It’s Our Permanent Collection!

Press Release 2016/04/14

May 28 (Saturday) – August 21 (Sunday), 2016[1] Izumi Kato, Untitled, 2008
wood, acrylic paint, oil, stone
185 × 167 × 110 cm
Photo: Ikuhiro Watanabe

A Place for Contemporary Art
For the first time since the Hara Museum's 35th anniversary in 2014 the entire museum space will be
devoted to its permanent collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings and video works. Since its inception
in 1979, the Hara Museum has amassed more than 1,000 artworks representing a rich cross section ofartists from Japan and around the world. This show features works in a variety of mediums by such artists
as Tadanori Yokoo, Izumi Kato, Christo and Jeanne-Claude and William Kentridge, as well as a rare early
work by Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist known for his social activism, and paintings by the Japanese artist
and naturalized Brazilian citizen Tomie Ohtake, a leading figure in the Brazilian art world who sadly
passed away the year before last.
A Home, Then a Museum
The Hara Museum opened in 1979 as one of the first contemporary art museums in Japan. It was
originally a private residence built in 1938 by Jin Watanabe, who also designed the main gallery of theTokyo National Museum (then called the "Imperial Household Museum"). Tracing gentle arcs that encircle
the courtyard garden are the museum's buildings, a rare example of Western Modernist architecture in
Japan. It ranks with the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum as a former Western-style residence built in
the 1930s that was later turned into a museum. Unlike large museums, which are superb in their own way,
the scale and age of these residential museums make them unique settings for the experience of art. Inevery exhibition, special attention is given to the dialog between the artworks and the museum space in away that allows the visitor to enjoy both at the same time.
Artworks in the Nooks and Crannies
Inside the museum, living spaces such as bedrooms and living room have become galleries for anever-changing array of art, while bathrooms, washrooms and other small spaces have been transformed
into permanent installations by Yasumasa Morimura, Yoshitomo Nara, Tatsuo Miyajima, Yoshihiro Suda,Yasuhiro Suzuki and Jean-Pierre Raynaud. These cubbyhole artworks, though easy-to-overlook, are an
integral part of the museum that can be enjoyed at all times during the museum's operating hours.
Outdoors, dotting the gardens are permanent installations by such artists as Lee Ufan, Hiroshi Sugimoto,
Kimiyo Mishima and Adriana Varejão.

EventsDuring each exhibition, the Hara Museum holds a variety of events in its multipurpose venue The Hall andcourtyard garden. Mark your calendars for the following two.
・Kuniko Kato Concert－Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt June 3 (Friday) and 4 (Saturday)
・Hitoshi Toyoda Slide Show August 13 (Saturday) and 14 (Sunday)
Guided Tours
Free Japanese-language tours are given by a museum curator every Sunday and national holiday,
starting at 2:30 and lasting about 30 minutes. No reservation is required. Free mini-tours in English arealso available on a periodic basis. Please enquire at the admission counter on the day of your visit.
[Exhibition Details]
Title: It’s Our Permanent Collection!
Dates: May 28 (Saturday) - August 21 (Sunday), 2016
Venue: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (Galleries I and II)
4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0001 Tel: 03-3445-0651
E-mail: info@haramuseum.or.jp Website: http://www.haramuseum.or.jp
Mobile site: http://mobile.haramuseum.or.jp Blog: http://www.art-it.asia/u/HaraMuseum
Twitter: http://twitter.com/haramuseum (in Japanese only / account name: @haramuseum)
Organized by: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Hours: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, Wednesdays until 8:00 pm (except national holiday / last entry 30 minutes
before closing)
Closed: Mondays (except July 18), July 19
Admission: General 1,100 yen; Students 700 yen (high school and university) or 500 yen (elementaryand junior high); Free for Hara Museum members, students through high school every Saturday during
the school term; 100 yen discount per person for groups of 20 or more.
Directions to the museum: 5 minutes by taxi or 15 minutes on foot from JR Shinagawa Station(Takanawa exit); or from the same station take the No.96 bus, get off at the first stop (Gotenyama), andwalk 3 minutes[Images for Publication]*Please indicate the image number when requesting publicity images. Those images will then be sent by
a museum staff member at a later date.
* Please include the related credit for each image used. Images should not be trimmed, altered orsuperimposed with text.

[2]

[3]

[2] Tadanori Yokoo, DNF: Anya Kouro City of Insomnia, 2001
[3] Ai Weiwei, Mao Images 1, 1985

acrylic on canvas

acrylic on canvas 182.0 x 227.5ｃｍ

167.4 x 146.5 cm

[4]

[5]

[4] Yoshitomo Nara, My Drawing Room, 2004～[5] Hiroshi Sugimoto, Art Brooms, 2012

[6][6] Exterior view of the Entrance

mixed media

bamboo, etc.

Photo: Keizo Kioku

Photo and Copyright: Hiroshi Sugimoto Studio[7]

Photo: Osamu Watanabe[7] Former Hara Residence in 1938

For publicity materials, please contact the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (Watanabe, Kajita) by telephone or e-mail.
Tel: +81-3-3280-0679 Fax: +81-3-5791-7630 E-mail: press@haramuseum.or.jp
4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0001