Morioka Shoten, a pioneer of design educational picture books, and the Toda Design Laboratory, which transmits "things and things that move the heart" regardless of genre, is attracting attention as a "bookstore that holds exhibitions inspired by a single book." is cosponsored by Kichisaburo Toda, a nude painter who has been buried in the times, and will hold a retrospective exhibition "Is this a nude woman or a philosophy?"
Works will be exhibited at Ginza Morioka Shoten from November 15th (Tuesday) to November 20th (Sunday), 2022, and at Kanda Jimbocho Bumpodo Gallery from November 24th (Thursday) to November 29th (Tuesday), 2022. To do.
Prior to the retrospective exhibition, a special dialogue between Takenori Miyamoto (curator/associate professor at Tokyo University of the Arts) and Noriyuki Morioka (owner of Morioka Shoten) will be held at MUJI Ginza.
What is the question of an artist who struggles with the dangers of perceiving things by the world's standards and tries to pursue the truth through nude women? Morioka Shoten and Toda Design Laboratory, which go beyond the boundaries of books and publications, deliver a message that transcends time.
Kichisaburo Toda retrospective exhibition held
■Comment: On Kichisaburo Toda's retrospective exhibition
・In the 1950s, they lived together in an international student house in Paris and became close.
The years that exchanged so much.
Sketches and oil paintings of nude women that seem to have been drawn. Stuttering brush strokes. Earthy coloring.
I liked (Excerpt)
Western-style painter / Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of the Arts Gyoji Nomiyama
・It is a fertile place promised only to painters, where you can go back and forth between the finite life and the eternity of art. I believe that Kichisaburo Toda was a person who loved and thoroughly enjoyed this beach-like painting space. (Excerpt)
Curator/Associate Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts Takenori Miyamoto
・Looking at Kichisaburo Toda's nudes may be similar to looking at a mirror.
It seems that what is reflected there is the figure of a certain woman, and it is none other than the viewer's own feelings.
I can't help but feel that Kichisaburo Toda thought of his paintings in this way. (Excerpt)
Morioka Bookstore owner Noriyuki Morioka
・What is good and what is bad? where is the essence?
His way of life, which pursued the truth through naked women, may lead to our support, hope, and something else.
I feel that it is inevitable to hold a retrospective exhibition right now. (Excerpt)
Yasushi Toda, Representative of Toda Design Laboratory
*Click here for more information on the retrospective exhibition.
https://toda-design-column.blogspot.com/2022/09/blog-post_21.html
Nude woman drawn by Kichisaburo Toda
Nude woman drawn by Kichisaburo Toda
■What is painter Kichisaburo Toda?
Kichisaburo Toda (1928-2016) is a Western-style painter who has continued to paint nude women throughout his life, based on the belief that he "paints in pursuit of the truth." After graduating from Tokyo School of Fine Arts (currently Tokyo University of the Arts), he went to France to study in hopes of his future. Studied in Paris with Western-style painter Gyoji Nomiyama.
After returning to Japan, he appeared to be following a glamorous path as a painter, but turned his back on the trends and evaluations of the art world and immersed himself in creation. I shut myself up in a mountain hut, read philosophical books, and silently continued to paint nude women.
He didn't like to talk about his work himself, and it's difficult to keep track of when his work was produced, but it's true that he was well-received by some people involved in the arts.
He caught the eye of Mr. Shigetaro Fukushima, who is also famous for his Fukushima collection, and held a solo exhibition every year at the Form Gallery (a gallery established by Mr. Fukushima) until Mr. Fukushima passed away.
Art critic Mamoru Yonekura commented that Kichisaburo Toda's nudes were 'not flattering', and highly appreciated their essence.
The tranquility and warmth that floats from the nude woman, who has an air of majesty like the mountains. The signs of life and death and the pain that rises from the women drawn with rough lines. Kichisaburo Toda was a seeking painter who struggled with the dangers of perceiving things by the standards of the world and attempted to pursue the truth through naked women.
*For more information about Kichisaburo Toda, please visit the official website.
https://toda-design.com/?mode=f27
■ Opportunity for retrospective exhibition
Toda Design Laboratory, which planned a retrospective exhibition together with Morioka Shoten. The founder, Koshiro Toda (1931-2011), is the younger brother of Kichisaburo Toda. He was greatly influenced by his older brother Kichisaburo, and went on to design.
Kichisaburo, his older brother, is mastering his own style of painting. At the age of 51, his younger brother Koshiro turned from a designer into a picture book author. The brothers, who seemed to be close but chose different paths, repeatedly broke up and reconciled, and walked their own lives.
Yasushi Toda, the nephew of Kichisaburo Toda, is currently the head of the Toda Design Laboratory.
After learning that the bereaved family of Mr. Kichisaburo Toda had been thinking about holding a posthumous exhibition for several years, Toda Design Research was established as a company that delivers "things and things that move the heart" without being bound by the framework of publishing, even though it is a publisher. Muro decides to support.
We have welcomed Yoshiyuki Morioka, the owner of Morioka Shoten, as a partner who looks at the works of Kichisaburo Toda from an objective point of view and works together with us to deliver the appeal of his works.
■ Retrospective information
・ Morioka Bookstore Date: November 15th (Tuesday) to November 20th (Sunday), 2022
Location: 1-28-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Suzuki Building 1st floor Corridor Hours: 13:00-19:00 (until 18:00 on the last day) *Admission free
https://www.instagram.com/moriokashoten/
・ Bumpodo Gallery Date: November 24th (Thursday) to November 29th (Tuesday), 2022
Location: Bumpodo Building 4F, 1-21-1 Kanda Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Corridor hours: 10:00 to 18:30 (until 17:00 on the last day) *Admission free
http://www.bumpodo.co.jp/gallery/
■Related Event Special Talk "Canvas and Nudes: The Legacy of Kichisaburo Toda"
Takenori Miyamoto (curator/associate professor at Tokyo University of the Arts) x Yoshiyuki Morioka (owner of Morioka Shoten)
Date: November 9, 2022 (Wednesday) from 19:00 * Free to participate Location: MUJI Ginza 6th floor Application: Please apply below.
(Advance application capacity system. The deadline will be closed as soon as the capacity is reached.)
https://www.muji.com/jp/en/event/event_detail/?selectEventId=4666
[Toda Design Laboratory] From the press release