• Coming immediately after the start of the new Reiwa era introduced on May 1, this exhibition was a retrospective review of the three decades of the just completed Heisei era, a period of dynamic transformations in Japanese society. On display were posters created during the Heisei years (1989-2019) gleaned from the archives of the DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion. The exhibition was divided into five sections, each covering a span of five to six years. The first section evoked a lingering sense of the high-flying years of Japan's "bubble economy"; but subsequently, after the bubble burst and the nation weathered the recession of 2008, the heady days of mass production and mass consumption ended, and demand shifted from material goods to sources of personal fulfillment. Major changes occurred: the advent of the mobile phone, the development of desktop printing, increasingly serious environmental concerns, the arrival of the Internet-driven society. Against this backdrop the exhibition examined how graphic design changed during the Heisei years, and what impact visual communication had on the era. By reviewing the events of Heisei, it was hoped the exhibition would shed a ray of light on the pathway into the new Reiwa era.

• ID

  ddd_221

• Exhibition Name

  HEISEI GRAPHICS

• Period

  June 29, 2019–August 17, 2019

• Exhibition Type

  Traveling exhibition from CCGA to ddd

• Venue

  ddd Uzumasa, Kyoto

• Featured Designers

  N/A

• Poster Designers

  MIENO Ryu

• June 29, 2019
  Gallery Tours
  kyoto ddd gallery

  The first Gallery Tour was led by CCGA Curator Takako Morizaki. she discussed how, in contrast with fine art which is said to be "pure" art, i.e. art that has usefulness in everyday life, is closely related to economic and commercial matters, and functions as means of conveying information. Concerning posters, she introduced how Shin Matsunaga likened them to a traffic signal: red being a warning to stop, yellow inviting caution, and green permitting one to proceed. This exhibition was planned as a retrospective of the 30 years of the tumultuous Heisei era, timed to coincide with the start of the new Reiwa period. It was divided into sections each spanning 506 years. The first section retained a lingering sense of the heady days of the bubble economy; but in the wake of the bubble's collapse and the financial crisis of 2008, mass production and mass consumption retreated and people's needs changed from material goods to personally fulfilling experiences. Major changes occurred in succession: the advent of the mobile phone, the development of desktop publishing, increasingly serious environmental concerns, and the arrival of the Internet-driven society.

Gallery

Photographer: YOSHIDA Akihito

Notes