Japan - February 22, 2008 through January 25, 2009

The recent research undertaken in Japan by the Collection de l’Art Brut turned out to be abundant and fruitful. For the first time in Europe, the Lausanne museum is presenting these works from various Japanese cities, among others Kyoto, Kobe and Yokohama.
The exhibition brings together twelve self-taught Japanese creators:
Shinichi Sawada – Satoshi Nishikawa – Mitsuteru Ishino – Hidenori Motooka – Masao Obata – Yuji Tsuji – Takashi Shuji – Takanori Herai – Yoshimitsu Tomizuka – Eijiro Miyama – Toshiaki Yoshikawa – Moriya Kishaba.

Their productions – paintings, drawings, and sculptures – are evidence of astonishing richness and diversity. Each of these pieces bears the stamp of the refinement and delicacy associated with Japanese culture. Nevertheless, the influence of Japanese culture has had very little impact on these creators. Faced with such a hyper-performing and competitive society, the inventiveness of these self-taught artists has developed thanks to a primary process of impulsion, exhibiting an archaic form of expression that gives the works a universal range. Masao Obata, Takashi Tsuji and Shinichi Sawada, to mention just a few of them, are going against tradition, creating unique worlds of which they are the sole masters.

The presented works – around a hundred – are accompanied by nine documentaries devoted to the creators (ca. 15 minutes each). Gathered on one DVD “Diamants Bruts du Japon”, they were made by Philippe Lespinasse and Andress Alvarez, and produced by the Collection de l’Art Brut and LoKomotiv Films.

A catalogue in French, English and Japanese is being published for the occasion by the Collection de l’Art Brut in collaboration with the publisher Infolio. The book, which incorporates 60 illustrations, brings together texts by:

• Lucienne Peiry, director of the Collection de l’Art Brut 
• Sarah Lombardi, curator at the Collection de l’Art Brut
• Yoshiko Hata, artistic director of the Borderless Art Museum NO-MA, Omihachiman
• Tadashi Hattori, curator at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kôbe

The collaboration between Japanese institutions and the Collection de l’Art Brut in organising this exhibition has given rise to a major donation of one  hundred or so works, presented in the context of this exhibition. This important acquisition marks the opening up of the Collection de l’Art Brut towards the Far East.



At the same time as this event, the travelling exhibition Crossing Spirit,
organised by the Collection de l’Art Brut in collaboration with the Borderless Art Museum NO-MA, will be making stops in three Japanese cities:
    Asahikawa (Asahikawa Museum of Art, January-February)
    Omihachiman (Borderless Art Museum NO-MA, February-May)
    Tokyo (Shiodome Museum, May-July)

It comprises around sixty works from the Collection de l’Art Brut as well as productions by creators of Japanese Art Brut. A bilingual catalogue (Japanese/English) will be published for this occasion by the publisher Kinokuniya.