A new series, "New Essentials," is part of an art collaboration project between Isetan Shinjuku Men's and CADAN (Japan Contemporary Art Dealers Association, a general incorporated association).

As the name "fine art" suggests, contemporary art is constantly discovering new aesthetic values. At the same time, it also allows us to discern the cultural background that strongly reflects the era. This series features contemporary art that reflects our times, and is a project that uses contemporary art to communicate the new atmosphere and new essence of our times, asking how artists living in this era are moving forward with current culture and what essential elements they are creating in their works. Special installations tailored to the floor themes will be displayed in SI (Store Identity), a cubic exhibition space set up on four floors of the Isetan Shinjuku Men's Building.


Event Details
Title: "CADAN x ISETAN MEN'S: New Essentials"
Period: Tuesday, March 29, 2022 – Tuesday, May 31, 2022 [64 days]
Location: 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th floors of the Isetan Shinjuku Men's Building
Organizer: Isetan Shinjuku Men's Building
Cooperation: Japan Contemporary Art Dealers Association

This is a collaborative project between CADAN (Japan Contemporary Art Dealers Association), an organization of Japan's leading contemporary art galleries, and Isetan Shinjuku Men's Building, which aims to be the world's number one men's fashion store.

Exhibition Details
1st Floor Entrance... Takeshi Kimura (Gallery: Tezukayama Gallery)
2nd Floor Men's Creators... Margaret Lee (Gallery: MISAKO&ROSEN)
4th Floor Men's Luxury... Morio Shinoda (Gallery: KOKI ARTS)
6th Floor Men's Contemporary... Akira Ohno (Gallery: XYZ collective)

Information about the Artist and His Works

【1st Floor】Takeshi Kimura
Born in Tokyo in 1980.
Major Exhibitions
2017 "IN CONCRETE" FEI ART MUSEUM / Kanagawa (Solo exhibition), 2017 "N.E.blood 21 vol.60" Lea Suark Museum of Art / Miyagi (Solo exhibition), 2022 "Directors' Selection - FOCUS" TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY / Osaka (Group exhibition), 2020 "New Artists Exhibition < Rough True Stories >" Kawaguchi City Art Gallery Atria / Saitama (Group exhibition), 2020 "Rokko Meets Art: An Art Walk" Mount Rokko / Hyogo (Group exhibition), 2019 "ART MIYAGI 2019" Miyagi Museum of Art / Miyagi (Group exhibition), 2016 "Art of Akita 2016" Akita Museum of Art / Akita (Group exhibition), 2015 "Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale" KAMIKOANI PROJECT AKITA2015” Kamikoani Village / Akita (Group exhibition)


Takeshi Kimura “live log” (2022) Iron, bronze, sand (Bicycle) H100 x W150 x D60cm, (Brancusi replica) H60 x W13 x D13cm
©Takeshi Kimura / Photo: Keisuke Kitanishi / Courtesy of TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY

Takeshi Kimura is an artist who does not specialize in one material, but rather excels at using a variety of materials to give form to his ideas. This new piece is inspired by the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi's (born 1876) Infinite Column. While Brancusi's Infinite Column reaches infinitely toward the sky, Kimura sought a sculpture that continues to expand horizontally in line with the contemporary times, leading to the creation of "live log." Kimura, who has long been interested in wheels, noticed the increased use of bicycles for transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and carved Brancusi's sculpture into a bicycle tire, creating a sculpture that stretches infinitely horizontally across the ground it travels over. He hopes to expand the trajectory of the wheel by exhibiting it in various locations.


[2nd Floor] Hikari Ohno
Born in Lüneburg, Germany in 1990. Currently based in Tokyo.
Major Exhibitions
2020 "La Boîte-en-Valise" Office Baroque / Belgium (group exhibition), 2020 "Object For Painting" XYZcollective / Tokyo (solo exhibition), 2019 "Teppei Satsukime x Akira Ohno" Kurumaya Museum of Art / Tochigi (group exhibition), 2017 "Akira Ohno at The Steakhouse DOSKOI" The Steakhouse DOSKOI / Tokyo (solo exhibition)


Akira Ohno "Object for Painting No.48" (2020) clay H13.2 x W15.0 x D3.5cm ©the artist

Akira Ohno's recent series "Objects for Painting" moves between abstract painting and sculpture. The works are primarily made of clay, and are created without the use of oil or watercolor paints, using the natural colors of various types of clay. The works incorporate both the context of Japanese crafts and ceramics, and the context of Western abstract painting.


[4th Floor] Margaret LEE
Born in New York in 1980. Currently based in New York.
Major exhibitions
2022 "(as) hard as (it) gets" MISAKO & ROSEN / Tokyo (solo exhibition), 2020 "For a Dreamer of Houses" Dallas Museum of Art / Texas (group exhibition), 2020 "I.C.W.U.M" La Maison des Rendez-Vous / Brussels (solo exhibition), 2013 "Lyon Biennale 2013" Lyon (group exhibition), "New Pictures of Common Objects (curated by Christopher Lu)" MoMA PS1 / New York (group exhibition)


Margaret Lee "This is what I expected" (2017) polished stainless steel 40 x 48 x 30.5cm ©the artist

Margaret Lee always approaches issues ranging from mundane to heterosexual relationships and sexual issues with a light touch, always from a woman's perspective. Is it a male-dominated world? Is it an era of female superiority? These questions are currently shared by everyone in modern society. Even in a world that consciously seeks to question the elimination of the boundaries between being male and being female, symbolic and emphatic visuals still exist. Margaret Lee's works, which depict this ambiguous world, have a certain charm to them. They are also characterized by visuals that overwhelmingly stimulate the viewer's imagination.


[6th Floor] Shinoda Morio
Born in Tokyo in 1931. Resides in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Major exhibitions
2014 "WALL" KOKI ARTS / Tokyo (solo exhibition), 1966 "Venice Biennale" Venice (group exhibition), 1983 "Trends in Contemporary Art 2: The Beginning of Diversification in the 1960s" Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum / Tokyo (group exhibition), "Perspectives on Contemporary Japanese Art: Three-dimensional Forms" Toyama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art / Toyama (group exhibition)


Morio Shinoda "TC8612" (2017) Stone, stainless steel, brass 32 x 20 x 20cm ©the artist

TC (Tension and Known for his "Compression" series, Shinoda continues to use lines to express space and tension, unfolding a strange and mysterious world with a sense of scale.



About CADAN
The Contemporary Art Dealers Association Nippon (CADAN) is a general incorporated association.
It is a non-profit industry association established in 2015 with the aim of contributing to the development of Japanese contemporary art by promoting and disseminating Japanese contemporary art, establishing and developing the contemporary art market, increasing the international recognition of contemporary artists, and supporting young artists and nurturing their talent. Currently, 50 galleries are members. (https://cadan.org)


About SI (Store Identity)
This is the welcoming area for the Isetan Shinjuku Men's Store, which was renovated in March 2019 with the new statement, "As a man, and as a human." Artworks are exhibited in SI (Store Identity), a cubic space located on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th floors of the Isetan Shinjuku Men's Building, based on a theme set for each season or period.

*The content of this event may be changed or canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Thank you for your understanding.



Click here for company press release details