WHAT CAFE, Warehouse TERRADA’s Art Cafe, to Hold Soichiro Murata Solo Exhibition “A walk through White Shadows”

WHAT CAFE is a space for promoting art and culture that aims to support up-and-coming artists in the industry. This art space is a combination of a gallery and a cafe, boasting a floor space of 800 square meters (or around 8,611 square feet). Visitors can enjoy meals and drinks while appreciating and purchasing artworks by up-and-coming artists proactive in the Japanese art industry.

Soichiro Murata, the artist  in focus for this exhibition, has gained significant recognition since the earliest days of his career when he exhibited at Frieze London in the late 2000s while still a university student. Murata’s expressions are not limited to the world of art, as he has also written poems and novels; his works bridge the gap between written text and visual images to create  his own unique perspectives as an artist.

This exhibit focuses primarily on his two-dimensional artworks, displaying over 50 pieces of art encompassing the whole of his career, from his earliest days to his most recent works, and, as if in response to the title of the exhibit, “A Walk through White Shadows,” his works have been discreetly positioned throughout the venue, and the exhibition space has been designed to appear as a long corridor. As the world is experiencing an unprecedented crisis, Murata’s works, which are represented by a universal theme of “poetry,” distance their visual representations from the day-to-day, and provide viewers a quiet moment of  self reflection.

Mainly focusing on the storage of artworks, we have been developing a wide range of art related businesses including artwork restoration, packing, transportation, and exhibitions to pass on the passion of artists and the intrinsic value of art to future generations. Through running facilities that promote art and culture, such as the collectors’ museum of contemporary art WHAT, the art materials lab PIGMENT TOKYO and TERRADA ART COMPLEX, Japan’s largest gallery complex, Warehouse TERRADA has been working to turn Tennoz into a major center for the arts. Going forward, our goal is to create exhibition spaces that not only serve the main stakeholders of contemporary art such as artists, collectors and galleries, but that also open up contemporary artworks to broader fan bases and help revitalize the market for art in Japan.

Title        : Soichiro Murata Solo Exhibition “A walk through White Shadows”
Planning cooperation: Startbahn, Inc. (https://startbahn.jp/en)
Curators: Anna Kato and Shintaro Sumimoto
Exhibition dates: June 30th, 2021 (Wed)  – July 24th (Sat)
Entry fee: Free

(*Updated on June 23rd, 2021: It has been postphoned in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and the schedule was fixed as above.)

Soichiro Murata (born in 1985) has received significant acclaim both domestically and internationally, exhibiting his works at venues such as the “Rendez-vous 11” exhibition which was held in collaboration with La Biennale de Lyon (2011, Villeurbanne) and the “VOCA Exhibition 2017 Vision of Contemporary Art” (2017, Tokyo). In recent years, he has moved his base of creation to Kansai, and is now one of the most discussed artists in the modern day, even having two venues simultaneously hold exhibitions dedicated to his work: “Women, Animals, and a Fence that parts self from others” exhibition (2020, Kyoto) and “In Blue” exhibition (2020, Kyoto).

WHAT CAFE is an art spot that regularly displays dozens of contemporary art pieces created by artists who represent the future of Japan’s art industry. By replacing all art pieces at the end of each event, we offer many artists the opportunity to display and sell their artworks, and provide visitors the opportunity to regularly encounter new art. To give as many artists as possible the opportunity to establish themselves, we will also be calling for submissions via our official website, with selected submissions being exhibited. We also hold workshops and events related to the works displayed, and meet-and-greets for art fans. The cafe offers visitors a unique way to experience art with all five senses. And, of course, everyone can enjoy food and drinks sold in the cafe space while surrounded by art.

Facility name  : WHAT CAFE
Business           : Exhibition and sales of contemporary art, cafe
Address            : 2-1-11 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0002
Access               : a 4-minute walk from Rinkai Line “Tennoz Isle Station” B Exit, or a 5-minute walk from Tokyo Monorail “Tennoz Isle Station” Central Exit
Opening hours: 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM year-round
Entry fee          : Free
Instagram       : @whatcafe_terrada
U     R     L       : https://cafe.warehouseofart.org