7 best art exhibitions showing in Osaka right now

Jeff Koons occupies a singular position in contemporary art. Known for his polished surfaces, bold iconography and unapologetic embrace of popular imagery, the American artist has continually blurred the boundaries between high culture and mass consumption.

By elevating everyday objects – vacuum cleaners, basketballs, cartoon figures – into the realm of fine art, Koons interrogates value, desire and collective memory. Held in major museum collections worldwide, his works function as both mirrors and provocations, reflecting the aspirations and contradictions of contemporary society.

This exhibition at Espace Louis Vuitton Osaka brings together seven significant sculptures and paintings, tracing the evolution of Koons’s practice from the 1980s onwards. Through collage, exaggeration and seductive reflective surfaces, Koons transforms the ordinary into a site of contemplation and delight, inviting viewers to reconsider the aesthetic and emotional power of what society labels banal.

Located in western Kyoto, Myoshin-ji was originally a sub-palace of Emperor Hanazono (1297–1348) before being converted into a Zen Buddhist temple in 1342. During the Sengoku period, under the patronage of powerful warlords, many sub-temples were added to the sprawling grounds and Myoshin-ji became a rich repository of Zen Buddhist art and Momoyama-period paintings, especially works by the celebrated Kano, Hasegawa and Kaiho schools.

Juo Sohitsu (1296–1380), the sole disciple of the temple’s founding abbot Kanzan Egen, played a fundamental role in establishing Myoshin-ji’s early foundations. This exhibition commemorates his 650th memorial anniversary by showcasing some of the temple’s most treasured classical Japanese artworks. It also highlights the transmission of Zen philosophy from Kanzan to Juo and onwards to the present day.

Don’t miss the exhibition’s cool little interactive AR experience. Using a smartphone, you can watch the majestic dragon from Myoshin-ji’s lecture hall seemingly rise to the museum ceiling.

Sarah Morris is one of the most incisive observers of the contemporary metropolis. Born in the UK in 1967 and based in New York, she has since the 1990s developed a distinctive visual language that moves fluidly between painting, film and large-scale architectural interventions. 

Known for her glossy geometric abstractions structured by diagrammatic grids, Morris translates systems of power (corporate, political and urban) into vivid compositions that oscillate between order and instability. Her parallel film practice extends this inquiry into moving images, probing the psychological and political undercurrents of cities in constant flux.

For about two months, the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka presents ‘Sarah Morris: Transactional Authority’, the artist’s first retrospective exhibition in Japan and one of the most comprehensive surveys of her work in Asia. Featuring nearly 100 works spanning more than three decades, the exhibition brings together around 40 paintings, all 17 of Morris’s films, drawings and a newly commissioned large-scale wall painting created specifically for the museum...

Cute as they are, folk toys can reveal a great deal about the cultures and environments from which they originate. Often made from simple materials like paper and wood, they are deeply connected to local folk beliefs and customs. This exhibition at the Osaka Museum of History explores the museum’s folk toy collection, highlighting their materials and designs, as well as the symbolism, prayers and superstitions associated with them.

Key exhibits include an inuhariko, or papier-mâché dog, from the Taisho era (1912–1926). Such figurines, often decorated with floral patterns, were traditionally gifted to children to wish for their health and happiness. Here you'll also see a clay ox, a type of Fushimi doll sold along the approach to the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto, which was historically floated down the river to ward off smallpox.

The exhibition also features a Shinno’s Tiger, an Osaka Hariko papier-mâché craft and a cherished traditional art of the region, said to have originated during a cholera outbreak in the 19th century.

Since opening in 1982 with the renowned Ataka Collection of Chinese and Korean ceramics, the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka has expanded steadily over the past forty years. The museum owes much of this growth to the generosity of donors, among them Dr. Lee Byeong-Chang, who gifted a significant assemblage of Korean works. This expansive exhibition highlights both the depth and quality of these contributions.

The main highlight is the Shokei Collection, which is being exhibited for the first time ever. This remarkable array of tea utensils from China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan includes scoops, kettles, hanging scrolls and a rare 12th-century waka (a traditional form of Japanese poetry) manuscript fragment, along with many other implements essential to the tea ceremony.

Also on display are exceptional Chinese ceramic wine vessels from the Iriye Masanobu Collection, and a comprehensive historical grouping of Chinese ceramics from the Hakutoro Collection. Additionally, the series of burial figurines and mingqi (spirit objects) from the Umino Nobuyoshi Collection dates from the Han to the Tang dynasties.

The exhibition further includes a selection of Korean ceramics and related materials formerly owned by Asakawa Noritaka, an influential scholar who helped introduce the beauty of Korean ceramics to Japan.