Bishojo: Young Pretty Girls in Art History – 16 Perspectives for Studying the Idea of the bishojo

The theme for summer 2014 at Aomori museum of art is young pretty girls, known in Japanese as bishojo. Not only will pieces with the motif of the bishojo be showcased in the special exhibition, but they will also be showcased in the permanent exhibition.

Along with this, we will also be having our summer vacation event, Children’s Art Museum Day, running at the same time.
Admission is free for middle school students and younger.
Well then, let us meet some beautiful girls.
Exhibition Website: http://bishojo.info/

Bishojo, pretty young girls, are a characteristic motif in modern Japanese culture, appearing in several fields such as the fine arts, comic books, anime, movies, literature, and entertainment. It is said that the concept of shojo, young girls, became generally established from the birth of the identity of the “female student,” which came about from the infrastructure of the modern school system, and from the blossoming of girls’ magazines due to the development of publishing in the beginning of the 20th century. However, before this too, there were girls appearing in the fine arts who fit in with the concept of shojo. At this exhibition, we will investigate various images of shojo from the actively produced bijin-zu (portraits of beautiful girls) of the Edo Period to the shojo born during modern times. It is also an exhibition where we Japanese people examine what we seek in this shojo identity. Appearing works include a wide variety of pieces such as ukiyo-e from the Edo Period, paintings of beautiful girls prosperous during modern times, lyrical paintings which capture the imagination of young girls, comic books and anime which symbolized post-war culture, figurines which represent protagonist culture, and finally art work featuring shojo in the modern world.
What in the world are shojo? We will think about shojo from diverse perspectives, and will prepare 16 perspectives using more than 300 works by approximately 110 artists,