Taiji Matsue (b. 1963) made his debut as a photographer after graduating from the geography department at the University of Tokyo. Strongly fixated on compositions without horizon lines and two-dimensionality, Matsue has captured images throughout the world with a consistent style defined by shooting in direct light to avoid producing shadows. Thoroughly eliminating of any sense of centrality, periphery, depth or contrast, Matsue’s works are displayed as flat pictures, which treat every element equally. This exhibition, Matsue’s first solo show at a public museum, spans the artist’s career, including some new pieces, and reexamines at his challenging approach to the ever-changing techniques that arise out of technological advances.

The exhibition is made up of two sections: “Collection Highlights,”and the special feature, “Like a Face.”In the first, we focus on artists who, as leaders in a number of important trends, are indispensable to any discussion of 20th century art. In a special feature titled “Like a Face,” we focus on two- and three-dimensional works using the face as a motif.