Exhibition in Japan Honors Yoshikawa & Müller-Brockmann

The exhibition “Space In-Between: Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann” taking place from December 21, 2024, to March 2, 2025, highlights the works of Japanese artist Shizuko Yoshikawa and Swiss design pioneer Josef Müller-Brockmann. This event marks the first comprehensive institutional exhibition of this creative duo in Japan. Curated in collaboration with the Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann Foundation in Zurich and supported by the Swiss Embassy, the exhibition offers an in-depth look at their influential contributions to art and design.

The exhibition showcases the complete works of Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann, shedding light on the unique personal and professional relationship between the two artists. Both Zurich-based artists and designers, Yoshikawa and Müller-Brockmann first met in 1960 at the World Design Conference in Tokyo, where Yoshikawa, a graduate of Tsuda University, served as an interpreter. Inspired by this international gathering, she became the first and only female Japanese student to attend the Ulm School of Design and later worked in Müller-Brockmann’s design office in Zurich. Their professional collaboration developed into a lifelong partnership, with both leading the way in their respective fields.

Shizuko Yoshikawa (1934-2019) spent most of her life in Switzerland. After studying at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm and being introduced to the Zurich art scene, she married Josef Müller-Brockmann in 1967 and developed her artistic career in Zurich. For the first time, a selection of her artwork created in Switzerland – including paintings, sculptures and drawings – is now being exhibited in a Japanese museum.

The Swiss design pioneer Josef Müller-Brockmann (1914-1996) visited Japan several times between the 1960s and 1980s, contributing to design education by teaching at design schools and art universities. Müller-Brockmann revolutionized graphic design with his “grid system”, which enabled a precise, mathematically structured arrangements of layouts. He created the strictly functional and memorable sign and font system for the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), an identity that has influenced the SBB’s image for over forty years.

The Nakanoshima Museum of Art, NAKKA, which opened in 2022, serves as a prominent center for modern and contemporary art and design in the heart of Osaka, Japan. The museum’s collection comprises over 5,700 works spanning the 19th to the 21st century, encompassing various fields, including painting, sculpture, installation art, graphic design and photography. Notable artists featured in the collection include members of the Gutai Group, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Bourgeois, Tadanori Yokoo, Amedeo Modigliani, Alvar Aalto and Shiro Kuramata. NAKKA promotes artistic exchange, bridges the past and present, reflecting Osaka’s rich cultural heritage within an international context.

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