“Shigeru Hasegawa: Pain Tengu” Opens October 24 at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art; From Unpublished Works of His German Years to New Paintings

“Shigeru Hasegawa: Pain Tengu,” a solo exhibition of the painter Shigeru Hasegawa (born 1963), opened at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and runs until Sunday, January 24, 2027. According to the museum, it is his first large-scale solo exhibition at a museum, presenting about 120 oil paintings, along with drawings and materials, in Galleries 1 to 5, from early works, including unpublished pieces from his student years in Germany, to new works made for the exhibition. During the same period, “Shoichi Ida: 20 Years After His Death” is held in Gallery 8.

Who is Shigeru Hasegawa? After Germany and the Netherlands, he stopped exhibiting in 2013

After completing graduate studies at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, Hasegawa moved to Germany in 1989 and studied under Jan Dibbets at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.

In 1992 he moved to the Netherlands, where, after a residency at De Ateliers in Amsterdam, he stayed until 1996. In 2013 he stopped exhibiting, though he continued to work. Since resuming solo exhibitions in 2019, he has been showing his work again.

In 2021, he presented “Kissa & Snack Shi●geru” at a former coffee shop and snack bar, Yuka. In 2023, “Azamino Contemporary vol.14 Shigeru Hasegawa 1989–” was held at the Yokohama Civic Art Gallery Azamino. His works are in the collections of the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, the Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum and others. The exhibition’s English title is “Shigeru Hasegawa, paint-TENGU.”

Why a large-scale solo exhibition now?

The exhibition reportedly presents a mix of old and new works from his many years of painting.

Motifs such as eggplants, cucumbers, bananas and fish appear repeatedly in his paintings. Motifs of Western origin, such as drapery and chair legs, are said to serve as parts that build the picture, stripped of meaning and treated as mere forms. The exhibition also focuses on Hasegawa’s “eye,” which has taken in a great many works from all times and places.

The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art owns “Shi-geru,” painted in 2021 after he resumed exhibiting. For this exhibition, the artist has also made a large work over 3 meters wide, his first in about 30 years. It is an opportunity to survey, on a museum scale, his entire body of work, including the period when he stopped exhibiting.

Five highlights, from unpublished early works to a new painting over 3 meters wide

The museum’s press release lists the following five highlights.

1. Early works, including unpublished ones: works from his student years in Germany from 1989, in which he struggled to bury his earlier paintings; the museum says they can look like gravestones mourning himself. They include oil paintings he kept packed away for many years after returning to Japan

2. Paintings from his years in the Netherlands: presented through works in the collection of the Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum, including a painting more than 3 meters wide with a ginger motif

3. Original wallpaper: works are hung against kitschy wallpaper designed by Hasegawa

4. New works: new paintings made for the exhibition, including a large work over 3 meters wide, his first in about 30 years. “Shi-geru – Tree” (2026) is also new for this exhibition

5. Dialogue with the collection: in Gallery 5, works from the museum’s collection chosen by the artist, by René Magritte, William Morris, Makoto Aida and others, are shown alongside Hasegawa’s works. The artist’s eclectic collection of objects and his drawings are displayed in glass cases (vitrines)

The official website shows images of “The Sower (Man)” (2020, collection of the artist) and “The Sower – Mandarin Orange” (2021, collection of the artist). There are also images of “Sukeakuro (Scarecrow): The Harvest of Wrath” (2023, mado collection), “Shi-geru” (2021, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art) and untitled works from 1990, 1997, 2006 and 2008.

A half-day artist talk, dialogues and the concurrent Shoichi Ida exhibition

On Sunday, November 1 and Sunday, January 10, 2027, from 13:00 to 17:00, the artist will hold “Shi-geru’s Talk Till I Drop,” speaking for half a day while looking at the works in the galleries. Visitors can listen from start to finish or go to other galleries and come back. A ticket valid on the day is required.

From 14:00 on Sunday, November 15, a dialogue, “Talking About Painting,” with Minoru Shimizu (professor, Doshisha University) will be held in the museum auditorium. Shimizu, who is to contribute to the exhibition catalogue, and Hasegawa will delve into Hasegawa’s pursuit of “bad” painting. From 14:00 on Sunday, December 20, there will be a three-way talk with Yoshimi Chinzei (curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo) and Machiko Chiba (curator, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art). Both are first come, first served for 170 people and free.

Gallery talks by the curator in charge are held on Sunday, October 25, Sunday, December 13 and Saturday, January 16, 2027, from 14:00 to 15:00. A ticket valid on the day is required for these as well.

The concurrent exhibition “Shoichi Ida: 20 Years After His Death” is held in Gallery 8. The contemporary printmaker Shoichi Ida (1941–2006) was born in Kyoto and worked widely beyond printmaking, in oils, watercolors, sculpture and installation. The exhibition presents works, including some shown for the first time, based on his idea that “Surface is the Between.” All 401 works of “Tantra” (1962–2006) in the museum’s collection are shown, for a total of about 480 works.

Tickets, prices and access

Same-day admission at the window is 1,300 yen for adults and 1,000 yen for high school and university students; junior high school students and younger are free. Online tickets bought through an external booking site cost 1,100 yen for adults and 800 yen for high school and university students. Advance tickets and groups of 20 or more get 200 yen off the same-day price. A set ticket with the Shoichi Ida exhibition, sold online only, costs 2,000 yen for adults and 1,500 yen for high school and university students.

Holders of a disability certificate (including one attendant), high school students living or studying in Toyota, and Toyota residents aged 18 and under or 70 and over are eligible for reduced or free admission (proof required). Online tickets cannot be canceled or changed once the booking is confirmed, and a smartphone or tablet is needed at entry. Online sales on the final day of the exhibition end at 16:00.

Opening hours are 10:00 to 17:30 (last entry 17:00). The museum is closed on Mondays (open on November 23 and January 11) and over the New Year period from December 28, 2026 to January 4, 2027. It is about 800 meters, or about a 15-minute walk, from Toyotashi Station on the Meitetsu Line or Shin-Toyota Station on the Aichi Loop Railway. By car, it is about 15 minutes from the Toyota IC on the Tomei Expressway and the Toyota-Matsudaira IC on the Tokai-Kanjo Expressway, and the parking lot (248 cars) is free. Elsewhere in Aichi, the Bigelow exhibition opened on October 30 at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Higashi-ku, Nagoya. Autumn and winter events in the Tokai region are compiled in our guide to art and light events in the Tokai region.

Overview

Name: Shigeru Hasegawa: Pain Tengu (Shigeru Hasegawa, paint-TENGU)
Dates: Saturday, October 24, 2026 – Sunday, January 24, 2027
Hours: 10:00–17:30 (last entry 17:00)
Closed: Mondays (open on November 23 and January 11), New Year period (December 28, 2026 – January 4, 2027)
Venue: Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Galleries 1–5
Address: 8-5-1 Kozakahonmachi, Toyota, Aichi Prefecture
Admission: Same-day: adults 1,300 yen, high school and university students 1,000 yen, free for junior high school students and younger. Online: adults 1,100 yen, high school and university students 800 yen. Advance tickets and groups of 20 or more: 200 yen off the same-day price. Set ticket with the Shoichi Ida exhibition (online only): adults 2,000 yen, high school and university students 1,500 yen
Organizer: Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
Concurrent exhibition: Shoichi Ida: 20 Years After His Death (Gallery 8)
Official website: https://www.museum.toyota.aichi.jp/exhibition/hasegawa2026
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: exterior of the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, April 2012 (photo: Tomio344456, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on a press release from the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art (July 8, 2026) and information on its official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team