Innovative and trendsetting commercial art from Tokyo, through Jul. 29
Cultural News, April 2007
Artwork of Tokyo ADC by Art Factory
Little Tokyo -- Commercial art from the Tokyo Art Directors Club (ADC) is currently on exhibition at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center’s Doizaki Gallery through July 29.
The Tokyo ADC has served an important roll in the commercial arts since its inception by 1952. By acting as a driving force in Japanese advertising and design world, the Tokyo ADC Awards now attract great attention as one of the most prestigious offered each year.
The works on display in the Doizaki Gallery are the nominees and awardees from close to 10,000 submissions that were produced between May 2005 and April 2006, including the Tokyo ADC Grand Prix winners Kazumasa Nagai for Life campaign and Kiyokatsu Kawaguchi for the Mag Lite campaign.
Over a period of four days, 85 judges from the Tokyo ADC reviewed each submission from a variety of fields including: print and television commercials, editorial design, product design, typography and logos.
“The Tokyo ADC is an epicenter for the world’s most innovative and trendsetting commercial artists,” explained Hirokazu Kosaka, curator of the Doizaki Gallery and JACCC Artistic Director. “Gallery-goers will be able to observe the pinnacle of the juxtaposition of commerce and art.”
Each year, the nominees and awardees work are featured in the Ginza Graphic Gallery and Creation Gallery G8 in Tokyo as well as the ddd Gallery in Osaka.
The Doizaki Gallery has exhibited the work of Tokyo ADC graphic designers including “Ikko Tanaka L.A.” in 1987; “Tokyo ADC” in 1988; “Best 100 Japanese Posters 1945-1989” in 1990; and “Ape Call Tokyo” in 1991.
“Tokyo is connected through one of the most complex and efficient subway systems in the world,” Kosaka explained. “Commercial artists and city planners have turned this subway system, the walls and trains, into an extensive public museum of art work.”
Kosaka went on to say that while the print commercials use the walls of the subway system as a museum, the television commercials bring art into the homes. “Within the short 15 seconds the tools of implication, reference and subtlety, much like the 5-7-5 stanzas of a haiku poem, are used as opposed to a direct or hard-sale.”
This year, the work showcases a growing trend within Japanese society and industry as companies take up the call to be more environmentally conscientious. Print commercials produced by the companies such as Toyota, Kurare and Kyowa Hakko directly reflect the upswing with messages either directly calling for environmentally sound measures or actions already taken.
“And the beauty of the Tokyo ADC is its ability to promote collaboration. Collaboration between the different mediums to bring forth a heightened sense of artistic presence within commerce,” explained Kosaka. “You will not find another exhibition featuring such modern graphic and poster design along side TV commercials and product design by some of the top commercial artists. This is indeed a very unique and special show for Los Angeles.”
The Tokyo ADC Exhibition is made possible in part by the generous support from Dai Nippon Printing Company, the Tokyo ADC, GGG, ddd gallery, and The Japan Foundation.
The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center is located at 244 South San Pedro Street, Downtown Los Angeles in Little Tokyo. Doizaki Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday, 12 noon until 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Tokyo ADC is an admission free exhibition. For more information, call (213) 628-2725 ext. 146 or visit www.jaccc.org.