Noriyuki Haraguchi Solo exhibition “Circulation”
session：2025.8.30sat - 2025.10.11sat 13:00 - 19:00
*closed on Sun, Mon, Tue and public holidays.
venue：SNOW Contemporary / 404 Hayano Bldg. 2-13-12 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Curated by Seiichi Tsuchiya (Art critic)
Cooperation by HARAGUCHI LEVEL FIELD, Future Art
HP：https://nhart.jp/
opening reception : 2025.8.30sat 17:00 - 19:00
SNOW Contemporary will hold an exhibition of works by Noriyuki Haraguchi titled “Circulation” from Saturday, August 30, 2025, to Saturday, October 11, 2025.
Noriyuki Haraguchi (1946–2020) started his career as an artist in 1966 and made a notable debut worldwide with his work “Oil Pool,” shown at the 1977 international exhibition “documenta 6” (Kassel, Germany). His masterpiece, a massive iron pool filled with used oil, employed the natural effects of gravity and horizontal alignment in industrial materials, creating a unique form of expression that made a lasting impact on global art history.
Haraguchi was an artist who concentrated on forming materials while exploring the relationship between humans and society, creating works both delicate and powerful. Throughout his career, he pursued the inherent beauty of materials, their tactile quality, and the idea of “not making,” while intervening in the creation of space through his art.
Haraguchi was a prominent artist in Japan's contemporary art scene in the 1970s and beyond, but in 2020, the year he died, he was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer.
After receiving his diagnosis, Haraguchi did not aim to exhibit his works, but instead dedicated his limited time to creating minimalist two-dimensional works almost every day, leaving behind more than 100 works in the three months before his death.
During the creation of his works, Haraguchi would consider the composition, and as each piece was finished, a “solo exhibition” was held almost daily in the courtyard of his studio and home in Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture, exclusively for Haraguchi and his partner.
This seems to be understood not so much as a struggle with the remaining life heading toward the afterlife, but rather as a life-filled pursuit heading toward an endless circulation in form.
This exhibition seeks to accurately reproduce as faithfully as possible the final days of this rare artist, who is widely recognized internationally. Throughout the exhibition, all works on display will be replaced every two weeks (featuring 17 two-dimensional works and one three-dimensional piece in three phases), creating a space that transforms significantly over time. Through Haraguchi's later works, visitors can glimpse the possibilities of open-ended artworks that depict the endless cycle of life.
To commemorate the 5th anniversary of his death, this exhibition seeks to delve into Haraguchi's artistic vision, an artist who made a notable impact on history, in the hope that it may inspire a re-evaluation of his work and serve as an introduction.
session：2025.8.30sat - 2025.10.11sat 13:00 - 19:00
*closed on Sun, Mon, Tue and public holidays.
venue：SNOW Contemporary / 404 Hayano Bldg. 2-13-12 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Curated by Seiichi Tsuchiya (Art critic)
Cooperation by HARAGUCHI LEVEL FIELD, Future Art
HP：https://nhart.jp/
opening reception : 2025.8.30sat 17:00 - 19:00
SNOW Contemporary will hold an exhibition of works by Noriyuki Haraguchi titled “Circulation” from Saturday, August 30, 2025, to Saturday, October 11, 2025.
Noriyuki Haraguchi (1946–2020) started his career as an artist in 1966 and made a notable debut worldwide with his work “Oil Pool,” shown at the 1977 international exhibition “documenta 6” (Kassel, Germany). His masterpiece, a massive iron pool filled with used oil, employed the natural effects of gravity and horizontal alignment in industrial materials, creating a unique form of expression that made a lasting impact on global art history.
Haraguchi was an artist who concentrated on forming materials while exploring the relationship between humans and society, creating works both delicate and powerful. Throughout his career, he pursued the inherent beauty of materials, their tactile quality, and the idea of “not making,” while intervening in the creation of space through his art.
Haraguchi was a prominent artist in Japan's contemporary art scene in the 1970s and beyond, but in 2020, the year he died, he was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer.
After receiving his diagnosis, Haraguchi did not aim to exhibit his works, but instead dedicated his limited time to creating minimalist two-dimensional works almost every day, leaving behind more than 100 works in the three months before his death.
During the creation of his works, Haraguchi would consider the composition, and as each piece was finished, a “solo exhibition” was held almost daily in the courtyard of his studio and home in Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture, exclusively for Haraguchi and his partner.
This seems to be understood not so much as a struggle with the remaining life heading toward the afterlife, but rather as a life-filled pursuit heading toward an endless circulation in form.
This exhibition seeks to accurately reproduce as faithfully as possible the final days of this rare artist, who is widely recognized internationally. Throughout the exhibition, all works on display will be replaced every two weeks (featuring 17 two-dimensional works and one three-dimensional piece in three phases), creating a space that transforms significantly over time. Through Haraguchi's later works, visitors can glimpse the possibilities of open-ended artworks that depict the endless cycle of life.
To commemorate the 5th anniversary of his death, this exhibition seeks to delve into Haraguchi's artistic vision, an artist who made a notable impact on history, in the hope that it may inspire a re-evaluation of his work and serve as an introduction.
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