New Art Space "Newtown Art Center" Opens in Kunitachi, Tokyo; Pre-Opening Exhibition Features Isamu Gakiya
Newtown Art Center has pre-opened in Kunitachi, Tokyo, hosting a pre-opening exhibition by artist Isamu Gakiya.Summary
A new art facility, Newtown Art Center, pre-opened on November 7 in Kunitachi, Tokyo. It repurposes a roughly 120-tsubo section of a former office space as a cultural hub for galleries and small-scale events. Gallery operations are managed by Art and Reason Inc., and MASUMI SASAKI GALLERY—which opened in Ebisu in 2014 and has since moved to Daikanyama, Kagurazaka, and Morishita—relocates to this space as its new base. Concurrently, the art event "Kunitachi Art Center 2026" is being held until November 15, themed around "/home/ (home directory)," across 11 venues including the south exit plaza of Kunitachi Station and surrounding galleries and ateliers, with Newtown Art Center participating as a main venue. The pre-opening exhibition is "CHILLDIE IX -Preview" by Okinawa-born artist Isamu Gakiya, who has expressed images reminiscent of postwar American horror films, sci-fi, and comics through drawing, collage, and painting. Since around 2019, he has produced and published drawings almost daily. "CHILLDIE" is a series presenting a year's worth of drawings, started in 2015 and now in its ninth iteration. The exhibition centers on drawings made in 2026 and debuts three large original works created for the venue. Drawings on display can be purchased and taken home during the exhibition, with framing options selected by the artist and a limited drawing collection of 2026 works also on sale.
(Source：美術手帖)