INDEX
Exploring Art Week Tokyo: Tips from TaiTan
From November 7 to 10, Art Week Tokyo (AWT) will take place. This annual big event features 53 of Tokyo’s leading museums and galleries, with a free shuttle bus (AWT BUS) operating throughout the duration. How would you plan your route for Art Week Tokyo?
TaiTan: If I were to organize a gallery tour for AWT, I would start at the Watarium Museum, then head to NANZUKA UNDERGROUND (Harajuku), TARO NASU (Roppongi), XYZ Collective (Sugamo), and finally SCAI THE BATHHOUSE (Yanaka).
SIDE CORE Exhibition | Concrete Planet
SIDE CORE is an art team that develops art projects in public spaces and on the streets. Their works include photographs taken using unique methods of highways, railway tracks, and underground waterways, as well as installations featuring materials such as streetlights, guardrails, and construction signs found in public spaces. They also create documentary videos of a mouse doll wandering through the streets of Tokyo at night. By focusing on the unique public nature and systems of the city, they create works through intervention and negotiation. Their expression methods are continually expanding and evolving, gaining increasing attention. This exhibition marks their first major solo exhibition in Tokyo. The showcased works will revolve around the themes of perspective, action, and storytelling, extending beyond the gallery to the surrounding environment. Additionally, during the exhibition period, members will conduct a tour called “night walk,” where they will explain the history of the city and street art while walking through the streets.
Exhibition Period: August 12, 2024 (Monday / Substitute Holiday) to December 8, 2024
Address: 3-7-6 Jingumae, Shibuya City
URL: http://www.watarium.co.jp/
TaiTan: Since this is SIDE CORE’s first major solo exhibition in Tokyo, I came to see it privately on the second day after the opening. I wanted to take my time to really appreciate the works, so I was thrilled to hear explanations directly from the artists today.
Roby Dwi Antono’s “Lunar Rituals” Venue: NANZUKA UNDERGROUND
Roby Dwi Antono, born in 1990 in Indonesia, is an artist based in Yogyakarta. From a young age, he showed a strong interest in drawing, and his extraordinary talent flourished with the support of his parents, who allowed him to freely doodle on the walls of their home. Without any formal art education, Antono honed his skills through observation, surpassing many in his ability to draw beautifully. His talent as an artist blossomed in 2012 with the success of an exhibition organized by a friend.
Many of his works have been heavily influenced by the styles of artists he admires, such as Mark Ryden and Yoshitomo Nara. At the same time, his pieces depict a unique worldview using spray paint on monochromatic bases. The childlike figures he creates evoke memories of his roots, while their androgynous appearances suggest an aesthetic of ambiguity.
Exhibition Period: October 18 (Friday) – November 17 (Sunday), 2024
Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays
Address: 3-30-10 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo
URL: NANZUKA
TaiTan: NANZUKA has a reputation for showcasing wonderful artists from both Japan and abroad, and I always feel excited every time I visit. I’m particularly fond of the sculptures by Ryuuichi Ohira, one of their represented artists.
Jonathan Monk & Salvo “Salvo Stage Sets” Venue: TARO NASU
An exhibition by British artist Jonathan Monk and Italian painter Salvatore Mangione. Known as “Salvo,” Mangione began his career in the early 1960s, selling inexpensive portraits, landscapes, and forgeries of famous works to make a living. On the other hand, Monk has been presenting a series titled “Salvo Trees,” inspired by Salvo, since 2016. Monk prints images of Salvo’s landscapes onto A4-sized paper, magazine ads, and canvases, selectively leaving only the trees from the original works while painting over the backgrounds. As an artist who has traditionally utilized “appropriation” as a technique, he focuses on the concept of repetition here, providing a new perspective on Salvo’s art while also reflecting his own approach. This exhibition will showcase the latest works from the “Salvo Trees” series, along with pieces by Salvo.
Exhibition Dates: October 19, 2024 (Saturday) – November 16, 2024 (Saturday)
Address: 4F Pyramide Building, 6-6-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku
URL: TARO NASU
TaiTan: I got interested in TARO NASU after checking it out at “TOKYO GENDAI.”
Be Ingrid Olsson Exhibition Venue: XYZ Collective
This exhibition features Chicago-based artist Be Ingrid Olsson. She continues to explore the boundaries between the body and space by incorporating elements of photography, sculpture, and performance. In her photographic works, the artist’s performative body is presented fragmentarily alongside peculiar props and construction materials. The bold framing, often using mirroring or a first-person perspective, creates layered images that may confuse the viewer’s perception. However, at the same time, one can glimpse the artist’s playful curiosity and her productive attitude toward the discrepancies between intention and interpretation. Olsson was born in 1987, and in 2024, she is presenting her work at events such as the Whitney Biennial 2024 (Whitney Museum, New York). This solo exhibition is expected to feature entirely new works.
Exhibition Period: October 26, 2024 (Saturday) – November 24, 2024 (Sunday)
Address: B02, 2-13-4 Sugamo, Toshima City, Tokyo
URL: xyzcollective.jp
TaiTan: XYZ Collective was recommended to me by my friend Yuuma Kishi, an AI artist, with whom I sometimes visit exhibitions. I find it intriguing that the gallery is artist-run and engages in alternative activities, making it the gallery I most want to visit during “Art Week Tokyo.”
AWT FOCUS “Earth, Wind, and Fire: Imagining the Future from Asia” Venue: Okura Shukokan
Launched in 2023, “AWT FOCUS” is a “buyable exhibition” that combines two experiences: viewing artworks in museums and purchasing works in galleries. Each year, the exhibition is curated around a different theme, and all exhibited works are available for purchase.
The curator for the second edition in 2024 is Mami Kataoka, the director of the Mori Art Museum and the National Art Research Center. Titled “Earth, Wind, and Fire: Imagining the Future from Asia,” the exhibition focuses on an Asian worldview that observes the world from perspectives of natural laws and invisible energies, rather than human-made classifications or governance through political and economic power. It aims to envision a future where diversity coexists.
Dates: November 7 (Thursday) – November 10 (Sunday), 2024
Location: Okura Shukokan, Floors 1 and 2 / 2-10-3 Toranomon, Minato-ku
URL: https://www.artweektokyo.com/focus/
AWT VIDEO “Contrails or Mountain Ranges” Venue: Earth Garden, 1st Floor, Mitsui Sumitomo Bank East Building / Marunouchi, Chiyoda
“AWT VIDEO” is a video program showcasing carefully selected video works curated by a director based overseas. Set in a public space that allows for free entry, anyone can enjoy the artworks at no cost. In 2024, the program will be curated by Sohrab Mohebbi, director of the SculptureCenter in New York. Titled “Are Those Contrails or Mountains?”, it will feature 14 works by 13 artists.
Dates: November 7 (Thursday) – November 10 (Sunday), 2024
Location: 1-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo
URL: https://www.artweektokyo.com/video/
TaiTan: Since I occasionally buy art, I’m really interested in AWT FOCUS (Toranomon), which blends the experience of viewing artwork in museums with the opportunity to purchase pieces in galleries. It sounds like a great plan to check out AWT FOCUS and the video program “AWT VIDEO” before making my way from the west side of Tokyo to the east.
TaiTan’s Recommended Route on the AWT BUS
Click here for the AWT BUS map
Watarium Museum (Jingumae)
↓NANZUKA UNDERGROUND (Harajuku)
↓TARO NASU (Roppongi)
↓AWT FOCUS (Toranomon)
↓AWT VIDEO (Otemachi)
↓XYZ Collective (Sugamo)
↓Sky the Bathhouse (Nezu)
Art Week Tokyo
Event Name: Art Week Tokyo (English: Art Week Tokyo, Abbreviation: AWT)
Dates: November 7 (Thursday) – November 10 (Sunday), 2024, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Venue: Participating museums and galleries in Tokyo, AWT FOCUS, AWT BAR, and other program venues
Organizer: General Incorporated Association Contemporary Art Platform
Partnership: Art Basel
Special Cooperation: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Official Website: https://www.artweektokyo.com/
