TOKYO, JAPAN.-"Roppongi Crossing" is a series of exhibitions organized by the Mori Art Museum to introduce Japanese creative talent working in a wide range of genres. The fi rst in the series was held in 2004 and to this day, it is used around the world as a reference point for contemporary Japanese visual culture. For the second exhibition, four curators with specialties in art and design, were appointed: Amano Kazuo, (Art Critic; Professor, Kyoto University of Art and Design), Araki Natsumi (Curator, Mori Art Museum) Sato Naoki (Art Director, ASYL), and Sawaragi Noi (Art Critic) .

The curators decided from the outset to focus on artists who have an energy or sphere of infl uence that extends beyond the confines of a single genre. Working in a variety of media, and belonging to various generations, they share a bold originality and dynamism that defi nes their work.

Their art takes a variety of forms, including painting, sculpture, photography, design, video, manga, games, and even unlikely genres such as doll-making and bathhouse mural painting.

In addition to artists who are emerging on the scene right now, the list also includes others who drove the scene in its formative period in the 1960s and 1970s, and whose feverish output continues unabated today. Surprising juxtapositions provide an opportunity to discover unexpected similarities and also to trace some of the unseen webs of influence and homage that connect the artists of the last three decades.

With its variety of work, “Roppongi Crossing 2007” also allows visitors to experience the potential for contemporary artistic expression. Delicate handwork, humorous elements, carefully thought-out concepts and a tendency for interactive mechanisms are just some of the characteristics that unite the works in the exhibition, many of which are new works produced especially for the show.

Surveying this interlocking web of art, linking genres and generations in the present, a faint but common beat can be Thirty-six artists who changed the direction of Japanese contemporary art detected – a beat like a pulse that reverberates throughout the Japanese contemporary art scene and provides a clue as to where it is headed in the future.

Artists: Ages5&Up, Ameya Norimizu, chelfi tsch, Deki Yayoi, Enlightenment, Enoki Chu, Fukaya Etsuko, Hara Shinichi, Haruki Maiko, Hasegawa Tota / TOMATO, Higashionna Yuichi, Ikemizu Keiichi, Ito Gabin, Iwasaki Takahiro, Kito Kengo, Kobayashi Kohei, Majima Tatsuo, Maruyama Kiyoto, Nakanishi Nobuhiro, Nawa Kohei, Ogai Takeharu, Sakagishi Yoshiou, Sato Masahiko + Kiriyama Takashi, Sekiguchi Atsuhito, Tanaka Iichiro, Tanaka Nobuyuki, Tateishi Tiger, Tsujikawa Koichiro, Uchihara Yasuhiko, Uchiyama Hideaki, Ukawa Naohiro, Yamaguchi Takashi/d.v.d, Yokoyama Yuichi, Yoshimura Yoshio, Yoshino Tatsumi, Yotsuya Simon.