Kono Takashi Exhibition

Your Guide to Design and Pop Culture in Tokyo

Jan 13, 2005

Kono Takashi Exhibition

Another Kono Takashi exhibition, this time at the National Museum of Modern Art.

Kono Takashi is known for his eye-catching poster for the Sapporo Winter Olympic Games 1972, and such images as a huge fish bearing the pattern of the American flag in front of a small one with eyes that look like the Japanese banner… A central figure in post-war Japanese graphic design, Kono has produced number of masterful works combining simplified motifs and an original style of coloration. His discreetly refined creations display a typically Japanese kind of sensibility especially – but not only – Japanese viewers will feel particularly comfortable with. This exhibition introduces about 100 items including film posters from Kono’s time at Shochiku Kinema, his designs for the “Tanko” magazine on tea (ceremony), and others. (REALTOKYO)

I quite enjoyed last year’s Kono exhibition at the GGG (even bought the GGG produced book). The MOMAT show is until February 27.

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A longtime resident of Tokyo, he lives and breathes design, pop culture, and gaming, sustained by an unhealthy addiction to magazines and frequent visits to his favorites cafes. He has reported on these obsessions for various online/offline publications, including the following: Time, Inside (Australian Design Review), Gizmodo, Gridskipper, Kotaku, 1UP, Tokyo Q, Superfuture, OK Fred, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, I.D. (International Design), Metropolis, Azure, MoCo Loco, Kateigaho International Edition, Wired's Game|Life, PingMag, CNNGo, Phaidon, and The Japan Times.

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