{"product_id":"art-now-gendai-no-bijutsu-original-japanese-promotional-poster-1975-b2-size-51-73-cm-q178","title":"\"Art Now \/ Gendai no Bijutsu\", Original Japanese Promotional Poster 1975, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) Q178","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"105\" data-end=\"621\"\u003eThis is an \u003cstrong data-start=\"116\" data-end=\"159\"\u003eoriginal Japanese B2 promotional poster\u003c\/strong\u003e printed in \u003cstrong data-start=\"171\" data-end=\"179\"\u003e1975\u003c\/strong\u003e for \u003cstrong data-start=\"184\" data-end=\"198\"\u003eKodansha’s\u003c\/strong\u003e important multi-volume encyclopedia series \u003cstrong data-start=\"242\" data-end=\"273\"\u003eArt Now \/ Gendai no Bijutsu\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cstrong data-start=\"275\" data-end=\"284\"\u003e現代の美術\u003c\/strong\u003e), designed by the celebrated graphic designer and visual theorist \u003cstrong data-start=\"351\" data-end=\"368\"\u003eKohei Sugiura\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cstrong data-start=\"370\" data-end=\"378\"\u003e杉浦康平\u003c\/strong\u003e). Far more than a conventional advertisement, this sheet stands as a \u003cstrong data-start=\"448\" data-end=\"508\"\u003esuperb independent work of 1970s Japanese graphic design\u003c\/strong\u003e, using pure optical form rather than text-heavy promotion to communicate the radical energy of contemporary art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"623\" data-end=\"1111\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"623\" data-end=\"637\"\u003eBackground\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"637\" data-end=\"640\"\u003eDuring the 1970s, Japanese publishers and cultural institutions increasingly embraced advanced graphic design as part of their public identity, and few figures were more influential in this field than \u003cstrong data-start=\"841\" data-end=\"858\"\u003eKohei Sugiura\u003c\/strong\u003e. Known internationally for his intellectually rigorous and visually experimental work, Sugiura brought together typography, systems thinking, traditional patterning, and modernist abstraction in a way that helped define postwar Japanese design culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1113\" data-end=\"1640\"\u003eThis poster was commissioned by \u003cstrong data-start=\"1145\" data-end=\"1157\"\u003eKodansha\u003c\/strong\u003e to promote \u003cstrong data-start=\"1169\" data-end=\"1200\"\u003eArt Now \/ Gendai no Bijutsu\u003c\/strong\u003e, a major publishing project devoted to contemporary art. Rather than relying on explanatory copy or conventional sales messaging, the design adopts an intentionally \u003cstrong data-start=\"1366\" data-end=\"1396\"\u003eminimal, textless approach\u003c\/strong\u003e, allowing the poster itself to function as a kind of visual manifesto. In that sense, it occupies an especially interesting position for collectors: it is both a \u003cstrong data-start=\"1559\" data-end=\"1583\"\u003epromotional artifact\u003c\/strong\u003e and a \u003cstrong data-start=\"1590\" data-end=\"1622\"\u003egallery-worthy design object\u003c\/strong\u003e in its own right.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1642\" data-end=\"2116\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1642\" data-end=\"1659\"\u003ePoster design\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"1659\" data-end=\"1662\"\u003eThe design is a remarkable example of \u003cstrong data-start=\"1700\" data-end=\"1750\"\u003eOp Art-inflected Japanese avant-garde graphics\u003c\/strong\u003e. The entire composition is built from \u003cstrong data-start=\"1789\" data-end=\"1846\"\u003edensely controlled black and cream-white linear bands\u003c\/strong\u003e that expand, contract, and bend across the sheet in a mesmerising system of optical distortions. These lines form a complex, flowing structure that appears to ripple, pulse, and fold in on itself, creating a strong illusion of movement across an otherwise flat surface.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2118\" data-end=\"2666\"\u003eA particularly striking quality of the piece is its \u003cstrong data-start=\"2170\" data-end=\"2201\"\u003ecarefully balanced symmetry\u003c\/strong\u003e. The warped bands mirror and counter-mirror one another, generating biomorphic, almost cellular or wing-like forms where the lines converge and separate. The result is at once mathematical and organic: precise in construction, yet fluid in appearance. Because the poster contains \u003cstrong data-start=\"2482\" data-end=\"2545\"\u003eno visible title text, logo, or marketing copy on the front\u003c\/strong\u003e, the visual field is left completely uninterrupted, giving the sheet an unusually pure and uncompromising graphic force.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2668\" data-end=\"3058\"\u003eThis absence of typography is central to the poster’s significance. Rather than “illustrating” contemporary art, Sugiura created a poster that behaves like contemporary art. For collectors of Japanese design, that is exactly what makes this example so important: it is a \u003cstrong data-start=\"2939\" data-end=\"3057\"\u003erare surviving period print that embodies the visual ambitions of 1970s Japanese publishing and exhibition culture\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3060\" data-end=\"3164\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3060\" data-end=\"3073\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"3073\" data-end=\"3076\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3076\" data-end=\"3164\"\u003eExcellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3166\" data-end=\"3194\"\u003eIt is \u003cstrong data-start=\"3172\" data-end=\"3194\"\u003eover 51 years old!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3196\" data-end=\"3238\"\u003eIt is \u003cstrong data-start=\"3202\" data-end=\"3238\"\u003enot a reproduction or a reprint.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3240\" data-end=\"3281\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3240\" data-end=\"3281\" data-is-last-node=\"\"\u003eCertificate of Authenticity included.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Japan Poster Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56944337191290,"sku":null,"price":335.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/8859\/4591\/files\/wall-shelf-with-ornaments-2026-06-04T182315.401.jpg?v=1780565013","url":"https:\/\/japanposter.co.uk\/products\/art-now-gendai-no-bijutsu-original-japanese-promotional-poster-1975-b2-size-51-73-cm-q178","provider":"Japan Poster Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}