The outstanding role that Japanese aesthetics played in the emergence of European modern art continues to this day with the unique development of Japanese graphic design, and especially posters with their unmistakable aesthetic character, extraordinary technical sophistication and high expressive power. The changes, but also the constants of the poster medium are presented in a multifaceted and exciting way.
 
Ten internationally renowned designers who have shaped graphic design for a long time are juxtaposed with ten designers from the young scene: face to face: the masters and the next generation. These include legendary pioneers of Japanese graphic design such as Kazumasa Nagai, Ikko Tanaka, Mitsuo Katsui and Tadanori Yokoo, as well as the “young savages” of the computer and comic age, such as Nagi Noda, Keiko Hirano, Taku Satoh, Kashiwa Sato, Kenjiro Sano and others. Sublime allure, calligraphic expressiveness, elegance or laconicism, computer-generated effects, the world of manga – this is how one could outline the stylistic range.
The exhibition is a cooperation between Die Neue Sammlung, the DNP Archives of Graphic Design, Japan, and the Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze (Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague). Following its premiere in Munich, the exhibition will also be shown in Zurich, Prague and Warsaw.

A catalogue will be published in German and English to accompany the exhibition.

Poster

Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich

Exhibition
 February 23 – April 23, 2006