WHAT MUSEUM was opened in December 2020 aiming to make artists’ and collectors’ precious art properties that have been entrusted to us accessible to the public. It exhibits works by artists active in the contemporary art scene side-by-side with the thoughts of the collectors as well as the artists, offering a new kind of space for the appreciation of art. At this Obayashi Collection Exhibition, we will be highlighting a collection of masterpieces accumulated over many years by Mr. Takeo Obayashi, Chairman of the Organizing Committee international art festival, “Aichi Triennale 2022” (Aichi Prefecture), and exhibiting the collection along three different themes. By displaying “Tadao Ando : The Act of Drawing,” “Between the City and Me,” and “Self-History,” not only will we aim to demonstrate the changing nature of this collection, we will also attempt a more multi-faceted approach to this assemblage of artistic works.

In “Self-History” of the Obayashi Collection Exhibition, focusing on the contemporary artworks that Mr. Obayashi has collected, artworks by around 40 artists will be displayed, which can be said that it is a compilation of his collection.

– Collector’s Note by Takeo Obayashi *excerpted from a production at exhibition
One of the interesting things about private collections is that their content changes as time passes. This is deeply related to encounters with many people, including artists, and the experience of learning about art through different opportunities. In other words, I see my collection as something dynamic that is constantly changing, rather than something collected according to a single aesthetic or rule. Around 40 works in this exhibition represent the current state of the collection, which numbers around 850 works, while at the same time encompassing its history. This part of the exhibition starts with my father’s collection, which can be called the “prehistory” of the collection, and continues with works of the end of the 1990s and later, when I started collecting regularly, as well as relatively recent additions to the collection. From the art historical viewpoint, the exhibition focuses on artists from the 90s and onwards, but also includes artists from the 60s and 70s who influenced the former. The diversity of the collection is the result of personal encounters and experiences. This exhibition shows the diversity of contemporary art forms and expression, at the same time, it documents the transition of a collector. I hope you will enjoy the exhibition from both perspectives.

Exhibited artists