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
Telephone: +81 29-227-8111 Fax: +81 29-227-8130
E-mail address: webstaff@arttowermito.or.jp


"Warera no Jidai - Our Age"
Dec. 17, 2005 (Sat) to Feb. 5, 2006 (Sun)
Closed Mondays*
*Open on Jan. 9 (Mon), a national holiday, with the following Jan. 10 (Tue) taken off instead.
Year-end holiday: Dec. 26, 2005 (Mon) to Jan. 3, 2006 (Tue)

Entitled "Warera no Jidai - Our Age," the latest exhibition at Art Tower Mito (ATM) is a group exhibition focusing on 25 different artists chosen from a variety of genres by a selection committee, itself made up of people from various fields, including not just ATM's curators but also members from several other walks of life, such as academia, journalism, and the rest of the museum world. With an emphasis on the local region around Mito, the exhibition introduces both established artists who have demonstrated uniqueness in their careers, and younger artists who demonstrate great promise.

Ever since ATM opened in 1990, the Contemporary Art Center has introduced the works of many living artists from both Japan and abroad to Mito residents and other visitors. In those 15 years, contemporary art has engaged in a loose correspondence and exchange with other art genres and subcultures, and the rise of visual works (film, computer graphics, Internet, etc.) has accelerated the deepening of expressive forms. Despite the trend toward diversification, ATM instead has made it a point this time to select artists who have painstakingly explored and developed their own artistic styles, and even those who religiously follow orthodox techniques, as well as those artists who focus on the possibilities of ceramic expression and representation.

Altogether 25 artists have been chosen to participate in the "Warera no Jidai - Our Age" exhibition. The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, and installations, while also aiming to highlight certain other fields of expression that may have been overlooked in previous exhibitions of contemporary art at ATM. "Warera no Jidai - Our Age" thus represents an attempt to broadly reflect the various and multiple aspects of art today.


Participating Artists
Yousuke Amemiya
b. 1975
Installation
Image: "truth"
2005
Photo: Tanioka Yasunori 		Enpei Ito
b. 1976
Objets d'art
Image:
"Kawaita Tabi"
2005 		Motohiko Ito
b. 1939
Ceramics
Image: "Nunome Hasu-mon Torso Flower Vase"
2001
Photo: Hiroo Inada 		Toshiyuki Iwahori
b. 1972
Painting
Image: "Olive no Ki"
2005


Masaki Ono
b. 1973
Painting
Image: "CAFE in Mito"
2004 		Midori Kume
b. 1951
Ceramics
Image: "Kodai-ka"
2003
Photo: Minoru Hashimoto 		Masami Kobayashi

b. 1952
Ceramics
Image: "Mieta Akashi wa Sonzai sezu
2003 		Takashi Komine
b. 1955
Ceramics
Image: "Yuki furu no Ayakashi, Tsumoru Yuki no Maboroshi"
2004


Chiho Kouro
b. 1974
Installation
Image: "Hako-niwa Jikan"
2002
Photo: Mieko Matsumoto 		Toshiju Saito
b. 1963
Ceramics
Image: "archetype00021"
2000
Pohoto: Taku Saiki 		Rieko Sakurai
b. 1977
Painting
Image: "blind star"
2004 		Tsugio Shibata
b. 1957
Sculpture
Image: "OWL"
2005


Rinichi Suzuki
b. 1970
Painting/Objets d'art
Image: "Gunsui-bo Zu"
2005
Photo: Kenji Otani 		Hideo Tatsumi
b. 1940
Painting
Image: "Kappa/Namazu Sanzon
2003
Photo: Kenji Otani 		Kazuko Toda
Objets d'art
Image: "Maple Dream (incantation of love)"
2004 		Teiju Naito
b. 1957
Painting
Image: "Nangoku-so
2005


Yuki Nakaigawa
b. 1960
Ceramics
Image: "Shizukani Ugoki Tsuzukeru"
2001
Photo: Sadamu Saito 		Yasumi Nakano

b. 1975
Ceramics
Image: "Yaki-jime Hi-iro Rasen Tsubo"
2005 		Ikuo Nishinarita
b. 1954
Painting
Image: Solo exhibition "Symbiosis" at Gallery Abokke
2005
Photo: Kenji Otani 		Yoko Nishinarita
b. 1953
Installation
Image: "Kioku no Ryo iki 2005"
2005
Photo: Sadamu Saito


Shizuko Nemoto
b. 1959
Painting
Image: "Akai Mado"
2000 		Katsubumi Masuda
b. 1972
Objets d'art
Image: "untitled"
2003
Photo: Katsuhiko Matsumoto 		Takaharu Murayama
b. 1954
Painting
Image: "Seimei-ju (left)" and "Tsuki no Sakazuki (right)"
2002
Photo: Mineo Sakata 		Keiichi Yamada
1968
Objets d'art
Image: "alter"
2005
Photo: Wakui Toukichi

Yukio Yokosuka
b. 1954
Painting
Image: "01-07 (untitled)"
2002
Photo: Mareo Suemasa





Selection Committee members

Toshimitsu Isozaki, VP of Mito Arts Federation
Shinya Koizumi, Professor, Ibaraki University
Kiyoaki Morita, Secretary-general and curator at Joyo Geibun Center
Junya Omori, Curator, Hitachi City Folk Museum
Masaki Takahashi, Reporter, Ibaraki Shimbun
Toshiaki Terakado, Vice-director and head curator at Mito City Museum
Kazuko Todate, Senior curator, Ibaraki Prefecture Ceramics Museum
(In alphabetical order)




Exhibitions at Nearby Museums

Special Exhibition: Art in Mito Today 3 - Spaces Turned into Sculptures
Oct. 15 (Sat) to Dec. 18 (Sun), 2005
Venue: Mito City Museum


Dialogue 2006
Jan. 9 (Mon) to 15 (Sun), 2006
Venue: Ibaraki Kenmin Bunka Center
(Ibaraki Prefectural Citizens' Culture Center)



"Warera no Jidai - Our Age" Exhibition

Dec. 17, 2005 (Sat) to Feb. 5, 2006 (Sun)
Closed Mondays*
*Open on Jan. 9 (Mon), a national holiday, with the following Jan. 10 (Tue) taken off instead.
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (No admission after 5:30 p.m.)
Year-end holiday: Dec. 26, 2005 (Mon) to Jan. 3, 2006 (Tue)
Venue: Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito
Admission fee*: ¥800 General, ¥600 Advance Purchase, ¥600 Groups (20 or more)
Free Students through 9th grade
Free Senior citizens (65 or older)
Free Certified disabled persons
Tickets sold at ATM Entrance Hall Ticket Counter, as well as Midori-no-madoguchi ticket windows and View Plaza ticket offices at JR East train stations.
* Yearly Passes Also Available
ATM's Contemporary Art Gallery offers two passes that give holders admission to all exhibitions over a one-year period. They offer great value - won't you take advantage of them?
High-teen Pass (H.T.P.) ¥1,000 -- For young people between the age of 15 and 19.
Adult Pass ¥2,500 -- For@adults aged 20 to 64.
(Note: Senior citizens aged 65 or more always enjoy free admission to any ATM exhibition)



Upcoming Exhibition at ATM in Early 2006
"To the Human Future -- Flight from the Dark Side"
Feb. 25 (Sat) to May 7, 2006 (Sun)
Planner: Eriko Osaka (Curator, ATM Contemporary Art Gallery)
This exhibition poses questions about human dignity in the chaos of today's world, combining photographs by photojournalists with sculptures and other visual works such as film. Twelve artists from the United States, Britain, Japan and elsewhere have been invited to participate.


ATM Contemporary Art Gallery's
Pass for Adults
© Hiroko Ichihara
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.


HOME Concerts Tickets
Information Drama/Dance Membership
How to get to ATM Exhibitions



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

Copyright ©2005 MITO ARTS FOUNDATION. All Rights Reserved. Created by TK.
Mail to: webstaff@arttowermito.or.jp