GENPEI AKASEGAWA

Genpei Akasegawa was not only an artist who successfully transitioned from the avant-garde to the broader realm of popular culture but also an award-winning writer and photographer. He emerged in the Japanese art scene in the 1960s. He was initially involved in the radical ‘Anti-Art’ movement and later became a member of the influential artist collectives Neo-Dada and Hi Red Center.

The famous Model 1,000-Yen Note Incident (1963), which involved a real-life police investigation and trial, solidified his reputation as an inspired conceptualist. In 1986, Akasegawa, and his collaborators, including the Japanese architect Terunobu Fujimori, formed a new group called the Rojō Kansatsu Gakkai (Street Observation Society). Within this group, Akasegawa showcased a series of photographs featuring Tokyo's bizarre and overlooked architectural features. These structures, referred to by Akasegawa as 'Thommasons', were often disregarded by society but were repurposed by Akasegawa as objects of artistic value. In addition to his artistic work, Akasegawa was also a prolific writer and critic, having authored over 20 publications on art and culture. Among his critically acclaimed works is Father Has Disappeared (1981), which received the 84th Akutagawa Prize. Moreover, Akasegawa has had retrospective exhibitions at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Chiba City Museum, and Oita City Museum. Furthermore, his work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

When shadows cross border 46/50

GENPEI AKASEGAWA

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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2019: Heroes and People in the Japanese Contemporary Art, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, Japan
2018: 1968: Art in the Turbulent, Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, Japan
2016: L’image volée (The Stolen Image), Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy
2015: The Principles of Art by Genpei Akasegawa, Chiba City Museum, Chiba ; Oita City Museum, Oita ; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
2013-2014: Hi-Red Center: the Documents of Direct Action, Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya; Shoto Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
2012: Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
1999: Out of Actions/Between Performance and the Object, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan ; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA
Global Conceptualism, Queens Museum of Art, New York, USA
Worthless, Moderna Galerija Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Republic of Slovenia
1994-1995: Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Kanazawa, Japan ; Guggenheim Art Museum Soho, New York ; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
1986: Japon des avant-gardes 1910-1970, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1985: Reconstruction: Avant-Garde Art in Japan 1945-1965, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK; Edinburgh Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA / Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA / The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan / The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan / Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan / Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design, Toyama, Japan / The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Japan / Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, Japan / Nagoya City Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan / Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan

BIBLIOGRAPHY & AWARDS

1998: Essay, The Power of the Elderly, received the Best-known Award in 2001
1993: Novel, Fairy Sakura, Laity Sakura, received JTB Travel Literature Award
1990: Screenplay, Rikyu, was nominated Screenplay of the Year, the Japan Academy Film Prize
1987: Essay, The Adventures on the Streets of Tokyo, received the Essay Award of Kodansha Ltd.
1983: Novel, Yukino, received the New Writer Award of the Noma Literary Prize
1981: Novel, My Father Disappeared, received the 84th Akutagawa Prize
1979: Novel, Touch of Your Skin, received the New Writer Award of Chuokoron-sha

GENPEI AKASEGAWA

ARTWORKS

MAJOR EXHIBITIONS, COLLECTIONS

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