Tetsumi Kudo, Votre portrait-liberté d'etalon, 1973, Yonetsu Gallery,
photo: Kazuo Fukunaga ©ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2013

The Japan Foundation and the National Museum of Art, Osaka (NMAO) have organized an International Tetsumi Kudo Symposium to focus on the work of artist Tetsumi Kudo.

One of the "anti-art" generation of artists who emerged in the context of the Yomiuri Indépendant exhibitions in the late 1950s, Kudo moved to France in 1962. Based in Paris, he spent the next two decades creating and exhibiting art based on a critical perspective of civilization, and employing a scientific mindset.

Kudo's oeuvre is now being reassessed and is attracting growing interest. This trend can be seen from recent retrospectives at museums in France and America, and from the response to his works included in the exhibition "Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) from November 2012 to February of this year, which was organized by MoMA and the Japan Foundation.

The International Tetsumi Kudo Symposium is presented in conjunction with "Your Portrait: A Tetsumi Kudo Retrospective" at NMAO, which follows on from the museum’s first major Tetsumi Kudo exhibition in 1994. In order to take advantage of this opportunity and gain a deeper understanding of the unique world of Tetsumi Kudo, international specialists have been invited to participate.

The symposium will discuss Kudo’s world from a wide range of perspectives. The NMAO curatorial team for the exhibition will be joined by Doryun Chong, Chief Curator at M+, who curated the first Tetsumi Kudo retrospective in the United States, art historian Reiko Tomii, and Pedro Erber, assistant professor at Cornell University.

Outline

Date	Saturday, November 23, 2013 Time: 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM (Door Open: 12:45 PM)
Venue	The National Museum of Art, Osaka, BF1 Lecture hall Access 4-2-55 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka, 530-0005, Japan Free Admission (numbered tickets to be distributed to the first 100 people from 10:00 AM) Language: Japanese and English (simultaneous interpretation available)
Organizer	The Japan Foundation, The National Museum of Art, Osaka
Supporter	The Daikin Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Program

outline

12:45 PM	Door Open
1:00 PM	Opening remarks
1:10 PM – 1:40 PM	Keynote address 1: "Tetsumi Kudo in the United States" Doryun Chong, Chief Curator of M+
1:40 PM – 1:45 PM	Q&A
1:45 PM – 2:15 PM	Keynote address 2: About "Your Portrait: A Tetsumi Kudo Retrospective" Atsuhiko Shima, Assistant Director and Chief Curator, the National Museum of Art, Osaka
2:15 PM – 2:20 PM	Q&A
2:20 PM – 2:30 PM	Break
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM	Discussion on "Tetsumi Kudo" Doryun Chong, Chief Curator of M+ Pedro Erber, Assistant Professor of Cornell University Reiko Tomii, Art Historian Atsuhiko Shima, Assistant Director and Chief Curator, the National Museum of Art, Osaka Moderator: Yasuyuki Nakai, Curator of the National Museum of Art, Osaka
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM	Q&A
4:30 PM	Closing symposium

※ For further information, please refer to The National Museum of Art, Osaka