Past Exhibition｜SHISEIDO GALLERY

The Shiseido Gallery is pleased to announce the second exhibition of the Seventh Tsubaki-kai members, Tsubaki-kai 2014 — Shoshin (beginner's mind), to run April 10th (Thu) through May 25th (Sun), 2014.

The Tsubaki-kai artists’ exhibition group was created in 1947 to mark the post-war reopening of the Shiseido Gallery. The name “Tsubaki” comes from the Japanese word for “camellia,” the flower that has long been the symbol of the Shiseido. (“Kai” means “gathering” or “circle.”) In the decades since, the Tsubaki-kai exhibitions have become one of the Gallery’s most popular and representative activities.

The Seventh Tsubaki-kai started last year with the member, Genpei Akasegawa, Naoya Hatakeyama, Rei Naito, Zon Ito, and Ryoko Aoki.

The exhibition subtitle, “Shoshin,” is a theme pursued by the artists of the Seventh Tsubaki-kai. According to the New Shinmeikai Kokugo Jiten (Sanseido), the phrase “beginner's mind” (“shoshin” in Japanese) refers to that purity of thought and feeling occurring when one first sets out to do something new. The arts-wise 14th century Noh actor and playwright Zeami explained the expression “keep a beginner's mind” as maintaining, throughout all the stages of life, that same spirit of challenge first experienced when first taking up a new endeavor. In the wake of such an unexpected disaster as the earthquake on March 11th in 2011, the process of picking up the pieces and moving forward has furnished these new Tsubaki-kai members with an opportunity to reconsider questions like what a beginner's mind means, and what their reasons have been for creating things, and this mutual awareness among all of the members led them to select this as the theme for their coming exhibitions.

In this exhibition, each artist will be addressing this theme of the beginner's mind, creating and displaying works offering their artistic responses to it. We hope you will look forward to this year's Tsubaki-ai Exhibition

■Exhibiting Members

Genpei Akasegawa	Born in Yokohama in 1937, lives in Tokyo. He is a painter, writer, founding member of Rojo Kansatsu Gakkai (the Street Observers Society), avant-garde artist, iIllustrator, defendant of the famous “1000-Yen Bill Incident,” and in 1981 the winner of the 84th Akutagawa Literary Prize for Chichi ga Kieta (Father is Gone, written under pseudonym Katsuhiko Otsuji). In 1989 he collaborated with Hiroshi Teshigahara on the screenplay for the film Rikyu, which won an award for best screenplay from the Japan Academy Award. His published works include: Shinkai-san no Nazo (Mysteries of Shinkai) (Bungei Shunju); Chogeijutsu Tomason (Hyperart Thomasson) and Rojinryoku (Elderly Power) (both Chikuma Shobō), and Kojin Bijutsukan no Tanoshimi (The Pleasures of Private Art Museums) (Kobunsha Shinsho). His title phrase “rojinryoku” even entered the popular lexicon in 1998. Akasegawa’s most recent exhibitions include: Hanran Suru Imeji: Hangeijutsu Iko no Insatsu Media to Bijutsu at the Urawa Art Museum (2008); Akasegawa Genpei: Sampo no Shukaku at Yokohama Civic Art Gallery Azamino (2010); 2012–13 “TOKYO 1955–1970 / A New Avant-Garde” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and "Hi-Red Center: The documents of "Direct Action" at Nagoya City Art and The Shoto Museum of Art (2013-2014). His work has been collected by museums includeing the Nagoya City Art Museum, the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
Naoya Hatakeyama	Born in Rikuzentakata, Iwate in 1958, lives in Tokyo. He studied photography under Kiyoji Otsuji at the University of Tsukuba’s School of Art and Design, completed postgraduate studies there in 1984. Since then he has been based in Tokyo, focusing on photographic series showing relationships between nature, cities, and photography. In 2001 he exhibited along with Masato Nakamura and Yukio Fujimoto in the Japanese Pavilion at the 49th Venice Biennale. His work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Japan and abroad, including Naoya Hatakeyama: Natural Stories at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (2011) received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize of Fine Arts. In 2012, he participated in the Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale’s International Architecture exhibition (earning the Leone d'Oro award). His works have been collected by the museums includeing the National Museum of Art, Osaka, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (Paris), and the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).
Rei Naito	Born in Hiroshima in 1961. She earned a degree from Musashino Art University in 1985. She gained recognition for une place sur la Terre at the Sagacho Exhibit Space in 1991, and subsequently showed this work at the Japanese Pavilion at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997. Her major solo exhibitions have included: Migoto ni harete otozureru wo mate at the National Museum of Art, Osaka (1995); Being Called, Galerie im Karmeliterkloster, Frankfurt am Main (1997); Giving Back / Reconnaissance, Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum, Kyoto (2005); Matrix, Nizayama Forest Art Museum, Toyama (2007); Tout animal est dans le monde comme de l’ eau à l’ intèrieur de l’ eau, the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Kanagawa (2009). Permanent works include: Being given at Kinza, an Art House Project, Naoshima, Kagawa (2001); and matrix at Teshima Art Museum (2010). Her works have been collected by the museums including the National Museum of Art, Osaka, the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
Zon Ito	Born in Osaka in 1971, lives in Kyoto. He graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts with a BA in Conceptual and Media Art. He has presented a variety of styles of work including embroidered textiles, animation, drawing, and sculpture. His domestic and international exhibitions have included: The End of the Neighborhood at the WATARI-UM, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2003); Three Individuals: Zon Ito x Hajime Imamura x Yoshihiro Suda at the National Museum of Art, Osaka (2006); Louisa Bufardeci & Zon Ito at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2009); Primary Field II at the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama (2010); Ways of Worldmaking at the National Museum of Art, Osaka (2011); and Beppu mimicry (KASHIMA 2012 BEPPU ARTIST IN RESIDENCE), Oita (2012); Now Japan Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort (2013); and Isobe-yu Garou/ Isobe-yu Katsuyo Project, Maebashi (2013-2014). His works have been collected by museums including the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, WATARI-UM, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, the Takamatsu City Art Museum, and the National Museum of Art, Osaka.
Ryoko Aoki	Born in Hyogo in 1973, lives in Kyoto. She has an MFA from Kyoto University of Fine Art. Her works are often comprised of sketches of a variety of images including plants and animals, fragments of daily life, and geometric patterns. Her major solo exhibitions have included: CRITERIUM 51 at Art Tower Mito, Mito (2002); HAMMER PROJECT Ryoko Aoki at the UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2005); and Seeds of Wild Flower, On Sundays, Tokyo (2010). Her group exhibitions have included: Documenta 12 in Kassel (2007); The Door into Summer: The Age of Micropop, Art Tower Mito, Mito (2007), Winter Garden: The Exploration of the Micropop Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Art at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2009); Garden of Painting: Japanese Art of the 00s at the National Museum of Art, Osaka (2010); and You reach out-right now- for something: Questioning the Concept of Fashion, Art Tower Mito, Mito (2014). Her works have been collected by museums including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Takamatsu City Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.

■Photo Reference

Tsubaki-kai 2013
Photo by Naoya Hatakeyama

■Related Events

Special Talk:	Naoya Hatakeyama × Kiyokazu Washida (Philosopher, Director of sendai mediatheque / Professor at Otani University)
Date & Time:	May 9th, 2014 18:00 - 20:00
Venue:	Shiseido Hanatsubaki Hall (Shiseido Ginza Building 3F)
Capacity：	150 guests
Participation Fee： None
Inquiries：	The Shiseido Gallery (Tel 03-3572-3901 or Fax 03-3572-3951)

■Exhibition Details for Tsubaki-kai 2014 ― Shoshin

Organized by Shiseido Co., Ltd.
Duration：	April 10th (Thu) to May 25th (Sun), 2014
Location：	Shiseido Gallery Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building, B1, 8-8-3 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 Tel：03-3572-3901; Fax：03-3572-3951
Hours：	Weekdays 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM, Sundays and holidays 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM Closed Mondays (including holidays falling on Monday)
Admission is free

Exhibition View