Shiko Munakata (1903-1975) was a printmaker who gained international acclaim as the "Munakata of the World," including winning an award at the Venice Biennale.
The image of Munakata working single-mindedly on the printing block is etched in the memories of many people.
The three areas where Munakata lived or used as his creative base - Aomori, Tokyo, and Toyama - had a major influence on the formation of his art.
To commemorate the 120th anniversary of Munakata's birth, the exhibition will focus on Munakata's connections with the regions of Toyama, Aomori, and Tokyo, and introduce the wide-ranging activities of Munakata, who crossed over into various fields such as woodblock prints, Japanese paintings, and oil paintings, and who freely ran across the "media" unique to his era, from book design, illustrations, and wrapping paper designs, to film, television, and radio appearances, and will reconsider what kind of artist Munakata Shiko was.
This major retrospective exhibition explores the possibilities of woodblock prints, from palm-sized postcards to large murals in public architectural spaces, and traces the journey of "Munakata of the World" from its creation to becoming a social phenomenon through a variety of media.
120th Anniversary of the Birth of Shiko Munakata: The Making of Munakata
