The Flying (Metropolitan Goverment-I) (One Hundred Views of Tokyo, Message to the 21st Century 東京百景 21世紀へのメッセジ)
- Date:
- 1989-99
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
A color woodblock print from Kawachi Seiko's "One Hundred Views of Tokyo" series, subtitled "Message to the 21st Century," depicting the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in flight. Created between 1989 and 1999, this ambitious series reimagines Tokyo's landmarks with surreal transformations. The Metropolitan Government Building, Kenzo Tange's towering twin-tower complex in Shinjuku completed in 1991, is shown lifting off from its foundations and soaring above the city. Kawachi's fantastical vision turns architecture into something airborne and liberated, questioning the permanence of even the most monumental urban structures and imagining a Tokyo where buildings themselves become restless and mobile.
More Prints by Kawachi Seiko
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Flying (Metropolitan Goverment-I) (One Hundred Views of Tokyo, Message to the 21st Century 東京百景 21世紀へのメッセジ) was created by Kawachi Seiko (河内清光) in 1989-99.
The Flying (Metropolitan Goverment-I) (One Hundred Views of Tokyo, Message to the 21st Century 東京百景 21世紀へのメッセジ) depicts landscapes, set at Tokyo.