Special Exhibition

For some time, the contemporary artist Tadanori Yokoo has been working on a series based on Hanshan and Shide, a traditional subject matter in East Asian painting. This series includes over one-hundred paintings that Yokoo created specifically for this exhibition, which will be displayed for the very first time. Hanshan and Shide were Zen poet-monks who allegedly lived during China’s Tang dynasty (618–907). They have been celebrated in both China and Japan for their erratic behavior and apparent madness — considered by some as a sign of spiritual enlightenment.

Yokoo continued to work on the series during the coronavirus pandemic and created over one-hundred paintings based on Hanshan and Shide in an atelier secluded from the mundane world, echoing these legendary figures’ transcendent lives. This series traverses various realms, weaving a dazzling tale that truly transcends space and time. The largest series in Yokoo’s career, it poses countless questions to its viewers, like a mirror that shows a different reflection every time.

Minami Yamashiro is an area in the southernmost part of Kyoto Prefecture with the Kizu River flowing through its center. It was briefly home to the capital of Japan during the Nara period (710–794), and a distinctive Buddhist culture with large temples and deep ties to the nobility developed in the area. During the Heian period, the creation of nine Amida sculptures based on the nine stages of transmigration became popular, and the sculptures at Jōruriji, also known as Kutaiji, are the only extant sculptures of this kind today. The area is also known for distinctive sandalwood sculptures from Kaijūsenji Temple, which overlooks the ruins of the former capital from the mountains, and the large main image of Zenjōji Temple, which was founded by a monk of Tōdaiji Temple.

This exhibition commemorates the completion of the conservation of the nine Amida sculptures of Jōruriji, and explores the history and culture of Minami Yamashiro through it Buddhist sculptures.

The Yamato-e genre of painting was established in the early Heian period and remained popular while undergoing dramatic changes throughout time. While often viewed as an orthodox genre, artists of different eras frequently incorporated the latest painting trends in their Yamato-e paintings. In fact, their constant innovations can be considered to be a major characteristic of the genre.

This exhibition introduces a selection of outstanding Yamato-e paintings from the Heian to the Muromachi period. These works were created over a period of over a thousand years, and even though they inherited the traditional Yamato-e aesthetics of the imperial court, they were also highly innovative. The collection of paintings exhibited in this exhibition can be considered a textbook of Japanese art, and provides a comprehensive overview of the magnificent development of the genre of Yamato-e.