Space In-Between: Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann

At the Osaka Nakanoshima Museum of Art, an exhibition titled Space In-Between: Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann will showcase the works and activities of Swiss graphic designer and typographer Josef Müller-Brockmann (1914–1996) and his partner, Japanese artist Shizuko Yoshikawa (1934–2019). This will be the first large scale institutional retrospective to feature either Yoshikawa or Müller-Brockmann in Japan.

Yoshikawa and Müller-Brockmann were Zurich-based art and design educators. They first met at the 1960 World Design Conference in Tokyo, where Yoshikawa, an English graduate from Tsuda University, participated as an interpreter. Inspired by this international event, she moved to Ulm, becoming the first and only female Japanese student at the Ulm School of Design. Later, she worked at Müller-Brockmann’s design office in Zurich. Their professional collaboration grew into a lifelong partnership, with each breaking new ground in their fields.

This exhibition highlights Yoshikawa’s art alongside Müller-Brockmann’s structural designs, shedding light on their unique personal and professional transnational relationship.

A Japanese artist who lived most of her life in Switzerland as a well-educated and self-determined woman. After studying at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm and being introduced to the Swiss concrete art scene, she married Müller-Brockmann and based her artistic career in Zurich. Emphasizing the atmospheric and ephemeral, she steadily moved away from the concrete traditions supported by modern orthodoxies. Early “color-shadow”-reliefs, drawings dealing with the sun and, in her later years, the series “Silk Road” exemplify this shift. For the first time, a comprehensive selection of her paintings, sculptures, and prints made in Switzerland will be presented in a retrospective at a Japanese museum.

The Swiss design pioneer had been to Japan several times from the 1960s to the 1980s. While deepening his friendships with Japanese designers such as Yusaku Kamekura, he also contributed to Japanese design education by teaching at design schools and art universities. The “grid system” which he named that summarizes the methodology for typesetting and composition on paper, continues to have a great influence to this day as a monumental theory in the history of design. He was known as an excellent educator and poster designer, at the same time, his warm personality towards all kind of people has been passed down to this day.

Dates: December 21, 2024 – March 2, 2025
*Closed on Mondays, December 31, January 1, 14, February 25 *Open on January 13, February 24
Opening hours: 10:00 – 17:00 (last entry 16:30)

Venue: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka　5F Galleries

Organizer: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka
Special cooperation: Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann Foundation
Sponsorship: Osaka University of Arts
Support: Embassy of Switzerland / Vitality.Swiss
Grants: Tadao Ando Cultural Foundation

for more information about the exhibition here

◆ Opening Talk Session (Morning Session)
Date and Time: Saturday, December 21, 2024, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Registration: from 10:30 AM)
Speakers:
Kenya Hara (Graphic Designer / President of Japan Design Center / Professor at Musashino Art University)
Lars Müller (Founder of Lars Müller Publishers / Chairman of the Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann Foundation)
Venue: Osaka Nakanoshima Museum of Art, 1st Floor Hall
Capacity: 150 participants
Application: No prior registration required, free to attend. A ticket for the exhibition (half-ticket is acceptable) is required.

◆ Curator-led Gallery Talk
Date and Time: Sunday, January 5, 2025, and Monday, February 24, 2025, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Venue: Osaka Nakanoshima Museum of Art, 5th Floor Exhibition Room
Capacity: 30 participants
Application: Pre-registration required, free to attend. A ticket for the exhibition (for entry on the day of the event) is necessary.