Past Exhibition

Printed Matters

Artists' Books

2006.9.4 - 9.22

In cooperation with a bookstore in Paris, the exhibition featured art works created overseas, especially from the 1960’s to 1970’s, the period when the word “Artist’s Books” was created. The exhibition also presented path-breaking works that set an example for “Artist’s Books”, together with Japanese “Artist’s Books”, 250 works in total. Since the “Artist’s Books” became established as an independent form of expression, this exhibition was meant to contribute to fostering the studies of “Artist’s Books”.

The exhibition consisted of the following.

Ⅰ. Works that set a precedent of Artist’s Books

From the early twentieth century, we find various artists creating works presented in the style of a book. Artists pursued works of this type through illustrated books, visual expressions in printed word, integrating image and text, and creating new books. The exhibition featured works produced by avant-garde artists in the 1960’s, those that had been created before the term “Artist’s Books” was officially defined.

Artists：Joseph Cornell, Marcel Duchamp, Natalia Gontcharova, Filippo Tomazo Marinetti, Kurt Schwitters.

Ⅱ. Artist’s Books by foreign artists

Focusing on the history of Contemporary art, such as: Conceptual art, Minimal art, FLUXUS, Concrete poetry, and Visual poetry―we exhibited Artist’s Books created during the two decades of 1960’s and 1970’s.

Artists whose works were shown: John Baldessari, Marcel Broodthaers, Christian Boltanski, Hamish Fulton, Joseph Kosuth, Sol Lewitt, Richard Long, Dieter Roth, Edward Ruscha, Lawrence Weiner.

Ⅲ. Artist’s Books by Japanese artists

Regardless of the fact that so many Japanese artists had appropriated books as a medium in their art before the War, the term “Artist’s Book” first gained recognition in Japan in the 1980’s only. Even today, the definition of the term is remains ambiguous. In this exhibition, we exhibited what we considered an “Artist’s Book”, as well as referential books, such as artists’ notes or a piece of a certain work. Furthermore, by displaying various kinds of books, such as illustrated books and illustrated poetry books, we aimed to show the specific aspects of “Japanese Artist’s Books”.

Artists：Shusaku Arakawa, Motoo Ando, Motoyuki Ito, Shinro Otake,Yoko Ono, On Kawara, Etsutomu Kashiwabara, Mitsuo Kano, Shozo Kitadai, Shigeko Kubota, Mieko Shiomi, Shohachiro Takahashi, Shuzo Takiguchi, Yuichi Tabuchi, Katuhito Nishikawa, Tatsuo Miyajima, Saburo Muraoka, Katsuhiro Yamaguchi.

IV. Reference

Books and catalogue raisonne relating to “Artists’ Books”