Collection Exhibition “Okamoto Taro: Potential Images ”     Thursday April 11 - Sunday July 7, 2013                 ≪Dream Bird≫ 1951 Oil on canvas     ≪Law of the Jungle≫ 1951 Oil on canvas     ≪Torn Face≫ 1960 Oil on canvas       Period : Thursday April 11 - Sunday July 7, 2013   Admission : From April 11 to April 19: 　　Adult 500yen（400yen）, Students and Seniors [65 and over, with ID] 300yen（240yen）, 　　Children [15 and under] Free 　　＊( ) parenthesis indicate group discount rates From April 20 to July 7: 　　Adult 800yen（640yen）, Students and Seniors [65 and over, with ID] 600yen（480yen）, 　　Children [15 and under] Free 　　＊( ) parenthesis indicate group discount rates 　　＊The fee is in a set with Current Exhibition   Closed : Mondays (except April 29 and May 6), April 30 and May 7   Organizer : Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki     Current Exhibition "TARO OKAMOTO: The Shamanism"     Saturday April 20 - Sunday July 7, 2013     Taro Okamoto, an avant-garde artist, developed various activities not only in art but also in other fields in the post World War II Japan. After his death in 1996, extensive studies have been conducted on the activities of Okamoto who was called a multi-faceted man. However, the studies to grasp meanings of his works have just started. This is because his thought background has not been fully revealed yet, and such analysis is indispensable for understanding his works. With regard to Okamoto's thought background, it is said that there were influences from such persons as Marcel Mauss (1872-1950), an ethnologist who was Okamoto's professor when he was a student of the Sorbonne of University of Paris (1930 to 1940); Alexandre Kojeve (1902-1968), a philosopher; and Georges Bataille (1897-68), a thinker with whom Okamoto acted together in the secret society Acephale. However, regarding Okamoto's versatile creative activities, there are a lot that cannot be explained by the books written by Mauss, Kojeve, and Bataille. And it is also considered necessary to review thought and knowledge he acquired after World War II. In the meantime, Okamoto began to show an interest in shamanism in the early 1950s. Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, keeps 391 French and English books from the Okamoto's old book collection. Among those, a book titled "Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy" (1951), written by religion scholar Mircea Eliade from Romania, should be paid attention as one of the most important books that directed Okamoto's interest toward shamanism. This exhibition reviews Okamoto's works from 1940s through to his last days, focusing on the Eliade's books, etc. as a key to reveal his intention infused in the works.                 ≪Anti-World≫ 1964 Oil on canvas The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo     ≪Okinawa -"izaiho"≫ 1966 Gelatin silver print photo by Taro Okamoto     ≪Stone and trees I≫ 1977 Oil on canvas Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum       Period : Saturday April 20 - Sunday July 7, 2013   Admission : Adult 800yen（640yen）, Students and Seniors [65 and over, with ID] 600yen（480yen）, Children [15 and under] Free ＊( ) parenthesis indicate group discount rates ＊The fee is in a set with Collection Exhibition   Closed : Mondays (except April 29 and May 6), April 30 and May 7   Organizer : Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki   Cooperator : Nihon Eizo Kiroku Center, Visual Folklore, Shoei, inc., Mr. Hisashi Uchida   All right reserved TARO OKAMOTO MUSEUM of ART,KAWASAKI