MOT Collection: Past Light, Present Sight
The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo is home to around 6,100 works of primarily postwar art, and each MOT Collection exhibition presents a selection of these works, from a different perspective.
The latest, “Past Light, Present Sight,” focuses on the themes of light and time, and features a wealth of new acquisitions.
Whether it be light emitted many thousands of years ago by distant stars, sunlight that shifts amid the sands of time, the ethereal glow of moonlight, the glare of electric lamps illuminating their surroundings, or the evanescent flickering of fireflies, light in its myriad permutations features heavily in our day-to-day lives. Seeing, viewing, observing these diverse manifestations of light can also conjure up moments from the past, or scenes from a particular time, and one could say that the “now” we are living is shaped by the layering and linking of time, passed down along with light. Through works by artists including KOSEMURA Mami, TSUCHIYA Kimio, KUMAGAI Arisa, and TOYA Shigeo, “Past Light, Present Sight” turns its attention to the past inherent in the present, and contemplates the stratified nature of time.
KOSEMURA Mami, Flowering Plants of the Four Seasons, 2004–06
TSUCHIYA Kimio, Absence, 1992
Photo: toshiyukiudagawa
YOKOO Tadanori, Destiny, 1997
Artists
KUSAMA Yayoi, KUMAGAI Arisa, KOSEMURA Mami, SHINOHARA Ushio, SUGIMOTO Hiroshi, SEKINE Naoko, TATEISHI Koichi, TSUCHIYA Kimio, TOYA Shigeo, NAKAMURA Hiroshi, FUKUSHIMA Hideko, FUJII Hikaru, MATSUMOTO Yoko, YAMAGUCHI Katsuhiro, YOKOO Tadanori, YOSHIDA Hiroshi, YOSHIMURA Masunobu, Dan FLAVIN, Agnes MARTIN and more.
KUMAGAI Arisa, Say yes to me, 2023
TOYA Shigeo, Death of the Kiln of the Elephant of the Woods, 1989
Photo: Tadasu Yamamoto
SHINOHARA Ushio, Oiran, 1968
MATSUMOTO Yoko, Regarding Living Beings, 2010
Information
- Exhibition Period
Saturday, September 19, 2026 – Wednesday, January 6, 2027
- Closed
Mondays (except Sep 21, Oct 12, Nov 23), Sep 24, Oct 13, Nov 24, Dec 28 – Jan 1
- Opening Hours
10 AM – 6 PM (Tickets available until 30 minutes before closing)
*Open until 8 PM on Fridays in November.- Admission
Adults – 500 yen / University & College Students – 400 yen / High School Students, Over 65 – 250 yen / Junior High School Students & Younger – free
* Tickets for the "Tada Minami―Still, shimmering light,""Synchronic Constellation: Cross-Boundary Perspectives in Art," include admission to the “MOT Collection” exhibition.
* 20% discount for groups of 20 or more.
* Children younger than elementary school age need to be accompanied by a guardian.
* Persons with a Physical Disability Certificate, Intellectual Disability Certificate, Intellectual Disability Welfare Certificate, or Atomic Bomb Survivor Welfare Certificate as well as up to two attendants are admitted free of charge.
[Silver Day]
Those over 65 receive free admission on the third Wednesday of every month by presenting proof of age at the ticket counter.
[Family Day]
Guardians of children under 18 receive half-off admission on the third weekend (Sat/Sun) of every month. (Up to two visitors/Please present proof of Tokyo residence)
[Students Day supported by Bloomberg]
Students can view exhibitions for free by presenting a valid ID at the museum's ticket counter on 10, 11, and 12 October.- Venue
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Collection Gallery
- Organized by
Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture