SHUEISHA Inc. All rights reserved.
2024.3.8~5.6 BLEACH / black, blank & bleed by Tite Kubo
There's black and white. Then, there's red.
Black lines run on white paper. The lines come to life, move, and fight, splattering blood.
We will hold an exhibition to unveil an entire collection of works from Tite Kubo's BLEACH.
The Millennium series was created with the aim of passing down manga a thousand years into the future. The first work in the series, BLEACH / Boy in Black Clothes, will be on display in the form of a hanging scroll at A-an, the tearoom of Shueisha Manga-Art Heritage Tokyo Gallery. Visitors can absorb the artwork in a space in which light and sound are used to evoke intensifying flames.
The main gallery will feature a framed version of the second work, BLEACH / Moon Fang Unity. The exhibition will showcase the entire production process, from the making of washi paper by hand in Mino to the layering of colors at the Collotype Atelier in Kyoto, resulting in works of art that feature deep jet-black tones. In typical commercial printing processes, the four CMYK colors are used, and other colors are usually produced by combining halftone dots. For these works, nine colors were layered over one another to produce a deep black, as if the artwork were painted directly on washi paper with sumi ink.
Following the advice of Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, who curated a manga exhibition at the British Museum, all of these works have undergone a blessing ritual at Jindaiji Temple (Chofu, Tokyo) to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune. In the gallery, a collaborative movie of a Satsuma biwa performance by Kakushin Tomoyoshi held at the temple's study hall will be shown along with scenes from the blessing ceremony.
Also on display for the first time at an in-person exhibition will be works from the color print series, the Real Color Collection. These archival inkjet prints were made on museum-quality paper made from 100% cotton. Visitors can admire the dynamic composition and the vibrant colors of the artwork in A1 size.
Then, there is the black and white print series, The Press. Produced using a large flatbed letterpress, which is now rare, the works feature a unique printed surface with an engraved effect. Although they appear to be simple prints, they are produced using up to five plates, resulting in the coexistence of delicate strokes and impactful solid black on the same work of art.
Our mission to pass down manga a thousand years into the future carries on.
Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza A, B1 5-8-1, Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001, JAPAN
Access / About a 1-minute walk from Exit 5, Kamiyacho Station on the Hibiya Subway Line.
11:00 ~ 20:00 Closed Mondays & 2024.3.1~3.7
