2025年4月9日（水）、午前8時ごろに起きた。三重県桑名市内のホテルを出た後、在来線を乗り継いで、愛知県豊田市へ向かった。
豊田市に来た目的は、豊田市美術館を訪れることだ。私が好きな建築家・谷口吉生が設計した美術館で、以前からずっとここに来たいと思っていた。
訪れる前からこの美術館に対する期待はすでにかなり高かったけれど、実際の姿はそれを上回っていた。建物の壁面や庭に現れる格子模様が印象的で、建物の外観そのものが芸術だった。
美術館では主に3つの展覧会を開催していた。どれも面白く、なかでも玉山拓郎さんによる個展が強烈だった。通常の展覧会では多くの作品を並べるけれど、彼はいくつもの部屋を使って、たった1つの作品を見せていた。茶色い巨大な塊が、各部屋にあるだけだった。
あまりにもシンプルな展示なので、私は作品を細かく観察することはしなかった。そのぶん美術館の部屋そのものに意識を向け、動線や照明といった建築物そのものの素晴らしさに気付くことができた。同時に玉山さんによる作品は、「こういう作品もありなんだ」という気付き、すなわち芸術の自由さを教えてくれた。
On Wednesday, April 9th, 2025, I got up around 8:00 a.m. and left my hotel in Kuwana, Mie. That morning, I took local trains to head to Toyota in Aichi Prefecture.
I visited the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, which is well-known for its architecture. It was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, a renowned Japanese architect and one of my favorites. I had been wanting to visit this place for a long time.
Even though my expectations were quite high, the beauty of the building surpassed them. I noticed that the grid pattern appearing in the walls and the garden was very clear and striking. It gives the large building a refined artistic quality, even though its shape isn’t particularly simple.
The exhibition was also enjoyable. Of the three exhibitions I saw that day, the one created by Takuro Tamayama left the strongest impression. Unlike typical exhibitions that display many items at once, his work consisted of a single, simple art installation that used several rooms. It was a series of brown masses. While the shape and size of the mass differed from room to room, none of them were overly complex.
I really liked the work, because I didn’t feel the need to examine it closely—it allowed me to focus on the rooms themselves. As I walked through the rooms containing parts of the artwork, I realized how thoughtfully the routes and lighting had been designed to make the space comfortable and enjoyable for visitors. At the same time, the artwork reminded me that inspiration in the world of art knows no bounds.