Overview
‘Glass Tea House - KOU-AN’ which made its debut at the 54th La Biennale di Venezia in 2011, and which was also unveiled to great acclaim on the Shogunzuka Seiryu-den stage, Tendai Sect Shoren-in, Kyoto, is coming to the National Art Center, Tokyo, together with the unique and lauded ‘Water Block’ glass bench, which is part of the Paris Musee d’Orsay collection. The Japanese reverence for nature, perceptualizing energy, is embedded in the time-honoured Japanese tea ceremony. This installation will be re-created in the open air, revisiting the very roots of Japanese culture through, and transcending time and space. The viewer is thus afforded the opportunity to appreciate its constantly changing reflections and expressions under natural light. The“ Glass Tea House” does not feature traditional scrolls or Ikebana, Japanese flower arrangement, the usual embellishments associated with a tea house. Instead, by using glass, the resulting architecture delights and confounds the eye, creating a glistening water surface under the shower of natural light, with light refracted by a crystal prism sculpture turning into a rainbow of ‘flowers made of light’. In the absence of physical components, this ‘architecture of light’ reaches poetic and thought-provoking dimensions.
| Date | April 17 (Wed.), 2019 – *Extended until May 30 (Mon.), 2022 |
|---|---|
| Closing days | Tuesdays *On Tuesdays that fall on national holidays the Center will be open, and closed the next weekday. *Closed for the New Year holidays |
| Opening Hours | Follows the opening hours of the National Art Center, Tokyo |
| Venue | In front of the Main Entrance of the National Art Center, Tokyo (Kokuritsu-Shin-Bijyutsukan) 7-22-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8558 |
| Planning | TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA INC. |
| Supported by | NTT Urban Development Corporation |
| Admission | Free |
| Inquiries | TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA INC. Tel. 03-6455-3576 |
Artist Profile
Tokujin Yoshioka Designer / Artist
Born in 1967. He worked under Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyake, and established his own studio, TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA INC. in 2000. Active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, he is highly acclaimed globally with the works dealing with light and the nature, which also reflect the Japanese idea of beauty. By giving figure to various human senses, using immaterialistic elements such as light, creates expressions that are unique and surpassing the concept of shape.
Many of his works are chosen as part of permanent collections in world renowned museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Le Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou in Paris, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He has won many international design awards, and was chosen by Newsweek magazine as one of the 100 Most Respected Japanese in the World.
