2000.10.22 [Sun] - 12.28 [Thu]

Luc Tuymans: Sincerely "Luc Tuymans: Sincerely" at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery is the first full-scale exhibition of Tuymans' work in Japan. This exhibition provides nearly a hundred pieces in total, including sixty or so oils, as well as drawings and stills from Tuymans' experiments with movies. Der diagnostische Blick IV oil on canvas / 57.0 X 38.0 cm 1992 (c) Zeno X Gallery

Paintings occupy a special place in the long history of art, but painting seems to be rapidly retreating from the frontline of contemporary art. One exception is Luc Tuymans. Born in Belgium in 1958, Tuymans has chosen painting as his sole method of expression. His paintings overflow with his originality, and for people the world over they shed new light on painting and bring it back to the foreground. This exhibition also provides a rare chance to see the whole gamut of Tuymans' work to date, and including previously-unexhibited polaroids used as a part of his creative process.

Room oil on canvas /177.0 X 126.0 cm 1999 (c) Wako Works of Art Body oil on canvas / 49.0 X 35.0 cm 1990 (c) Zeno X Gallery Hands oin on canvas /100.0 X 80.0 cm 1978 (c) Zeno X Gallery

The large majority of his pieces are recreations on canvas of images already "recorded" in photographs and magazines from our everyday world. Tuymans' works take a stance that everything has already been painted, so reproduction is the only route forward. They are formed from extremely simplified scenes, drawn to shut out and exclude all traces of psychological description. Their topics are things like unoccupied rooms, a small child's torso without the limbs, or a human figure drawn as an object. Something in the surface of these works feels desolate, sometimes capturing our dull sense of anxiety, or sometimes, under the cool gaze of the artist, depicting with emotional detachment compelling aspects of history and politics that involve each and every one of us. They would penetrate deeply into our subconscious minds to leave dramatic impressions and unforgettable images.

Die Zeit oil on cardboard 30.0 X 40.0 cm / 39.0 X 40.0 cm / 37.0 X 40.0 cm / 41.0 X 40.0 cm 1988 (c) Zeno X Gallery

This is the first exhibition to properly introduce Luc Tuymans to Japan. Through experiencing the freshness and vividness in each of his works, it would emerge that it is paintings that are demonstrating these characteristics, and perhaps reconsider their potential.

Himmler oil on canvas / 51.5 X 36.0 cm 1997-98 Kunst Museum Wolfsburg (c) Zeno X Gallery Nr.2 water color, pencil onpaper / 21.5 X 25.5 cm 1981 (c) kunstmuseum Bern

The Rabbit oil on canvas / 59.3 X 71.5 cm 1994 (c) Zeno X Gallery Orchid oil on canvas / 99.5 X 76.7 cm 1998 Collection Jay & Marsha Seeman (c) David Zwirner, New York Information Dates: Sunday 22 October, 2000 - Thursday 28 December, 2000 Opening Hours: 12:00 - 20:00 (to 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, entry up to 30 minutes before closing) Closed: Mondays (Tuesday if the Monday is a public holiday) Admission: Ordinary:900 yen (700 yen), College and high school students: 700 yen (550yen), Junior high and elementary school students: 500 yen (400 yen), Children below school age: free *Admission includes entrance for Terada Gallery and "project N" *Amounts in brackets ( ) are rates for groups of 15 or more. Organizered by the Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation Special Sponsor : Nippon Life Insurance Company Sponsors : NTT Telemarketing Inc. / NTT Urban Development Co. / Odakyu Railway Co.,Ltd. / The Dai-ichi Mutual life Insurance Company Cooperation by : Japan Airlines / Nippon Express Co.,Ltd. Patronized by : Embassy of Belgium, Representation of Flanders For further information: Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery Tel. +81-3-5353-0756