The show, titled Sunrise in the West, features works by Koji Kamoji, Yoshio Nakajima and Keiji Uematsu, artists born in 1935, 1940, and 1947 respectively, who left Japan early in their careers and settled in different parts of Europe.
Kamoji made his home in Warsaw, Nakajima moved to Sweden, and Uematsu to what was then West Germany.
The exhibition opens at the Four Domes Pavilion, a contemporary art museum in Wrocław and a branch of the city's National Museum.
It includes both earlier pieces and more recent works. Some pieces were created specifically for the Wrocław show.
Piotr Oszczanowski, director of the National Museum in Wrocław, said the exhibition presents “the work of the most outstanding Japanese artists” who made what he described as a momentous life decision to leave their country and build their artistic lives in the West.
He added that their output has become “a kind of classic,” and that visitors will experience it “in the presence of the artists.”
One work will be completed by Nakajima during the opening reception on Saturday, according to the organizers.
Iwona Dorota Bigos, head of the Four Domes Pavilion and one of the curators, said the Wrocław project brings together artists who had not worked with each other before.
“Their paths crossed in some ways, but not enough for them to meet personally,” she said, adding that the team succeeded in arranging the encounter in the pavilion, and that the project generated “incredible energy.”
Bigos said the exhibition is not a linear survey of their careers and is not a retrospective. Instead, she described it as a story of a meeting between three distinct creative personalities whose careers began in Europe, and of a cultural crossing that can be seen in their art.
Co-curator Martin Schibli said the exhibition’s wider context is a cultural exchange that has continued since the 1960s, with roots that can be traced back to the 19th century.
He noted that the artists moved to Europe at a time when Japan was undergoing deep social change, and said the show invites reflection on how cultural exchange continues to shape contemporary artistic work.
Sunrise in the West runs through May 31.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP, wroclaw.tvp.pl