Azabudai Hills Gallery

Japanese-American contemporary artist Tomokazu Matsuyama’s practice encompasses painting, sculpture and installation. Born in 1976 in Gifu, he currently lives and works in Brooklyn. His work organically merges and reimagines diverse elements, such as Asian and European cultures, ancient and modern eras, and figurative and abstract styles. His art both reflects his intercultural experiences and tirelessly questions the complex and polarised issues of our time: political cleavages, economic inequality, social conflict, the paradox of gender equality, media manipulation and the proliferation of disinformation. Drawing on a wide range of cultural and historical influences, from Japanese art of the Edo and Meiji periods to classical Greek and Roman statuary, French Renaissance painting and contemporary post-war art, Matsuyama has over the past twenty-five years established himself as a key artist in the New York scene. This show at the Azabudai Hills Gallery is the artist’s first major exhibition in Tokyo. Running from March 8 to May 11, ‘First Last’ presents some 40 works (15 of which have never been seen before in Japan). It showcases Matsuyama's reflections on the paradoxes of contemporary society, which seems to maintain a fragile balance through perpetual struggles, illustrating the biblical adage ‘the last will be first, and the first last’.

Legendary anime director, producer, and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Isao Takahata (1935–2018) was renowned for his deeply humanistic storytelling and distinctive artistic approach. A longtime collaborator and friend of Hayao Miyazaki, Takahata remained a role model for the latter throughout his life. Few filmmakers have had as profound an impact on Japanese animation as Takahata, and his meticulous direction underpins some of the most moving animated films in history. His works range from the poignant Grave of the Fireflies (1988) through Only Yesterday (1991), Pompoko (1994), My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999), and the lyrical Oscar-nominated The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). Before setting up Ghibli, he played a pivotal role in the industry’s evolution with classics like Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974) and Anne of Green Gables (1979), taking literary adaptations to a new artistic level. To commemorate the 90th anniversary of Takahata’s birth, Azabudai Hills Gallery hosts this extensive retrospective from June 27 to September 15. Organised with the cooperation of Studio Ghibli, the exhibition will explore Takahata’s career through his early influences, creative philosophy and technical innovations. A major focus will be Grave of the Fireflies, a film that remains one of cinema’s most powerful messages of peace, inspired by Takahata’s childhood during World War II. The exhibition will also highlight its protagonist’s pre-Ghibli contributions and artistic evolution,...