In November and December, the ddd gallery will host the DNP Graphic Design Archives Collection II: Ikko Tanaka Posters 1953–1979.
The work of Ikko Tanaka, influential not only in Japanese graphic design circles but also around the world, has lost none of its luster even today. At the end of 2008 the DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion established the Ikko Tanaka Archives with 120,000 donated examples of outstanding works and other related materials.
Drawing on this archives, numerous posters produced between the 1950s and the 1970s were carefully selected for this exhibition, which tracks the early and middle periods of Tanaka's rich creative life. In addition to masterpieces from the Kobe Workers' Music Association and Sankei Kanze Noh series, there are also many less familiar gems to discover.
The exhibition will be an opportunity both to look back at Tanaka's creative beginnings and to explore the profound appeal of the period of steady development into one of the world's great poster artists.