Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (Tokyo, Japan) | リセットする / To Reset

A gallery in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Visiting an exhibition by an artist never heard of, amazed by the excellent works and space.

A gallery located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is inside the Tokyo Opera City building, which is directly connected to Hatsudai Station on the Keio Line. The name is gallery, but considering the size of the facility, I think it can be classified as art museum. In the first place, there is a fee to enter, so it would probably be as art museum.

The gallery entrance is on the 3rd floor. Special exhibitions are held on the third floor, and works owned by this gallery are in the space that goes up the stairs to the fourth floor. The space on the third floor has a high ceiling (7-8 meters) and is spacious. The walls are pure white and have a modern design.

I like this place for two reasons. The first is the high quality of the exhibitions. The exhibits include not only paintings, but also photography, installations, fashion, and architecture, and also actively feature foreign artists. There are many exhibitions by artists whose names I have never heard of. However I am still inspired by what I have discovered. I try to visit exhibitions that I think look good when I see announcements on the web page. It is only once I wondered I had missed the exhibition, or maybe it was not to my favorite area. I think the curator of this museum has quite a lot to offer.

Another reason is the richness and high quality of the collection. On the 4th floor, there is a permanent exhibition featuring works selected from the museum’s collection. The theme changes each time with the special exhibition, and therefore I always enjoy a fresh experience. It does not seem like the same works lined up every time, so I think the collection is quite large.

At the collection exhibition selected by “Ryan Gander” held in 2021, collections lined up on the 3rd and 4th floors. Some of the famous include works by “Kazuo Shiraga” and “Lee Ufan”, as well as works “Tatsuoki Nanbada” and “Masayoshi Orikasa” were among the artists as new discoveries. In particular, Masayoshi Orikasa’s works depicting everyday scenes are outstanding, and his works, “Everyday Life : In the Park” and “The Viewer” are must-see works.

By the way, in the collection exhibition selected by Ryan Gander mentioned above, the lights in the exhibition room on the 3rd floor were not turned on. Concept was to view the works in the darkness while illuminating the works with the provided penlights.

On the 4th floor, paintings lined up on the right side of the wall, and on the left side, the location of the painting surrounded by a square in the same position as the painting on the right. Title of the painting and the artist’s name drawn in the corner of the square. This must have been Ryan Gander’s idea, I think the museum’s attitude in planning and accepting this is also admirable.

In addition, works by young artists are in the hallway on the 4th floor. Sometimes I surprise finding the talented artist, so I recommend to take a look at it.

Furthermore, I often see interesting books in the gallery shop attached to the museum, and I feel that the good perspective of the museum staff.

This Opera City Art Gallery was founded in 1999, so it is relatively old, but I feel like it is surprisingly little known in Tokyo. This is like a little-known place, but if you find an announcement about a special exhibition and see an exhibit that you have interests, please visit. I am sure there will be new discoveries.