The exhibition will open at Tokyo Photographic Art Museum on Saturday, March 19, 2022. For more information, please click here.
Photographer Naoki Honjo is known for his characteristic style of photography that uses a large format camera with a tilt-shift lens to capture cities as if they were dioramas. Evoking the feeling of a miniature world, Honjo blurs the lines between the reality and fiction of the world around us.
This is the artist's first large-scale solo exhibition and will feature approximately 200 works, including previously unseen series, which together provide a comprehensive overview of his career to date. The show also highlights special new works that feature the host cities where his exhibitions are being held. Enjoy the wonders of our city as seen through the eyes and lens of Naoki Honjo.
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
The exhibition will open at Tokyo Photographic Art Museum on Saturday, March 19, 2022. For more information, please click here.
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
The official catalogue of this exhibition is now also available for purchase at EC. For more information, please click here.
Monday, September 6, 2021
The exhibition opens at the Iwate Museum of Art on Saturday, October 16, 2021. Please click here for more information.
Monday, July 12, 2021
The exhibition opens at the Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum on Saturday, July 31. Please click here for more information.
Friday, April 16, 2021
The exhibition opens at The Museum of Art, Kochi on Saturday, May 22. Please click here for more information.
Saturday, January 9, 2021
Due to the declaration of a state of emergency, the exhibition at the Ichihara Lakeside Museum has been canceled.
Please check the museum’s official website as well as the exhibition’s Twitter account for the latest information.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
The exhibition opens at Ichihara Lakeside Museum on Saturday, November 7. Please click here for more information.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
We are excited to announce the launch of the official website for Naoki Honjo’s (un)real utopia.
Saturday, 19 March 2022
GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS will hold "Naoki Honjo (un)real utopia" satellite exhibition and photography workshop as a special 5th anniversary event. For more details, click here.
Saturday, 19 March 2022
Opening Commemorative Talk
To celebrate the opening of the Tokyo venue, Naoki Honjo will be invited to talk about his thoughts on his work and the process behind the creation.
Date and time: Saturday, 19 March 2022, 14:00 - 15:30 (doors open at 13:30)
Speakers: Naoki Honjo (Artist), Atsuko Takeuchi (Curator, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)
Venue: Hall, 1st floor, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Capacity: 190 people, first-come-first-served basis
*Numbered tickets will be distributed at the reception desk on the 1st floor from 10am on the day of the event.
*Please note that the schedules and other details of this event are subject to change.
1. First large-scale solo exhibition showcasing all series to date
Naoki Honjo's gaze has been drawn not only to cityscapes but also to schools, parks, industrial areas, forests, savannas, and many other places. This exhibition presents the experimental works leading up to his characteristic tilt-shift technique, including the “small planet” series, which won the 32nd Kimura Ihei Award in 2006, and a number of other series derived from these works that illustrate Naoki Honjo's work to date.
small planet / Tokyo, Japan / 2005
small planet / Nakayama Racecourse, Chiba, Japan / 2005
2. Debut of kenya, industry, and tohoku 311 series
kenya captures the African savanna, industry takes a rarely seen aerial look at industrial areas, and tohoku 311 is an impromptu series of images shot from a helicopter just three months after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. This is the first time that these series of works will be shown together in public.
industry / open pit mining, Fukuoka / 2008
kenya / giraffe / 2008
3. Photos of exhibition host cities
Honjo has long photographed cities and human activity. As part of a new experiment, he now creates a special work of art in which he photographs the cities for each of the participating museums. We hope that you enjoy Honjo’s approach of engaging with each city and its people to create a kind of portrait through his eyes.
Naoki Honjo
Born in Tokyo in 1978.
Honjo graduated from the Media Art Course at Tokyo Polytechnic University Graduate School of Arts in 2004. He received the 32nd Kimura Ihei Award for his series small planet (Little More Co., Ltd., Japan, 2006). He continues to create artworks and is active across many fields, including writing articles for ANA’s in-flight magazine Tsubasa -GLOBAL WINGS-. His works are included in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.
Tokyo venue
Projects organized or co-organized by the Japan Cultural Expo 2021
Saturday, March 19, 2022 – Sunday, May 15, 2022
Opening hours:
10:00-18:00
(10:00-20:00 on Thursday and Friday)
(Last admission: 30 minutes before closing.)
Closed:
Mondays (except when Monday falls on a holiday, in which case the museum in open and closed the following day), but the museum will open on May 2, 2022
Admission:
[Adults] 1,100 yen
[students] 900 yen
[High school students/junior high school students, 65 years old and over] 550 yen
The exhibitions below have ended.
Chiba
Saturday, November 7, 2020 – Sunday, January 24, 2021
Ichihara Lakeside Museum
Kochi
Saturday, May 22, 2021 – Sunday, July 11, 2021
The Museum of Art, Kochi
Miyazaki
Saturday, July 31, 2021 – Sunday, September 5, 2021
Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum
Iwate
Saturday, October 16, 2021 – Sunday, November 28, 2021
The Iwate Museum of Art
How did Naoki Honjo's unique “miniature style” of photography come about? We will follow up Naoki Honjo's photographing closely, introduce his thoughts on creation and the message behind his works. Be sure to focus on the helicopter shot, which you cannot normally see.
Exhibition Catalogue
The exhibition catalogue showcases all of Honjo’s works in the series to date, compiled in one convenient volume. Experience the world of Naoki Honjo as it expands to fill your field of vision with large-format 4×5 prints inside the catalogue.
Contributors:
Kotaro Iizawa (Photography critic)
Terunobu Fujimori (Architectural historian/architect)
Paul Smith (Fashion designer)
Atsuko Takeuchi (Curator, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)
*Host city photos are not included in the catalogue.
Specification: A4 variant (293mm x 183mm)
Price: 3,300 yen
Click here to buy online.
Special Edition Catalogue
A special set consisting of the exhibition catalogue and original prints selected from the photographs of the host city. Limited edition box set
Original matte prints: 216mm x 165mm, 5 editions per design, signed by the artist
Price: ¥33,000
Posters (2 types)
¥5,500 each
Size: 470mm x 420mm
Postcard Set (32 postcards)
¥3,520
32 postcards (4×5) + 4 host city postcards
¥165 each
Ticket Holder (4 types)
¥385 each
Plastic Folder (4 types)
¥440 each
Small Notepads (5 types)
¥330 each
T-shirt (White)
S、M、L、XL
¥4,950 each
T-shirt (Black)
S、M、L、XL
¥3,300 each
Tote Bags (2 types)
(Natural/Black)
¥2,200 each
*All prices include consumption tax.
*All images are for illustrative purposes only. Actual product colors and specifications may vary.