Genichiro Inokuma and the Denenchofu Pure Art Laboratory Exhibition

“Face 10”, acrylic, 121.5 x 101.5cm, 1988

“Genichiro Inokuma and the Denenchofu Pure Art Laboratory Exhibition” will be held at Mizoe Art Gallery Tokyo.
This exhibition is the second of its series, following the Inokuma and Matisse exhibition held in 2021, which centered around Inokuma's pre-war visit to France and his interaction with Matisse. It will introduce the Denenchofu Pure Art Laboratory, which was established in the September of 1945 in his atelier, one month after the war came to an end in August, as well as the artists who gathered there (such as Yasukazu Tabuchi, Yasuki Kanayama and Seiji Fujishiro, all of whom would later have great success as artists).

The fact that the laboratory was established merely one month after the end of the war is astonishing. As if in reaction to restraints against freedom of expression that had been imposed upon artists during the war, Inokuma acted quickly as soon as he gained the liberty to do so, and so did the artists who gathered there. This exhibition includes photographic materials that provide an idea of what it was like at the time, documents explaining the purpose of its establishment when it was renamed as the Denenchofu Pure Art Laboratory (copies), biographies of the artists (including works by some), and a wide range of works by Genichiro Inokuma [1902-1993] before and after the war.



© The MIMOCA Foundation
Postwar images (exact date unknown) of a dance party held at Inokuma's studio.
In the center playing the violin in Inokuma, in the left foreground is comedian Kenichi Enomoto (Enoken), and in the right foreground playing the accordion is Toshio Nakanishi (Western-style painter).