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The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo was established in March,
1995 to collect and exhibit the works of Japanese and international
postwar art. From the day of the founding it has been located
at the north end of the Metropolitan Kiba Park in Koto. The
museum's building designed by architect Takahiko Yanagisawa
is a modern structure of glass and steel set in the picturesque
surrounding of the beautiful park. It is difficult to unambiguously
define the architectural style of the museum while it incorporates
elements of modernist, neo-classical and post-modern industrial
styles. Takahiko Yanagisawa brilliantly used architectural
styles to differentiate various parts of the museum but at
the same time he managed to create the overall effect of a
well-unified architectural whole. The galleries are minimalistically
modern while the library on the north facade of the building
features a neo-classical facade. The grand corridor entrance,
which runs the entire width of the building from east to west,
has a huge glass wall facing Kiba Park. All the halls are
beautifully illuminated. The galleries for temporary exhibitions
are spacious enough to accommodate even the largest installations.
Some exhibition halls look onto a three-story atrium that
also serves sometimes as an exhibition space.
The museum houses both permanent and temporary exhibitions.
The permanent collection gives a historical overview of contemporary
art, beginning with Japanese postwar avant-garde and continuing
with anti-artistic trends and pop art in the 1960s, Minimalism,
and art after the 80s. The museum treasures the works by Andy
Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney,
Frank Stella, Sandro Chia, and Julian Schnabel. The display
of about 100 to 150 of the 3,800 works in its permanent collection
is changed several times a year.
Temporary exhibitions occupy most of the museum's halls and
elucidate the creative work of our outstanding contemporaries.
Museum facilities include the art library, where visitors
can find books on Modern art (35,000 volumes), catalogs of
exhibitions (43,000 volumes), and various forms of materials
such as microforms, pamphlets and leaflets; the museum shop,
offering souvenirs and Japanese and foreign books on contemporary
art, and the restaurant where visitors can dine and share
their impressions with friends in the relaxing atmosphere
to the sounds of flowing water. The AV gallery is also worth
mentioning. It features a special computer system with four
terminals provided for looking up art information, eight video
booths where visitors can view any of 1,200 available tapes
dealing with various aspects of art and a high-vision theater
for forty seats where different programs selected by the museum
are shown.
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