Japan
Kobe
2021
13
Japanese
Japanese, English
In a nutshell
Yokoo Tadanori’s Haunted Museum presents a compelling exploration of the intrinsic connection between art and fear, featuring a diverse range of the artist’s works. Yokoo Tadanori has consistently pursued phenomena that remain invisible or unexplainable by science, a fascination rooted in his childhood experiences with profound darkness and mystical encounters in Nishiwaki. This deeply personal history informs much of his art, from his celebrated illustrations for the Complete Works of Edogawa Rampo to his paintings created since his “painter’s declaration.” The exhibition, designed with deliberately darkened spaces, encourages visitors to engage with their own ambivalent emotions of wanting to look yet fearing the unknown. It highlights art’s enduring capacity to interpret and express humanity’s primal responses to mystery and the unseen, fostering a reflection on these universal aspects of human existence.
Why should you watch this?
The film Yokoo Tadanori’s Haunted Museum asks what happens when fear and curiosity meet in the same moment. Drawing on childhood nights of complete darkness and on the unsettling imagery of his Edogawa Rampo illustrations, Yokoo turns the unseen into something you can almost touch. A face appearing out of shadow or a mouth repeated like a chant unsettles, yet also holds you in place. The experience lingers because it reminds us that fear is not only about danger but about discovery, and that learning to face it can change how we see the world.
Curator
Atsuo Yamamoto
Bio
Atsuo Yamamoto is a Japanese curator and Chief Curator at the Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art (Y+T MOCA), Kobe. He has held curator roles previously at the Ashiya City Museum of Art & History and the Museum of Modern Art, Shiga. Yamamoto has been closely involved with the establishment of Y+T MOCA since about 2011; the museum opened in November 2012 in a renovated wing of a building originally designed by architect Tōgō Murano. Under his direction, the museum’s holdings have grown to thousands of works and materials — including hundreds of paintings, prints, posters, drawings, photographs and archival boxes — and he oversees the archival, conservation, and exhibition programs. Yamamoto is also known for his interest in post-war Japanese modernism, including the Gutai art movement. He has curated exhibitions and contributed publications about Gutai members such as Saburo Murakami.
Artist
Tadanori Yokoo
Bio
Tadanori Yokoo (born 1936 in Nishiwaki, Hyogo, Japan) is a celebrated Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker, and painter, widely recognized as one of Japan’s most influential contemporary artists. After a successful career in graphic design in the 1960s and 70s, where he gained international acclaim for his psychedelic, pop art-infused posters and album covers, he shifted his focus to painting in 1981. Yokoo’s work is characterized by its vibrant colors, intricate collages, and a unique blend of Japanese tradition with Western influences, often exploring themes of mysticism, the subconscious, and the human condition. His diverse career and unconventional approach have left an indelible mark on both Japanese and international art.