Made in Japan: 20th-Century Poster Art  (March 2, 2023 – September 10, 2023) co-curated by Erin Schoneveld and Nozomi Naoi features 73 works that reframe the canon of art and graphic design by exploring the cultural and political shifts within modern Japan that influenced the function and messaging of its iconic postwar advertising. The exhibition highlights the history of collaboration as well as the mix of traditional and modern influences that make Japanese design so compelling and diverse. The show presents posters throughout the twentieth century, beginning with the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, with images designed to inspire patriotism, circulate propaganda, and encourage consumer restraint in support of the war effort. In the Postwar era, as Japanese corporations became global brands, Japanese artists conceived new forms of graphic media that mixed aspects of traditional Japanese aesthetics with Western design idioms. The exhibit also highlights how Japanese designers began to address social issues through their art at the end of the twentieth century, such as climate change and global peace. The show includes work by artists such as Katushika Hokusai, Kamekaru Yusuka, Tanaka Ikko, Yokoo Tadanori, Tanaami Keiichi, and Nagai Kazumasa, among others.

The exhibition also recently received the Graphic Design USA: 2023 American Digital Design Award. 

Press:

“Hiroshima Appeals poster set to continue traditions of daring design and anti-nuclear art", Japan Times, July 13, 2023

“Posters that Chart the Evolution of Postwar Japan, on Display in New York,” New York Times, June 15, 2023.

Shukan Seikatsu, The Japanese Press Association, April 1, 2023

“How Japan used Poster Design to Reshape its Culture,” Fast Company, March 28, 2023.

“20th Century Japanese Poster Art in Pictures,” The Guardian, March 27, 2023.

“The Evolution of Poster Art in Postwar Japan,” Creative Review, March 17, 2023.

“Poster House Debuts Major Spring Exhibits,”  Graphic Design USA, March 2, 2023.