Adrianna Varejao, Swimming Pool, oil on canvas, 165x135cm, 2005 Courtesy of The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art

Still from The Video of a Man Calling Himself Bin Laden Staying in Japan, video, 2005 Courtesy of Mizuma Art Gallery

The National Art Center, Tokyo Courtesy of The National Art Center, Tokyo

Clay mask excavated from the Butsunami site, late Jomon Period Courtesy of the Mori Art Museum Collection: Osaka Center for Cultural Heritage

Given the tendency for winter to bring on a bad case of the doldrums, now is the perfect time to delve into what the art world has lined up for the year ahead. Along with new museums and new faces at old museums, 2007 promises several shows to heat up even the most frozen art lovers.

Opening this month, the Mori Art Museum—now headed by director Fumio Nanjo—will present two exhibitions meant to stir up smiles. The first, “All About Laughter: Humor in Contemporary Art,” will feature over 40 artists from around the world and explore notions of comedy in art. Concurrently, “The Smile in Japanese Art: From the Jomon Period to the Early Twentieth Century” will take a historical look at wit and wile throughout Japan’s art history.

Other MAM exhibits to anticipate include an exhibition of the influential modernist architect Le Corbusier in late spring. As well as a second installment of “Roppongi Crossings,” an expansive exhibition looking at emerging artists from throughout the archipelago, in October.

Down the road from the Mori, The National Art Center, Tokyo, opens its doors to the public for the first time in January. Tokyo’s newest art institution is the fifth and largest national museum opened by the government, with 14,000m2 of exhibition space. In addition to being a resource for information and education in the arts, the museum will also house regular exhibitions.

Beginning January 21, the center’s first exhibition, “Living in the Material World—Things in Art of the 20th Century and Beyond,” will open with over 500 works that explore materialism in modern art. Then, in February, the museum will mount a large-scale exhibition introducing work from collections of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Despite Roppongi’s rising status as Tokyo’s center for the arts, it certainly isn’t the only place with exciting events in store. Tokyo Wonder Site—following the opening of its newest space in Aoyama late last year—now has three spaces across the city from which to stage its numerous shows of contemporary and emerging artists. Coupled with the announcement of the impending establishment of a Tokyo arts council, Wonder Site seems increasingly likely to become the boon to the city’s art scene it was originally imagined to be.

Elsewhere, several museums will also be ringing in the New Year with a flurry. The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Shinagawa will hold an exhibition of Brazilian artist Adrianna Varejao beginning January 27. Across town at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, the year will start off with the much-anticipated 8th MOT Annual exhibition of up-and-coming artists, this time entitled “From a World as Large as Life.”

Suffice to say that with the wealth of significant exhibitions, new museums and initiatives planned, 2007 is poised to further the expansion of Tokyo’s art world. All that local art lovers need now is a little time to pencil it all in.

See exhibition listings for details.

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