Naoshima New Museum of Art Announces New Exhibitions for 2026
Opening June 7, 2026 with an artists talk
Setting the seasonal theme for 2026 of “Flow, Recurrence, Rebirth,” Naoshima New Museum of Art will introduce partial exhibition changes in summer and winter. The summer rotation will feature an outdoor installation by Sanitas Pradittasnee, exhibitions by Okazaki Kenjiro, and photography by Midorikawa Yoichi as a satellite exhibition for Shitamichi Motoyuki’s Setouchi “ ” Archive. Exhibition by Kei Imazu & Bagus Pandega will follow in winter.
The Okazaki Kenjiro exhibition Tender Buttons comprises primarily works from the Benesse Art Site Naoshima collection, including the latest works from the recent output of this artist, who has been exhibiting continuously on Naoshima since the 1990s. Through the timeline of Okazaki’s relationship with Naoshima, the link between language and painting, and the notion of recurrence, the exhibition explores the possibility of utilizing works from different eras, including those that emerged from a relationship with Naoshima, to connect small fragments of everyday life, evoke memories, and open up new perceptions.
Okazaki Kenjiro was born in Tokyo in 1955. Okazaki is a Japanese visual artist and critic working across painting, sculpture, landscape design, and architecture. Since his invitation to the Paris Biennale in 1982, he has participated in numerous international exhibitions. His major projects include the Haizuka Earthwork Project, the landscape design of Nakatsukuni Park in Hiroshima, serving as Director of the Japan Pavilion at the 8th Venice Biennale of Architecture, and the collaborative performance I Love My Robot with choreographer Trisha Brown. He has held solo and curated exhibitions at institutions such as the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. In 2026, he received the 67th Mainichi Art Award (Fine Arts Division), and has also been recognized with the Minister of Education Art Encouragement Prize and the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award.
