Mito no Kaze 2007 (English) / Contemporary Art Center, ATM

Contemporary Art Center/Gallery, ART TOWER MITO Mito Arts Foundation 1-6-8 Goken-cho, Mito-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 310-0063 Japan Click for transportation directions Phone: +81 29-227-8111 Facsimile: +81 29-227-8130 E-mail address: webstaff@arttowermito.or.jp

40th Annual Mito City Art Festival, "Mito no Kaze (Wind of Mito) 2007"
May 19, 2007 (Sat) to June 17, 2007 (Sun), except Mondays

In commemoration of the 40th Mito City Art Festival, Art Tower Mito (ATM) is holding the "Wind of Mito 2007" exhibition. Besides sponsoring the Ikebana Exhibition for the annual Mito City Art Festival Art Exhibition, ATM has so far sponsored several related exhibitions focusing on regional artistic activities, such "Dialogos" in 1996, "Wind of Mito 2001" in 2001, "Warera no Jidai(Our Age)" in 2005. The "Mito no Kaze (Wind of Mito) 2007" exhibition is being held in the same spirit.

This year's exhibition focuses on Mito and its vicinity, introducing the activities of 23 specially selected artists from the fields of painting, sculpture, applied fine art, and calligraphy.

There will be two broad divisions of the exhibition. The first corner looks at the work of 14 artists currently living and working in Mito City and its vicinity, including Seiji NOJIMA, who just recently became a member of the Japan Art Academy Member. The second corner celebrates the 40th year since the Mito City Art Festival started in 1968, focusing on nine deceased artists who contributed to the promotion of art in Mito during their lifetimes.

It would make us very glad if a visit to the two sections of the exhibition would give you a survey of the art world of Mito, both past and present, as this region has produced so much cultural talent.


Seiji NOJIMA "Jiai -Komorebi-" 2004 Musesum of Modern Art,Ibaraki		Seiichi GOTO "Yo-ei" 1953 Mito City Museum		Tadashi ISAKA "Bunmei no Ato (Sri Lanka)" 2006		Toshimitsu ISOZAKI "Miyama" 2006

Exhibition Details

Name: 40th Mito City Art Festival, "Wind of Mito 2007"
Period: May 19, 2007 (Sat) to June 17, 2007 (Sun), except Mondays
Times: 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (no entry after 5:30 p.m.)
Venue: Art Tower Mito (ATM) Contemporary Art Gallery

Admission: ¥800 General, ¥600 Advance Purchase, Groups (20 or more)
Free Students through 9th grade, Seniors 65 and older, Persons with certified disabilities
Ticket purchase: Ticket Counter, ATM Entrance Hall
*One-year Free Pass: One-year passes are also available for purchase at the ATM Entrance Hall Ticket Counter.
The H.T.P. (High-teen Pass) for young people aged 15 to 19 costs ¥1,000, and the Adult Pass for adults aged 20 to 64 can be bought for ¥2,500.

Organizers: Mito Arts Foundation, City of Mito, Mito City Board of Education
Sponsors: NHK Mito, THE IBARAKI SHIMBUN
Grant from: Asahi Beer Arts Foundation
Cooperation: Asahi Breweries, Ltd. , Mito Artists' Association, Mito City Museum, SOUM Corporation

Planning: Toshihiro ASAI (senior curator, Art Tower Mito Contemporary Art Center)

Profiles of Artists

(14 living artists, listed alphabetically)
|
|-- Shiyo FUKUSHIMA (b. 1950, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Member of Sculpture Division, Nika Association
|
|-- Shiro HIRATO (b. 1940, Hokota City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Member of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition), Member of Japan Sculpture Association,
| Member of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition
|
|-- Juhaku INOUE (b. 1941, Kyoto)
| Regular Member of Association of Contemporary Industrial Artists,
| Vice-Chairman of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition
|
|-- Tadashi ISAKA (b. 1929, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Member (Judge) and Trustee of Nika Association, Head of Ibaraki Branch of Nika Association,
| Vice-Chairman of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition, Guest Lecturer at Japan Art Professional School
|
|-- Toshimitsu ISOZAKI (b. 1942, Hitachi-Naka City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Director of Toko-kai, Member of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition),
| Vice-Chairman of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition
|
|-- Hirobumi MACHIDA (b. 1953, Iwama Town (later merged into Kasama City), Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Trustee of Kofu-kai, Commissioned Member of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition),
| Member of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition, Executive Member of Mito City Artists Federation
|
|-- Masami MATSUDA (b. 1939, Yotsuya, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo)
| Regular Member and Trustee of Association of Contemporary Applied Fine Artists,
| Friend of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition), Member of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition, Trustee of Ibaraki Applied Fine Arts Association,
| Professor Emeritus at Ibaraki University
|
|-- Seiji NOJIMA (b. 1941, Asakusa, Taito Ward, Tokyo)
| Member of The Japan Art Academy, Director and Judge of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition),
| Auditor of Japan Sculpture Association, Chairman of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition
|
|-- Masaru SHIMIZU (b. 1947, Daigo Town, Kuji-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Commissioned Member of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition), Trustee of Kofu-kai,
| Member of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition, Director of Mito City Exhibition
|
|-- Ryozo SUTOH (b. 1930, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Former Director of Mito Artists Federation, Former Chairman of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition Committee,
| Advisor to Daiichi Art Association
|
|-- Toshiyuki SUZUKI (b. 1935, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Judge of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Festival Art Exhibition
|
|-- Noriko TANAKA (b. 1956, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Member of Daiichi Art Association, Member of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Festival Art Exhibition,
| Member of Ibaraki Art Crafts Association
|
|-- Kohkaku YAMAUCHI (b. 1953, Tamatsukuri Town, Namegata-gun (merged later into Namekata City), Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Friend of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition), Director of Yomiuri Shoho-kai, Member of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition,
| Executive Member of Nihon Shosaku-in, Permanent General Secretary of Ryuho Calligraphy Association
|
|-- Tesshi YOSHIZAWA (b. 1954, Satomi Village, Kuji-gun (merged later into Hitachi-Ohta City), Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Friend of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition), Director and Judge of Yomiuri Shoho-kai Calligraphy Exhibition,
| Vice-Director of Nihon Shosaku-in, Vice-Chairman of Ibaraki Prefecture Chinese-style Poetry Federation,
| Member and Judge of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Festival Art Exhibition, Executive Member and Executive Director of Ibaraki Calligraphy Art Foundation,
| Leader of Shokai-sha

(9 deceased artists, listed alphabetically)
|
|-- Seiichi GOTOH (1893-1984, born in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Trustee of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition), Professor at Tokiwa Gakuen Junior College
|
|-- Kazuo KAKURAI (1919-95, born in Yokohama, moved to Mito City)
| Member of The Japan Art Academy Member, Executive Member of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition)
|
|-- Seira KANBARA (1906-98, born in Kami-Nakazuma Village (merged later into Mito City))
| Friend of The Japan Art Institute
|
|-- Natsuo KIDO (1914-99, born in Takahagi (now Takahagi City), Matsubara Town, Taga-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Chairman of Toto-kai, Chairman of Ibaraki Art Crafts Association;
| received Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon and 5th Class Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Emperor
|
|-- Kunio KOMORI (1917-93, born in Asakusa, Taito Ward, Tokyo)
| Member of The Japan Art Academy, Executive Director of Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition);
| received Mito City Cultural Medal of Honor
|
|-- Hikaru OMATA (1919-78, born in Hitachi-Ohta City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Member of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition Steering Committee, Judge of Ibaraki Prefecture Art Exhibition Western-style Art Division,
| Judge and Steering Committee Member of Mito City Art Festival's Art Exhibition
|
|-- Atsushi SAKAIZUMI (1910-2006, born in Mitsukaido City (later merged into Joso City), Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Recognized by Minister of Education as a contributor to regional culture
|
|-- Nanchu SEKI (1911-92, born in Kamishizaki, Ibaraki Town, Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Chairman of Mito City Social Education Committee, Chairman of Mito City Cultural Promotion Council,
| Chairman of Ibaraki Japan-Germany Culture Council; received 3rd Class Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Emperor
|
|-- Tesseki YOSHIZAWA (1926-86, born in Satomi Village (later merged into Hitachi-Ohta City), Ibaraki Prefecture)
| Judge of Yomiuri Shoho-kai Calligraphy Exhibition, Judge of New Artists Exhibition of Yomiuri Shoho-kai Calligraphy Exhibition

Related Events

Weekend Gallery Talk
"Gallery Talkers," docents from the Contemporary Art Center (CAC), will lead you through the exhibition and give you their insight.
Dates: June 2 (Sat) to 17 (Sun), 2007
Time: Every weekend from 2:30 to 3:10 p.m. (approx. 40 mins.)
Fee: Included in the exhibition admission.
* Note: May be canceled on certain days owing to unforeseen circumstances.

Walk with Your Child through the Contemporary Art Gallery
Dates: June 1 and 15 (both Fri), 2007
Times: 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Capacity: 5 parent/child pairs (first-come, first-served; apply by telephone)
Qualifications: Preschool children and their parents/guardians
Fee: None (exhibition admission fee must be paid)
Application deadline: 3 days before the event each time

ATM Contemporary Art Gallery's
Pass for Adults

A pass has been designed for adults aged 20 and older, letting the holder make an unlimited number of visits to the Contemporary Art Gallery's exhibitions for one year from the date of purchase.
The price is ¥2,500 The artwork on the pass has been designed by Hiroko Ichihara, an artist who incorporates words in her works. The logo on the pass reads: "Contemporary art -- as easy as pie." The pass is on sale at the ticket counter in Art Tower Mito.

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Translated by Paul T. Narum
(official names of exhibitions and artworks are furnished by the artists and planners themselves)

Copyright ©2007 MITO ARTS FOUNDATION. All Rights Reserved. Created by TK.
Mail to: webstaff@arttowermito.or.jp