MATSUMOTO Yoko (b. 1936) began painting abstract pictures around 1960. She discovered acrylic paint and became aware of new possibilities in painting at the end of the 1960s while living in the United States. She went on to make effective use of this medium, perfecting an original style of abstract painting based on a pink color scheme, in the 1980s and the 1990s. In recent years, she has moved into new territory with a series of abstract oil paintings in green.

NOGUCHI Rika (b. 1971) started doing photography in the early 1990s and quickly gained attention for her highly accomplished series, including Fujiyama (started in 1997). Making a brilliant choice of themes and creating a unique sense of distance in her pictures, she explored the essence of the medium of photography. As she continues to work, her art is being praised throughout the world.

MATSUMOTO Yoko and NOGUCHI Rika work in different media, use different modes of expression, and belong to different generations, but they both use light as one of the important theme in their art. Light, of course, has been an important issue in the art of all countries since ancient times. These two artists have taken on the extremely difficult challenge of representing light directly. Their achievement in contemporary art will be presented in a pair of individual exhibitions, focusing on recent works.

* The text provided by The National Art Center, Tokyo.