Echigo-Tsumari MonET Exhibition Series Vol.10 "Miyasaka Ryosaku 　ＡＲＴ　７５years old"

Events

Echigo-Tsumari MonET Exhibition Series Vol.10 "Miyasaka Ryosaku 　ＡＲＴ　７５years old"

Summary

exhibition

A series of Special Exhibitions held at the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET since 2023. For each duration, a guest curator selects artists to present their work.

On the Occasion of the Continuous Series of Special Exhibitions

The Echigo-Tsumari Art Filed has worked to revitalize the region through art. To further establish itself as a deeply rooted regional art festival, it will explore new possibilities for the intersection of community and art, encounter artists who will shape the future, and foster new collaborations. At the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET, guest curators select artists who will broadly shape the future of art, presenting solo exhibitions every two months.This series of long-term, consecutive Special Exhibitions has been running since 2023.

Kitagawa Fram (Art Director, Echigo-Tsumari Art Filed)

Event Overview

【Guest Curator】Noe Sawaragi (Art Critic)
【Duration】Saturday, April 11, 2026 – Sunday, June 14, 2026
【Admission】Adults: ¥1,200 / Elementary & Junior High Students: ¥600

※Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays (except holidays) ※Closed Thursday, May 7
※Admission includes viewing of the Permanent Exhibition at the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET, and the Special Exhibition.

Ryo Sakamoto was born in 1950 to a rice farming family in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture. After graduating from California Institute of the Arts in 1974, he returned to Japan and pursued a unique career path: farming in his hometown while also running a real estate business. He actively engaged in community activities, serving as an agricultural committee member and preserving traditional culture like the Kiyari folk song, all while continuing his creative work.
During his studies, when asked by his mentor, the world-renowned artist Allan Kaprow, about the origin of his creative work, he answered “Farmer” (his own translation: “peasant”). Since then, he has continued to present artworks connected to the earth.
This exhibition features his early “Map Paintings,” including previously unseen works, alongside his recent “Plant Characters.” Additionally, new works created last year during the rice planting and harvesting seasons in Echigo-Tsumari will be unveiled.Guest curator Noi Sawaragi states, “Miyasaka’s artistic practice has consistently been composed of ‘Techne’—a ‘Revolutionary’ fusion of the two ‘A’s: ‘Art’ and ‘Agriculture.’ In this sense, it brings a new transformation to our values surrounding ‘ART,'” connecting directly to the exhibition title “ART.”
This marks Miyasaka Ryosaku’s first large-scale solo exhibition outside Nagano Prefecture at the age of 75. Don’t miss this rare opportunity.

Related Events

Artist Gallery Talk
On opening day, the artist and guest curator will discuss the artworks.
Date & Time｜April 11 (Sat) 1:00 PM～
Location｜Special Exhibition Room
Admission｜Free (Museum admission required)

Grow and Eat Workshop “Let’s Sow Seeds Together”
Sow seeds in molds and grow seedlings into letter shapes.
Date & Time｜Saturday, May 9, 1:00 PM～
Location｜Around MonET
Participation Fee｜Free

Grow & Eat Workshop “Let’s Eat the Earth Together”
Harvest the grown seedlings and enjoy them together
Date & Time｜Saturday, June 13, 1:00 PM～
Location｜Corridor Community Space
Participation Fee｜Free (Admission fee required)

Registration will open sequentially at the reception.

“The World of Ryosaku Miyasaka” Exhibition View (2021, Chino City Gallery) Photography: Genpachi Tachikawa

《Plant Characters》 (2022)

《Map (Beginning)》

Author Profile

Ryo Miyasaka (Contemporary Artist)
Born in 1950 in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture.In 1971, he entered Takamatsu Jiro’s studio as part of its first cohort. The following year, he studied abroad at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he was taught by Allan Kaprow, the proponent of “Happenings.” Kaprow challenged him to question his own origins. Realizing that for someone born into a farming family, this lay in “agriculture,” he implemented the “A Fire Festival” that same year, using slash-and-burn farming techniques to demonstrate the cycle of nature.After returning to Japan in 1974, he created numerous paintings depicting maps where the earth’s colors were painted according to elevation. In recent years, he has also developed series such as “Plant Characters,” where he cultivates plants into the shapes of characters and consumes them. Major exhibitions include “Existing Expression – Its Context and Suwa: Yutaka Matsuzawa, Toshiko Tatsuno, Ryo Miyasaka, Yoshiro Negishi” (2016, Chino City Museum of Art),”Pouring Water into the Tenryū River” (2022, Nakagawa Village Art Museum), “Happening: Remade – Miyasaka Ryōsaku, Age 74, The Body” (2024, Matsumoto Art Center), and “50 Years of Painting Expression: Reflections from Shinshū” (2025, Nagano Prefectural Museum of Art).

Guest Curator Profile

Sawaragi Noe (Art Critic)
Began critical activities centered on art in the late 1980s. Major publications include Simulationism (expanded edition, Chikuma Gakugei Bunko), Post-Art Theory (25th Yoshida Hidekazu Award), and Earthquake Art Theory (2017 Arts Selection Award, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Prize; all published by Bijutsu Shuppansha).*Japan, Contemporary, Art* (Chikuma Gakugei Bunko) and *War and the World’s Fair* (Kodansha Gakujutsu Bunko) were released in paperback last summer. Following these two, the third volume of her earthquake trilogy, the long-form critique *Art in the End Times: For the Coming Non-Humanity* (Bijutsu Shuppansha), was published last December.Guest curator for exhibitions including “Anomaly” (Röntgen Art Institute), “Japan Year Zero” (Art Tower Mito), and “Heisei Art: Fragments and Debris 1989-2019” (Kyocera Museum of Art, Kyoto).

photo by Fujita Ryuhei

Echigo-Tsumari MonET Continuous Special Exhibition Overview

Vol.1 July 1 (Sat) – August 27 (Sun), 2023
“Material Shop Catharsis no Kishibe Tokamachi Store & ‘Dead Stock Data Grand Prix 2022-2023’ Record Exhibition”
Artist: Catharsis no Kishibe
Guest Curator: Noi Sawaragi (Art Critic)

Vol.2 Saturday, September 9, 2023 – Sunday, November 5, 2023
“Print Report, The Path Moves”
Artist: Yu Matsumoto
Guest Curator: Kenjiro Hosaka (Director, Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art)

Vol.3 Saturday, November 18, 2023 – Sunday, December 24, 2023
“Sequel: Parallel Small Boat Song – Emerald Vessels”
Artists: Kazuyuki Takesaki + Yuu Nishimura
Guest Curator: Mari Tsukamoto (Chief Curator, Kochi Prefectural Museum of Art)

Vol.4 Saturday, January 13, 2024 – Sunday, March 10, 2024
“Reverse String”
Artist: Tanaka Aoi
Guest Curator: Mayu Hiyama (Curator / Recruit Art Center)

Vol.5 Saturday, April 13, 2024 – Sunday, June 9, 2024
“Slow to Move”
Artist: Kyoko Izutsu
Guest Curator: Kenjiro Hosaka (Director (Curator), Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art)

Vol.6 Saturday, November 23, 2024 – Monday, January 13, 2025 (National Holiday)
“Danger Lurks Everywhere”
Artist: Koichi Mitsuoka
Guest Curator: Mayu Hiyama (Curator / Recruit Art Center)

Vol.7 Saturday, January 25, 2025 – Sunday, June 22, 2025 [Extended Exhibition Period]
“The Colorless Person”
Artist: Kan Miyake
Guest Curator: Noi Sawaragi (Art Critic)

Vol.8 Saturday, September 27, 2025 – Sunday, November 30, 2025
“Drinking with You, Inside the Cage”
Artist: Ayako Ohno
Guest Curator: Mari Tsukamoto (Chief Curator, Kochi Prefectural Museum of Art)

Vol.9 Saturday, January 24, 2026 – Sunday, March 22, 2026
“THE NEVER ENDING BUILDING”
Artist: Tomonosuke Kurachi
Guest Curator: Kenjiro Hosaka (Director, Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art)

Vol.10 Saturday, April 11, 2026 – Sunday, June 14, 2026Artist: Ryosaku Miyasaka
Guest Curator: Noi Sawaragi (Art Critic)

Vol.11 Saturday, June 27, 2026 – Monday, August 31, 2026
Artist: Ryosuke Higo
Guest Curator: Mayu Hiyama (Curator / Recruit Art Center)

Vol.12 September 12, 2026 (Sat) ~ November 23, 2026 (Mon, Holiday)
Artist: Ryohei Usui
Guest Curator: Mari Tsukamoto (Chief Curator, Kochi Prefectural Museum of Art)

Summary

Date and time	Vol.10: Saturday, April 11, 2026 - Sunday, June 14, 2026 ※Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (except holidays) ※Closed on Thursday, May 7 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Last admission at 4:30 PM)
Venue	Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET
Admission	Adults: ¥1,200 / Elementary and junior high school students: ¥600 ※Admission includes viewing of the Permanent Exhibition and Special Exhibitions at the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET.

Related Information

Open all year / Closed on Tue ＆ Wed except holidays *Open on 2026/8/11,12

Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET

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Hara Hiroshi＋ATELIERΦ

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