April 26-June 17
Conscripted as a teenager, Tatsuo Ikeda was in training as a kamikaze pilot when World War II ended. He returned to his hometown in Saga Prefecture, but was criticized for being a militarist and dismissed from a local teaching school. After moving to Tokyo in 1948 to study art, he became a member of artist Taro Okamoto and literary critic Kiyoteru Hanada’s pioneering Avant-garde Art Study Group.
Ikeda saw art as a way to protest authority, while addressing social and political issues in Japan. He interacted with various artists and critics to produce pieces that reflect the history of Japanese art since WWII. Still painting today at the age of 90, many of his works are surreal expressions of his sociopolitical messages.
Nerima Art Museum; 1-36-16 Nukui, Nerima-ku, Tokyo. Nakamurabashi Stn. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. ¥800. Closed Mon. 03-3577-1821; www.neribun.or.jp/museum
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