The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo will host "GENKYO: Tadanori Yokoo—From the Original Realm to the Illusory Realm, and What is the Current State?" from Saturday, July 17 to Sunday, October 17, 2021. This major exhibition traces Tadanori Yokoo's life through a rich collection of works, including paintings and graphic art, offering a deep dive into the artistic world of one of contemporary art's leading figures over his 60-year career. Tadanori Yokoo himself participated in the overall supervision and curation, and new works created between 2020 and 2021 will be exhibited for the first time.

Tadanori Yokoo, a legend in the art world who has been at the forefront since the 1960s and continues to captivate the globe, will be the subject of an exhibition at The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. "GENKYO: Tadanori Yokoo—From the Original Realm to the Illusory Realm, and What is the Current State?" offers a comprehensive look at his over 60-year career.

This exhibition builds upon the highly acclaimed "GENKYO: Tadanori Yokoo" held at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, which was the largest Yokoo exhibition to date. With Yokoo's own overall supervision, the exhibition's structure has been fundamentally rethought, and over 200 new works created between 2020 and 2021 have been added, bringing the total number of exhibited works to over 500.

Yokoo refers to the "original realm" as the spiritual homeland of all humanity, and the world of rich, unrestrained imagery derived from it as the "illusory realm," which he has depicted in numerous original paintings. His career began in the 1960s as a graphic designer and illustrator, gaining prominence. In 1980, after seeing a major Picasso exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, he announced his "painter's declaration." Since then, he has embarked on a full-fledged career as a painter, evolving his style through various techniques and forms, and creating an immense body of work inspired by all phenomena of the universe.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Yokoo immersed himself in painting daily in his studio, limiting both outings and visitors. The new works created between 2020 and 2021, numbering over 20 large-scale pieces, are among his most significant and challenging works to date, and will be unveiled for the first time at this exhibition. Furthermore, since May 2020, Yokoo has been sharing his "WITH CORONA" series on Twitter and his blog, which features collages of his own artworks and photographs with masks. These attempts to transform negative pandemic-era imagery into positive expressions will also be exhibited in a designated photo-friendly area.

Additionally, an immersive installation titled "Waterfall Installation" will be presented. Yokoo's collection of postcards for his waterfall paintings exceeds 10,000, which have been developed into this installation. Visitors can experience a dynamic space where the ceiling and walls are covered with waterfall postcards, reflected on the mirrored floor.