This exhibition is Kiyoshi Awazu’s first solo exhibition in Hokkaido.

He was born in Meguro Ward, Tokyo in 1929 and began painting at the age of 17. He was self-taught in the art of copying from art magazines and sketching people on trains. He eventually immersed himself in the leftist movement and began to work on cabaret murals and decorative paintings of pachinko pens for a living.

In 1954, Awazu was commissioned by the Advertising Department of the Independent Film Company to draft flyers and posters, and in 1955, the following year, he won the Japan Advertising Artists’ Club Nissenbi Award for his poster Umi wo Kaese (Give Back the Sea) for the fishermen’s struggle against the U.S. military base in Japan. Since then, Awazu has been active on the international stage as one of Japan’s leading artists, and his vigorous curiosity has not been limited to design, but has extended his influence into countless fields, including painting, sculpture, photography, film, theater, architecture, and the environment.

To create, to make art, to design, is to create a work of art from something that lies dormant in the depths of the free spirit. As he says, his graphic works and designs, which can be described as a work of painting, show a deep spirituality as well as free and bold ideas.

The large-scale exhibition held at the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art from the end of last year also attracted a new generation of fans, and now that the momentum for contemporary appreciation is building, we are pleased to introduce some of the artist’s multiple talents at the MIYANOMORI ART MUSEUM, SAPPORO.