Exhibition information
The 412th ginza graphic gallery Exhibition
Jan Lenica. Maestro z Polski.
Plakat, Animacja, Ilustracja, Teatr
February 12, 2026 - March 26, 2026
When Jan Lenica was awarded the Gold Medal at the first edition of the prestigious Warsaw International Poster Biennial in 1966, he even started to make a name for himself in Japan. The humor we glimpse in his bold visual expression creates a world view unlike any other.
The numerous film and theater posters Lenica created throughout his career are well-known, but his ambitious work as an animator is less well known. His collage-style images, created by deliberately limiting the number of frames, become ingenious settings where slightly unsettling characters move comically around in a world that is both surreal and profoundly mysterious. Lenica’s work as an animator is truly outstanding.
In addition to these posters and animated films, the exhibition also features other artwork rarely shown in the past, including caricatures for magazine illustrations that Lenica produced in abundance early on in his career, as well as set designs, and original drawings for his characters. The works gracing the walls at the ggg in Tokyo have been handpicked from the archives of The National Museum in his native city of Poznań in Poland.
Venue
DNP Ginza Building 1F, B1F
7-2, Ginza 7-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
TEL: 03.3571.5206 FAX: 03.3289.1389
February 12 - March 26, 2026
Open hours: 11:00am - 7:00pm Admission free
Closed on Sundays and holidays
Cooperation
National Museum in Poznań, Polish Institute in Tokyo
Collection of National Museum in Poznań and Private collection, deposit in the National Museum in Poznań ©ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2026 G4080
Publication
ggg Books 143 - Jan Lenica
Published by DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion
Due out on February 12, 2026
Gallery Talk
4:00－5:30pm, February 12, 2026
DNP Ginza Building 3F
Speaker: Anna Grabowska-Konwent
(Curator, Gallery of Poster and Graphic Design, National Museum in Poznań)
*Apply here to participate (from January 26)
Opening Party
5:30－7:00pm, February 12, 2026
DNP Ginza Building 2F
Jan Lenica (1928-2001)
Author of posters and graphics, director of animated films, draughtsman, stage designer, and illustrator. Born on January 4, 1928 in Poznań, Poland. Graduated from the Warsaw Polytechnic.
From 1945 Lenica had satirical drawings published in the Polish press. In 1950 he created his first posters for the cinema and the theatre. He illustrated also books, wrote essays, among others ones, concerning the theory of the poster, worked as stage designer in the theatre. In 1957 he started to create animated films.
In the period 1954-1956 he was assistant to Henryk Tomaszewski at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. In 1963 he left Poland and settled in Paris. In 1974 he conducted lectures at Harvard University in Cambridge, USA. In 1979-1985 he was head of department of animated film at the Kunsthochschule Kassel, Germany. In 1986-1994 he was professor at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin (Universität der Künste Berlin (University of the Arts Berlin) now).
As of 1986 Lenica lived in Berlin, and where he died on October 5, 2001.
