Biography
Born in Nemuro, Hokkaido, Japan in 1942
Lives and works in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Japan
Masao Okabe is one of the most remarkable Japanese artists who attract worldwide attention. Okabe has been invited to numerous domestic and international exhibitions including the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. His frottage works created at an atom-bombed railway station in Hiroshima and Jewish quarter at Paris focus on the social and historical issues which have been deeply etched in the memory of humankind. He has also actively created collaborative works with citizens and organized workshops at various cities around the world.
Selected Exhibitions
2008
Masao Okabe × Chihiro Minato: Is There a Future for Our Past?, ART BOX, JR Sapporo Station, Sapporo, Japan
Hiroshima Mon Amour, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
2007
Masao Okabe Exhibition: Is there a Future for Our Past? Japanese Pavilion The 52nd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
Masao Okabe Exhibition: Attingendo memorie, Institute of Japanese Culture in Rome, Rome
Masao Okabe Exhibition: Studio Montparnasse, item editions, Paris
Masao Okabe × Chihiro Minato: Attingendo memorie, Gallery Q, Toki Art Space, Tokyo
2005
Masao Okabe Exhibition: SYNCHRONICITY, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
2001
ART for the SPIRIT: Eyes Searching for Eternity, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
2000
Masao Okabe Exhibition: N’ OUBLIEZ PAS, The 3rd Kwangju Biennale
Special Exhibition: Art and Human Rights, Kwangju Biennale Hall, Kwangju, Korea
Masao Okabe Exhibition: Can we see Saburo, the god of winds? The Earth’ s Art Festival: Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2000, Niigata, Japan
