Ginza Graphic Gallery (ggg, Ginza, Tokyo) February 12th – March 26th, 2026
The DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion, a public interest incorporated foundation, will hold the exhibition "Polish Master Jan Lenica: Posters, Animation, Illustrations, and Stage" at the Ginza Graphic Gallery (ggg, Ginza, Tokyo) from Thursday, February 12, 2026 to Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Special exhibition poster Design: Yoshihisa Shirai
About the "Polish Master Jan Lenica: Posters, Animation, Illustrations, and Stage" Exhibition
Polish poster art has been internationally acclaimed for its innovative expression and has been heralded as the "Polish School." From the mid-1950s, under the communist regime following World War II, a new generation of artists, along with film, began to promote free expression, free from the constraints of socialist realism. Jan Lenica rose to prominence alongside Roman Cieslewicz and Henryk Tomaszewski.
Jan Lenica won the Gold Medal at the prestigious 1st Warsaw International Poster Biennale in 1966, and became a household name in Japan as well. The humor glimpsed within the boldness of his visual expression creates a unique worldview.
He is best known for the numerous film and theater posters he created throughout his life, but he was also passionate about animation. By deliberately limiting the number of frames, his collage-like images become even more original stages, within which slightly sinister characters comically roam, creating a truly surreal and mysterious world. Jan Lenica also achieved great success as an animation artist.
In addition to these posters and animation film artwork, this exhibition will also feature Jan Lenica's previously unseen creations, such as the caricatures he produced for magazine illustrations, which he produced in large numbers in the early days of his career, as well as original stage designs and character drawings. A selection of Lenica's works from the archives of the National Museum in Poznań, his hometown, will dance at the ggg in Tokyo.
Event Overview
- Dates: Thursday, February 12th, 2026 – Thursday, March 26th, 2026, 11:00-19:00
- Venue: Ginza Graphic Gallery (ggg) (DNP Ginza Building, 7-7-2 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
- Closed: Sundays and public holidays
- Admission fee: Free
- Cooperation: National Museum in Poznan, Polish Information and Cultural Center
Related publications: "gggBooks 143 Jan Lenica" (published February 12, 2026)
– Foreword: Anna Grabowska-Kovento (Curator of the Poster and Graphic Design Gallery at the National Museum in Poznań)
・Published by: DNP Cultural Promotion Foundation
About Jan Lenica (1928-2001)
Poster/graphic artist, animation film director, draftsman, stage designer, and illustrator. Born in Poznan, Poland on January 4, 1928. Graduated from the Department of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology. His cartoons began appearing in Polish newspapers in 1945, and in 1950 he created his first posters for film and theater. He also worked on book illustrations, picture books, and writing papers on poster theory, as well as stage design. He began creating animation films in 1957. From 1954 to 1956, he was an assistant to Henryk Tomaszewski at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. In 1963, he left Poland and moved to Paris. In 1974, he taught at Harvard University in the United States. From 1979 to 1985, he was head of the animation film department at the University of the Arts Kassel in Germany, and from 1986 to 1994, he was a professor at the University of the Arts Berlin. He lived in Berlin from 1986, and passed away on October 5, 2001.
01: Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" / Opera Poster / 1964, 1965 First Edition
02: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Don Giovanni" / Opera Poster / 1976
03: Jan Lenica Exhibition, Hamburg Museum of Arts and Crafts / Exhibition Poster / 1991
04: Jan Lenica (Culture News No. 38) / Drawing / 1996
05: Cleaning Your Head / Caricature / 1957
06: Labyrinth: Flying Man / Artwork for an animated film / 1962
07: Jan Lenica
Collection of National Museum in Poznań and Private collection, deposit in the National Museum in Poznań ©ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2026 G4080
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