In the 1960s, Yokoo Tadanori embarked on a career as a graphic designer. As desktop publishing had yet to be developed, the handcrafted originals that served as the basis for Yokoo’s posters and other pieces often exuded the presence of a work of art. Later, in the 1980s, after Yokoo made his so-called “painter’s declaration,” he occasionally used a painting as the basis for a poster. In time, the relationship between the original and the finished piece transcended that of subject and object, with each seeming to become an independent work. The development of these diverse variations led to the emergence of Yokoo’s own distinctive world of art, which resonated with the artist’s technique of repeating his own paintings.

In this exhibition, focusing on the before and after of these unique features of Yokoo’s art, we explore these singular formal concepts by juxtaposing related works.