughts asmaterial, Toyoshima gives form to how “I” reacts to things around us andtries to capture the “origination” of both systems and “I.” Her works willallow us to reevaluate our thoughts, actions, and the domain of freedom.

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo｜ Public Relations (Kudo / Inaba / Uchibori)
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en*All Programs are subject to change.

1

“What the realm of art should do is to expand the realm beyond the expectation of the other person.”“I reconfigure, on my own will, the space I live in.”—Yasuko Toyoshima
The fact that Toyoshima considers “expression” as an act for all people confirms that her creations are notsolely intended for art professionals. Her works invite us to “contemplate” while, at the same time, bring us thepleasure of “seeing” and the temptation of “making.” As Toyoshima’s contemporaries, we may encounter
pieces that directly concern ourselves.

Exhibition Highlights
First Major Solo Exhibition Unveils Artist’s 30-Year Career Through 400 Works
In 1990, Toyoshima exhibited her works at Takanawa Museum (now Sezon Museum of Modern Art) while astudent at Tokyo University of the Arts. Since then, although her works have often been placed in the realm ofconceptual art, she has consistently involved “I” in her works. Her unique approach has been widely supported
especially by artists. In recent years, she has been attracting renewed attention through participation in groupexhibitions, and there has been enthusiastic interest in an opportunity to overview her entire body of work.
This long-awaited solo exhibition will bring together for the first time nearly 400 works from the museum’sand private collections, ranging from the earliest to the latest works.
Long-Lost (?) Early Works
The exhibition includes two of the artist’s debut works—Fill in the Blank and Endless Abacus—originallyexhibited in 1990 at Gallery Tamura and Takanawa Museum (Karuizawa, Nagano). They are fully restored andpresented for the first time in 33 years in a format that follows the original installations. In particular, Fill in theBlank is a critical piece, in which Toyoshima found her expression. (*Endless Abacus was shown at Takanawa
Museum only.)“See” Artist’s Thoughts Through Installation Based on Her Ideas
The physical structures of Toyoshima’s works can be understood as her unique way of reexamining andreconstructing the mechanisms of various objects and events. In the exhibition, the works are loosely grouped
according to their innate structures to reveal their relationships, based on the artist’s ideas. As is appropriate
for an artist who uses systems as material, the museum itself will be reexamined and reinterpreted. We invite
you to explore the overlaps and connections among the multiple works that illuminate each other throughout
the exhibition space and to experience the artist’s thoughts.
Getting to Know the Artist■During the exhibition, there will be a variety of programs, including artist talks, discussions, and gallery tours
by volunteers and the curator.
■Exhibition Catalog
The catalog includes essays by prominent critics Ryo Katsumata and Takuya Nakao, reprints of essential texts,
and the installation views (scheduled to be published by Shoshi Tsukumo in early February 2024).
A book, Yasuko Toyoshima: Works 1989–2022 (tentative title), is also scheduled to be published by the samepublisher.

Contact

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo｜ Public Relations (Kudo / Inaba / Uchibori)
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en*All Programs are subject to change.

2About the Artist
Yasuko Toyoshima
Born (1967) and lives in Saitama Prefecture.
Toyoshima completed the Master Course at Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo, Japan) andreceived MFA in 1993. In 1990, her first solo exhibition was held at Gallery Tamura. Since then,her solo shows have taken place at various galleries, including Akiyama Gallery (Tokyo), M-gallery(Ashikaga, Tochigi), Galleria Finarte (Nagoya, Aichi), and Maki Fine Arts (Tokyo). Her recent soloexhibitions include Color Compensation 1, Open Studio Program 27 (2005, Fuchu Art Museum)and The Capital Room: Beyond Three Dimensional Logical Pictures vol.1 Yasuko TOYOSHIMA(2015, gallery αM). Her works have been presented at many group exhibitions, including ART
Photo: Osamu Kurihara

TODAY 1990 (1990, Takanawa Museum [now Sezon Museum of Modern Art]), Slanting House/
Statements by the Artists in Japan since 9.11 (2002, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo), TheYebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2017 Multiple Future (2017, Tokyo
Photographic Art Museum), Assembridge NAGOYA 2017 (2017, Former Minato Dormitory ofNagoya Custom), and Image Narratives: Literature in Japanese Contemporary Art (2019, The
National Art Center, Tokyo). She is a Professor at Tokyo Zokei University.

Information
Exhibition Period

Saturday, 9 December 2023 – Sunday, 10 March, 2024

ClosedMondays (except 8 Jan, 12 Feb), 28-31 Dec, 1 and 9 Jan, 13 Feb

Opening Hours

10 AM－6 PM (Tickets available until 30 minutes before closing.)

Admission

Adults – 1,400 Yen / University & College Students, Over 65 – 1000 Yen / High-school &Junior High-school Students – 600 Yen / Elementary School Students & younger – freeVenue

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Exhibition Gallery 1F

Organized by

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo operated by Tokyo Metropolitan
Foundation for History and Culture

Curated by

Yoshimi Chinzei (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)

Concurrent Exhibitions
MOT Annual 2023 | Synergies, or between creation and generationExhibition Gallery 3F and others（2 December 2023 – 3 March 2024）

MOT Collection
Collectioin Gallery（2 December 2023 – 10 March 2024）

Contact

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo｜ Public Relations (Kudo / Inaba / Uchibori)
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en*All Programs are subject to change.

3

Publicity Images

E-mail : mot-pr@mot-art.jp

MOT provides 18 publicity images to the press. Use of the images for any purpose requires prior permission of themuseum. To request any image/s, please send an email to mot-pr@mot-art.jp with the caption number of the desired
image. You shall be deemed to have consented to our terms and conditions by submitting the request.
Terms and Conditions
1. Each of the publicity images must be accompanied by its credit lines which are provided below.
2. Publicity images must be reproduced in their entirety and may not be cropped, detailed, overprinted, or altered.
3. You should send a proof copy to the museum before the final printing, broadcasting, and/or release for the fact checkand confirmation of the use of image/s and credit/s. You also should provide the museum with a copy of therespective magazine, newspaper, DVD, video file, website link, etc. after publication.
4. Secondary use of the image/s is strictly prohibited. The data of the image/s must be deleted once used forreproduction.

3. Color Compensation 1, 2005-,
Collection of the artist. Photo: Mitsuru
GOTO (Open Studio Program at Fuchu
Art Museum 2005)

2. Open Bank Account, 1996-, Collectionof the artist. Photo: Ken KATO

5. The Professional GO Players’Championship Series, 1992,
Collection of the artist.
Photo: Tadasu YAMAMOTO7. Script Horizontal #1,1999-, Collection of the artist

6. Ruler, 1996-1999, Collection of theartist. Photo: Yuichiro OMURA

9.
8. Restoration-Fabrication, 2003-2006,
Collection of the artist. Photo: Kenta HOSHINO

Contact

Cover-up Maneuvering 20120625,
2012, Museum of Contemporary
Art Tokyo. Photo: Ichiro OHTANI

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo｜ Public Relations (Kudo / Inaba / Uchibori)
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en*All Programs are subject to change.

4

10.

12. Precedent, 2015, Photo: Masaru YANAGIBA(Installation view, Museum of Contemporary ArtTokyo, 2019)11.

Panel #22, 2014, Collection of the artist.
Photo: Kenta HOSHINO

14. Rotation (Up, Down), 2018, M-gallery.
Photo: Yasuko TOYOSHIMA

13. Rotation (Left, Right) , 2018, M-gallery.
Photo: Yasuko TOYOSHIMA

15. The Copernican Theory 2020
Nalgae, 2020, Collection of theartist. Photo: Kenta HOSHINO

16. The Copernican Theory 2020
Aere, 2020, Private Collection.
Photo: Kenta HOSHINO

17. The Copernican Theory 2020 Noru,2020, Collection of Mr. Shunichiro Oka.
Photo: Kenta HOSHINO

18. Left: Enclosure 2 / Right: Enclosure Tail, 2021,
Private Collection. Photo: Tadasu YAMAMOTO

Contact

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo｜ Public Relations (Kudo / Inaba / Uchibori)
E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en*All Programs are subject to change.

5