Contemporary Art Gallery

Twelve Japanese Artists from the Venice Biennale 1952-2001

October 5 (Sat.),2002,to December 8 (Sun.),2002

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The Venice Biennale, launched in 1895 to make cultural and humanitariancontributions internationally, is held every two years. No other international art festival has a longer history. There are two major characteristics of the Venice Biennale;
(1) Both individual-country exhibitions and cross-border pavilions are presented:
(2) Artists and artworks that are considered symbolic of the times are introduced in order to present artistic trends.

Japan participated in the Venice Biennale for the first time in 1952, at the 26th exhibition, and was the first Asian country to open its own pavilion, four years later. In the five decades since then, the circumstances experienced by Japan and the world have changed greatly. However, what has always been true is that artists are exerting themselves to explore new ways of expression, so as to expand the framework of art.

The current Art Tower Mito (ATM) exhibition displays the works of 12 Ibaraki-related artists who have participated in the Venice Biennale in the past. It attempts to show how a particular period of time is related to contemporary art, and introduces the diversity of artistic expressions in the latter 20th century, ranging from traditional Japanese painting to installations.