As is known from his book, “An Artist’s Box of Toys—Genichiro’s Collections” (Gaka no Omocha-bako, 1984, Bunka Publishing Bureau), Genichiro Inokuma (1902-93) was something of a collector as an artist. This does not mean he collected obsessively, however. Rather, he collected things he felt to be beautiful or cute, whether waste objects discarded in the street or expensive antiques, in a natural way in day-to-day life.
His collection of “things” (butsu butsu) is now in the safekeeping of this museum. From that collection, stylist Miyoko Okao has selected certain items catching her interest, and photographer Takashi Homma has photographed them. This exhibition, then, is the result of their selecting and photographing objects in close collaboration, “muttering” (butsu butsu) together all the while. Each of these things, while presented from a new perspective, displays its inherent charm and evokes the presence of the artist who found and enjoyed them.