Center of Art Explosion in Tokyo

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum

 (Minato Ward, Tokyo)

【Bakuhatsu（爆発）】means explosion, the sudden release of energy from inside to outside. The famous Japanese artist, Taro Okamoto, shouted loudly in a low voice, “Art is an explosion (bakuhasu)”. Art is energy gushing from inside the mind and body.

His art energy erupted in1970 at Japan World Exposition, Osaka. He designed and built an enormous white based monument with the Golden Mask at the top, the Tower of the Sun, as a symbol of the exposition. 6,400 million people were overwhelmed by Taro’s energy of the tower at the time. The theme of the exposition was Progress and Harmony for Mankind but Taro disliked the term of “harmony”. In his opinion, harmony is not mutual concessions each other but confront each other. 

His atelier was in Minami Aoyama, a fashionable upscale shopping district in Tokyo. The place is now open for public as a museum. His work space is well preserved as it was. His wooden desk is crammed with variety of oil paint brushes from small to large. His oil paint canvases are stacked in the shelves across whole wall. Only one painting is displayed on an easel as if he is working on its picture.

 Taro’s sculptures are exhibited in the lush green garden. Faces and big eyes on the objects catch people’s eye. One of my favorite work is “Chair that Refuses to Seat Anyone.” It is a round colorful stool decorated with a humorous design on top. The smooth texture looks like you can feel its smooth touch when you sit on it, however, it is not. Actually the lumpy decoration is uncomfortable like refusing you.