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March 11 ? Sept. 12, 2010 - Fondation Cartier pour l'art ...

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<strong>March</strong> <strong>11</strong> › <strong>Sept</strong>. <strong>12</strong>, <strong>2010</strong>


EXHIBITION MARCH <strong>11</strong> > SEPT. <strong>12</strong>, <strong>2010</strong><br />

BEAT TAKESHI KITANO<br />

GOSSE DE PEINTRE<br />

—<br />

With joy, humor and seriousness, Beat Takeshi Kitano has thrown himself<br />

into Gosse de peintre, an unusual project that subtly, if impertinently,<br />

alights in the realm of childhood. Entirely created by Beat Takeshi Kitano,<br />

this site-specific exhibition for the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong> <strong>pour</strong> l’art contemporain<br />

will be presented from <strong>March</strong> <strong>11</strong> to <strong>Sept</strong>ember <strong>12</strong>, <strong>2010</strong>. With paintings<br />

and videos, bizarre objects and settings, whimsical and fantastic machines,<br />

Kitano leads the visitor through surprises, gags and games, all the while<br />

mocking contemporary art, experimenting with the sciences and toying with<br />

clichés associated with his country, Japan.<br />

A SingulAr PerSonAlity Filmmaker, actor, TV presenter,<br />

comedian, painter, writer, Takeshi Kitano, also known as Beat<br />

Takeshi, is a singular personality. Famous throughout the world<br />

for his films, Beat Takeshi Kitano commands an unequalled<br />

popularity in Japan as a comic and TV celebrity. Irrepressibly<br />

curious, passionate about the acquisition and passing on of<br />

knowledge, he adroitly switches genres and idioms, moving<br />

from violence to comedy, from over-the-top performances to<br />

deeply restrained ones.<br />

An invitAtion from the fondAtion CArtier While this<br />

insatiable artist finds inspiration everywhere, two leitmotifs<br />

occur frequently in his work: his fascination and nostalgia<br />

for childhood, and his relationship with the image, which is<br />

fundamental to his creative approach. This passion for the<br />

image is also evidenced by a prolific output of paintings, many<br />

of which appear in his films. Reluctant to institutionalize his<br />

artwork, which he deems essentially a private endeavor, Kitano<br />

has never submitted to the numerous requests of museums<br />

to exhibit his work. His decision to accept the <strong>Fondation</strong><br />

<strong>Cartier</strong>’s invitation resulted from meeting with its director,<br />

Hervé Chandès, and their numerous discussions during which<br />

arose the idea of a site-specific exhibition geared toward children,<br />

designed as one gigantic installation.<br />

A multifACeted ProjeCt In creating Gosse de peintre, a<br />

multifaceted project with clear autobiographical references,<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano subverts the very idea of an exhibition.<br />

He has transformed the museum into an amusement park<br />

in which all the worlds of Beat Takeshi Kitano take center<br />

stage. Popular culture and scientific inquiry, the imaginary<br />

and the satirical, tradition and education, the beautiful and<br />

the kitsch, all co-exist in a setting that is at once diverse<br />

and cohesive.<br />

Meandering along a path studded with bizarre images, interactive<br />

workshops, gags and games, visitors enter a universe<br />

1<br />

as joyful as it is rich and complex. Populated by imaginary animals<br />

amidst an array of inventions, sideshows and musings,<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano’s exhibition is like a gigantic self-portrait,<br />

an expression of his dreams, ideas, and fantasies both as a child<br />

and an adult. The autobiographical nature of the exhibition<br />

is demonstrated through references to his childhood and<br />

hints to events in his life and even his name, which appears<br />

on objects and within the exhibition decor.<br />

This first exhibition of Beat Takeshi Kitano is one of the most<br />

ambitious projects ever created for the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong>.<br />

It is designed for children, but speaks to adults. With Gosse<br />

de peintre, Beat Takeshi Kitano takes children seriously and<br />

invites them to think, to dream and to join the show.<br />

—<br />

ACtivitieS for Children<br />

<strong>March</strong> > <strong>Sept</strong>. <strong>2010</strong><br />

In the context of the exhibition Beat Takeshi Kitano, Gosse de peintre,<br />

the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong> <strong>pour</strong> l’art contemporain invites young visitors<br />

to discover today’s art in new ways. Workshops and guided tours<br />

for children and families are offered to the public<br />

on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.<br />

For further information: fondation.cartier.com/enfants<br />

Practical information. Admission: 7 €. Advance booking essential.<br />

Visitors’ Department: Tel. + 33 (0)1 42 18 56 67<br />

info.reservation@fondation.cartier.com<br />

—<br />

exhibition<br />

FONDATION CARTIER POuR l’ART CONTEMPORAIN<br />

General Director: Hervé Chandès / Curator: Isabelle Gaudefroy /<br />

Production Manager: Camille Chenet; intern: Alexandra Fouillade-Meyer /<br />

Production and Installation Coordinator: Christophe Morizot /<br />

Interpreter: Asuka Abe / Registrar: Corinne Bocquet,<br />

Alanna Minta Jordan; intern: Flora Katz / Installation: Gilles Gioan /<br />

lighting: Nicolas Tauveron / Soundtracks: Cristián Sotomayor /<br />

Sound Technician: Cyril Chiron<br />

OFFICE KITANO<br />

General Director: Masayuki Mori / Production Managers: Makoto Kakurai,<br />

Aya Nakahashi, Jun Ogawa / Director of Production: Satoru Maruyama<br />

(ACS Inc.) / Director of Exhibition Design: Hironori Takamatsu (ACS Inc.)


INSTAllATIONS / PAINTINGS / VIDEOS<br />

THE EXHIBITION<br />

—<br />

Described by Kitano as a “series<br />

of dreams,” the exhibition allows<br />

the discovery of a collection<br />

of objects born straight from his<br />

imagination. The entire ground<br />

floor is surmounted by three large<br />

rings that support some two<br />

hundred figurines called dharma,<br />

who seem to be looking over<br />

the visitors and the exhibition.<br />

Very popular in Japan, these<br />

lucky charms are named after<br />

the founder of Zen, Bodhidharma<br />

who, having meditated for<br />

nine years while facing a wall,<br />

saw his legs and arms atrophy.<br />

Conventionally, these Japanese<br />

figurines are red and their<br />

eyes remain unpainted, allowing<br />

those who buy the charms<br />

first to make a wish while<br />

painting the left eye and once<br />

the wish is granted, finish<br />

by painting the right eye.<br />

upon entering the small gallery,<br />

the visitor is greeted by a model<br />

of Beat Takeshi Kitano which is<br />

observing his own brain and is<br />

engaged in an internal dialogue:<br />

Who are You Who is Looking<br />

at Me?! This “self-portrait with<br />

brain” hints at the spirit of the<br />

exhibition, a veritable journey<br />

into the heart of Kitano’s<br />

imaginary world.<br />

Following his 1994 motorcycle<br />

accident, Kitano refused to have<br />

a craniotomy.<br />

“It’s true that if my surgeon<br />

sees these paintings, he’ll probably<br />

think he should have operated<br />

on me right away!”<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

In the same room, a recalcitrant<br />

criminal escapes hanging (Beat<br />

Takeshi Kitano’s way of taking on<br />

the death penalty which remains<br />

in force in Japan). A preview of the<br />

latest model of the “safest driver’s<br />

seat on the planet” is also on display.<br />

2<br />

On the small stage of the Ô-Edo<br />

Puppet Theater, a wild array<br />

of Japanese masks—traditional<br />

figures from kabuki theater, folk<br />

characters, deities from Japanese<br />

mythology—create a beguiling,<br />

emblematic composition.<br />

The term Ô-Edo refers to<br />

the name of Tokyo during<br />

the Edo period (1600-1868).<br />

Continuing, the visitor comes upon<br />

Kitano’s theory on the disappearance<br />

of the dinosaurs, as well as the<br />

Japanese Imperial Army’s secret plans<br />

to transform animals into weapons.<br />

Seventeen never-before-seen<br />

creatures, along with the blueprints<br />

that served to make them, are<br />

displayed in a large showcase<br />

fashioned after the façade of<br />

the early-20th-century Japanese<br />

Naval Ministry building.


“Making such comparisons<br />

between machines and animals<br />

is like a children’s game,<br />

but there is also a serious<br />

analytical component to it.[…]<br />

These pictures may seem<br />

funny and can make us laugh.<br />

But quite seriously, a whale<br />

is much better in the water<br />

than a hydroplane.<br />

A dragonfly can fly better<br />

than a helicopter. All of these<br />

man-made technologies are<br />

inspired by living creatures,<br />

but they can never equal them.”<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

Grandly seated in the middle of<br />

the room, a gigantic, clattering,<br />

laughably inefficient sewing machine<br />

serves as an ironic metaphor<br />

for contemporary art.<br />

The Kitano Sewing<br />

Machine “Hideyoshi”:<br />

Toyotomi Hideyoshi<br />

is the name of a 16th-century<br />

Japanese warlord who<br />

unified the country following<br />

a century of upheaval.<br />

Right beside this, transgenically<br />

bred fish pre-stuffed with sushi<br />

poke fun at technological progress.<br />

underscoring his respect for traditional<br />

craftmanship, Kitano entrusted<br />

the production of the fish to Hagi<br />

ceramists whose expertise dates<br />

back to the 17th-century. A truly<br />

miraculous catch, the installation<br />

is decorated with a flag, like those<br />

flown by fishermen to ensure a good<br />

catch. He has set afloat “Takeshi’s<br />

Boat” affiliated with the “Fishermen’s<br />

Association of Adachi-ku.”<br />

Adachi-ku is a working-class<br />

neighborhood of Tokyo and<br />

Kitano’s childhood home.<br />

Passionate about science, Kitano<br />

naturally included scientific games<br />

and metaphors in the exhibition.<br />

The Tower of Hanoi is a game<br />

invented in the 19th century<br />

by a French mathematician and<br />

practiced—according to Kitano—<br />

by Buddhist monks for meditation.<br />

As presented here, this brain<br />

teaser would take 580 billion years<br />

to finish—an inconceivable time<br />

span for the human mind to ponder.<br />

Children can play simplified<br />

versions of the game.<br />

Similarly, the installation Probability<br />

Of Chance also highlights the<br />

disparity in scale between human<br />

time and the time of creation.<br />

using a clock, a bolt and a vibrating<br />

base, it presents a scientific metaphor<br />

that insinuates how the appearance<br />

3<br />

of life on earth was complete chance.<br />

The stopwatch is set at Kitano’s birthday.<br />

“On earth, we are under<br />

the impression that we all live<br />

in synchronous, equivalent time.<br />

But this impression is utterly<br />

false. Time is not perceived in<br />

the same way by different cultures.<br />

Time is not a universal concept.<br />

It represents something<br />

different to each individual.” 1<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

1. Takeshi Kitano, in collaboration with Michel Temman,<br />

Kitano par Kitano, Grasset, <strong>2010</strong><br />

With a humorous bow to art history,<br />

the Monsieur Pollock installation<br />

presents a machine designed to<br />

create a series of paintings by this<br />

major figure of American abstract<br />

expressionism. In the bookstore<br />

on the mezzanine, several different<br />

painting techniques, as well as the<br />

results of these forged experiments,<br />

are on display.<br />

In a shed in the garden Tama-Jii<br />

and Kon-Tan depicts the two opposing<br />

spirits found in all humans and all<br />

trees. Embodying the positive side<br />

of the human soul, “Tama-Jii” is a<br />

portmanteau word coined by Kitano<br />

composed of Tamashii (spirit or soul)<br />

and Jii (old man). Kon-Tan (schemer)<br />

embodies the negative side of the<br />

human soul. In humans, Kon-Tan<br />

is situated near the intestines and<br />

Tama-Jii near the heart. In trees, the<br />

former withers the branch in which it<br />

lives, whereas the latter fortifies it.


At a stand in the garden, visitors<br />

can buy and savor Kitano’s waffles.<br />

Customarily shaped like a fish,<br />

here the traditional Japanese waffle<br />

is transformed into a Buddha.<br />

located on the lower level, this large,<br />

bright stand was inspired by the<br />

fairground booths seen in Asakusa,<br />

a working-class neighborhood<br />

where Kitano spent a great deal<br />

of his childhood during the 1950s.<br />

Reminiscent of a curiosity cabinet,<br />

it is a trove of funfare phenomena.<br />

Strange chimeras are caged behind<br />

bars, while the “Beat Takeshi’s<br />

real work,” like a sordid little secret,<br />

hides behind the red drapes. Excerpts<br />

from his TV shows, never previously<br />

seen in France, are shown in an<br />

off-beat setting.<br />

Paintings, 2008-2009. The exhibition<br />

also presents a large collection<br />

of Beat Takeshi Kitano’s paintings,<br />

presented here for the first time.<br />

Despite his prodigious output, Beat<br />

Takeshi Kitano considers himself<br />

an amateur painter. For him, painting<br />

is as much a writing implement<br />

as it is an outlet. Figurative, even<br />

narrative in style, the twenty-four<br />

paintings, some of which were<br />

produced for this exhibition, seem<br />

to explode in colors and are<br />

reminiscent of naïve art.<br />

“Having split up in<br />

prehistoric times,<br />

creatures reunify in<br />

the 21st century.”<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

The Animal and Flower<br />

Vases. While recovering<br />

from the 1994 motorcycle<br />

accident that almost<br />

cost him his life, Beat Takeshi<br />

Kitano created a series<br />

of disturbing paintings<br />

in 1996 that depicted<br />

hybrid animal-flower<br />

creatures. These works<br />

accented several scenes<br />

of his film Hana-bi.<br />

The paintings are<br />

displayed here, along<br />

with a collection of<br />

Venetian vases inspired<br />

by the unsettling images<br />

and which were produced<br />

expressly for this project.<br />

As an exclusive for the <strong>Fondation</strong><br />

<strong>Cartier</strong>, Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

has shot two short comedies.<br />

This is Japan! is a surrealistic<br />

compilation of picturesque images<br />

and prejudices, in which he<br />

humorously attacks clichés held<br />

by westerners regarding Japan.<br />

In Human Hanging Calligraphy,<br />

Kitano films himself as he is<br />

being manipulated to create<br />

a giant calligraphy, echoing<br />

his most recent film Achilles<br />

and the Tortoise.<br />

4<br />

Modern Science Reveals The<br />

Truth about Dinosaur Extinction:<br />

“For example, the installation<br />

that examines the extinction<br />

of the dinosaurs. If you watch TV<br />

programs on this subject,<br />

for instance, on the Discovery<br />

Channel, they try to give you<br />

detailed scientific explanations<br />

as to why the dinosaurs<br />

disappeared. They usually say<br />

that a meteorite hit the earth,<br />

that the temperature of the planet<br />

dropped, and this caused the<br />

dinosaurs to die out. But I offer<br />

a different, comic version.<br />

Those dinosaurs had short arms,<br />

which probably made it hard<br />

for them to wipe their behinds.<br />

And so the hypothesis is<br />

that their disappearance was<br />

due to the lack of hygiene in<br />

their environment!”<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

Two workshops have been erected,<br />

inviting the visitor to participate<br />

in the exhibition. In one interactive<br />

installation, everyone can take<br />

part and create drawings inspired<br />

by soundtracks that evoke<br />

a particular landscape, personality<br />

or musical excerpts. Displayed side<br />

by side, these drawings will form<br />

a montage of the diversity of human<br />

imagination. On the lower level,<br />

there is a dinosaur painting workshop<br />

where the visitor can imagine the<br />

original colors of these now extinct<br />

creatures. using a paint gun, the<br />

lucky lottery winners (a small sticker<br />

on your entry ticket indicates whether<br />

you’ve won) get to color the dinosaurs<br />

however inspiration may lead.


INTERVIEW REAlIZED BY MICHEl TEMMAN (EXCERPTS FROM THE CATAlOG)<br />

INTERVIEW WITH<br />

BEAT TAKESHI KITANO<br />

—<br />

miChel temmAn Your exhibition at the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong><br />

is a new chapter in your already prolific career. Is it like<br />

a dream come true?<br />

beAt tAkeShi kitAno I feel like a mountain climber who has<br />

been asked to climb Mt. Everest without a supply of oxygen.<br />

When the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong> asked me to do this exhibition, it<br />

might have been the lack of oxygen that led me to say: “Okay,<br />

I’ll do it.” Anyway, I think I was somewhat dehydrated. After<br />

things had gotten off the ground, when it became hard to say,<br />

“In fact, I’m not really sure of myself anymore,” I got worried.<br />

We had gone past the point of no return, and I wanted to say<br />

to the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong>: “Wait a second! Are we actually<br />

going to do this exhibition?” […]<br />

miChel temmAn When you were working on the<br />

exhibition, what were your priorities and what was your<br />

greatest desire? What was going on in your head?<br />

beAt tAkeShi kitAno I like the painting and the work of<br />

Renaissance painters like leonardo da Vinci. What I admire<br />

about them is that, throughout their lives, they didn’t confine<br />

themselves to one path or define themselves by a single interest.<br />

Da Vinci was a painter, but he was also a scientist. I like<br />

the idea that he was able to combine elements from different<br />

fields and that this combination made up his artistic oeuvre.<br />

He was constantly doing new things with his hands. I like that<br />

approach, that characteristic of the Renaissance artists: their<br />

versatility. Nowadays, however, it has become terribly common<br />

to segregate all of these different fields. We think we have to<br />

separate each discipline and clearly distinguish artists from<br />

scientists. Specialization is something that is becoming more<br />

and more apparent in our times. However, for the education<br />

of our children—and this is, in fact, true not only for children,<br />

but for everyone—it is much more stimulating and exciting<br />

to jam everything together in one pot. And, of course, being<br />

a comedian, I can’t help but incorporate silliness and mockery<br />

into the installations and paintings in this exhibition. But<br />

who knows what will happen? Someone, a child perhaps, will<br />

be astonished by a certain installation and want to become<br />

a scientist. Another kid might want to become an artist, and<br />

another, a comedian. […]<br />

miChel temmAn The Director of the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong><br />

Hervé Chandès chose the title Gosse de peintre<br />

(“the painter’s kid”) for the exhibition. This was the<br />

nickname you were given in school by other children<br />

who made fun of your father’s job…<br />

beAt tAkeShi kitAno Yes, it’s true, and in fact the title conveys<br />

the message I wanted to express. Other kids often mocked<br />

me because I was the son of a house painter. That happened<br />

a lot when I was in primary school, junior high and even high<br />

school. They would say: “Oh, you’re the house painter’s kid!”<br />

I heard it all the time. That’s partly why I drew away from the<br />

5<br />

other kids when I was in school. I don’t know how things are in<br />

Europe, but in Japan house painters are ridiculed because you<br />

see them wearing their used coveralls stained with paint, and as<br />

a result, their dirty clothes make them a target of derision. So in<br />

school, I kept my distance from the bullying and the teasing of<br />

my classmates, and in fact I liked being on the outside looking<br />

in. I was like a spectator observing them objectively, it seemed<br />

to me, from the outside. And I think this helped me later on,<br />

especially when I was starting out as a stand-up comic. Watching<br />

people, knowing how to observe them, is the most valuable skill<br />

a comedian can have. I had learned how to observe the kids who<br />

made fun of me, their behavior and ways of thinking, and that<br />

habit later became very useful, it became an asset for me.[…]<br />

miChel temmAn It [the exhibition] reveals you, for<br />

the first time, as a visual artist. And it includes so many<br />

different forms of artistic expression: it could have been<br />

called Takeshi’s Vertigo. After Beat Takeshi, the TV star, and<br />

Kitano, the filmmaker, is this the birth of a new Takeshi?<br />

beAt tAkeShi kitAno Well, when I work on a television program<br />

or on a feature film, there are always certain limits. For<br />

example, with TV shows there are restrictions in terms of<br />

content. The producers and directors, of course, tell me I can<br />

do anything I want. But in reality, when you’re working with a<br />

commercial network, you have to take the sponsors into consideration,<br />

which means that you can’t criticize them on the<br />

show. This is also applicable to movies, and the film industry<br />

has its own constraints. For this exhibition, on the other hand,<br />

I was given free rein. There were no restrictions—outside of<br />

the physical limitations, of course—and that was quite new<br />

for me. It was probably the most “anything goes” situation I’ve<br />

ever experienced, and I took it as far as I wanted to go.<br />

—<br />

PubliCAtion<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano, Gosse de peintre<br />

Opening the door to Kitano’s<br />

world, this catalogue offers<br />

a behind-the-scenes look at the<br />

exhibition. Drawings of objects,<br />

blueprints of the installations<br />

and paintings by the artist wind<br />

back to the genesis of an<br />

extraordinary project. Through<br />

a rich iconography drawn<br />

from his films and top TV shows,<br />

the reader retraces in images<br />

Kitano’s exceptional career.<br />

limited edition of 150 box sets,<br />

containing a book signed by<br />

the artist and a litograph. Price<br />

available on demand. Exclusively<br />

sold at the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong><br />

<strong>pour</strong> l’art contemporain Bookshop<br />

and on fondation.cartier.com<br />

<strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong> <strong>pour</strong> l’art<br />

contemporain, Paris /<br />

Actes Sud, Arles<br />

Softback, 24 × 30 cm, 264 pages,<br />

200 color illustrations, 43 €


BIOGRAPHY<br />

—<br />

the beginningS Born in Tokyo in 1947, Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

entered show business in 1974 as Beat Takeshi, a stage name<br />

he continues to use as a performer. Half of the comic duo Two<br />

Beat, Beat Takeshi was one of the leading figures in the manzaï,<br />

or stand-up comedy boom of the late 1970s. Beat Takeshi’s<br />

distinctive speaking style and idiosyncratic perspective made<br />

him one of Japan’s most popular entertainers of the 1980s.<br />

tv Celebrity Beat Takeshi’s television career saw its true<br />

beginnings in 1981 with his appearances on Oretachi<br />

Hyokinzoku (literal translation: we are jokers), a comedy show<br />

that introduced many comedians. Of the numerous shows<br />

presented by Beat Takeshi, the most internationally renowned<br />

is Takeshi’s Castle in which contestants participated in a series<br />

of trials, some quite physical. Broadcast from 1986 to 1989,<br />

it achieved record audiences. Currently, Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

presents eight programs a week, with topics ranging from<br />

politics to mathematics.<br />

ACtor As an actor, Beat Takeshi has appeared in his own<br />

films as well as numerous others. He garnered international<br />

acclaim for his role in Nagisa Oshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr<br />

Lawrence in 1982. In 1999, he again collaborated with Oshima<br />

on the samurai epic Taboo. In 2000, he appeared in Kinji<br />

Fukasaku’s controversial Japanese blockbuster Battle Royale.<br />

His acting career also includes international films such as<br />

Robert longo’s Johnny Mnemonic (uS, 1995) and Jean-Pierre<br />

limosin’s Tokyo Eyes (France, 1997).<br />

direCtor Kitano made his directorial debut with Violent<br />

Cop, in which he also starred. He has since made Boiling<br />

Point, A Scene at the Sea, Sonatine, Getting Any? and Kids<br />

Return, among others. In 1997, Kitano’s directorial achievement<br />

was truly acknowledged when Hana-bi was awarded<br />

the Golden lion Award at the Venice International Film<br />

Festival. This success was followed by Kikujiro, the Japan-uS<br />

co-production Brother and Dolls. Kitano’s first period drama,<br />

Zatoichi, won the Best Director Award at the Venice<br />

International Film Festival. Following the release of Takeshis’,<br />

Kitano was presented with the Special Culture Award at the<br />

10th Galileo 2000 Awards in Italy. In 2006, Kitano directed<br />

the short film, One Fine Day, for the Cannes Film Festival’s<br />

60th anniversary project, Chacun son Cinéma. That year,<br />

Kitano became the inaugural recipient of the Venice<br />

International Film Festival’s Glory to the Filmmaker! Award,<br />

which was established in honor of his thirteenth film, taking<br />

on his title. In 2008, Achilles and the Tortoise premiered at<br />

the Venice International Film Festival. That same year, Kitano<br />

received in June the lifetime Achievement Award at the<br />

Moscow International Film Festival, and in November the<br />

Honorary Golden Alexander Award at the International<br />

Thessaloniki Film Festival.<br />

6<br />

Disorder<br />

In a film–just like in the universe–order<br />

reigns, with its equations, subtractions,<br />

divisions. A scenario, however, can be<br />

the result of disorder. I would love to edit<br />

a film by selecting the scenes at random.<br />

The final version would be fantastical,<br />

nonsensical, astonishing, completely wild.<br />

Playing<br />

I make movies, above all, for fun. Maybe<br />

it’s because I’m obsessed with putting<br />

things together… I see each of my films<br />

as a sort of toy, an object. I don’t think<br />

there is anything more enjoyable than<br />

making a movie. It reminds me of when<br />

I was a boy, playing with a top.<br />

Television<br />

Television offers me a lot of freedom,<br />

especially as a filmmaker. Thanks to<br />

television I can switch between genres<br />

and take the time to work on a filmmaking<br />

adventure that is really important to<br />

me. Television is a drug that keeps me<br />

from getting stressed out.<br />

Time<br />

If I could, I would like to be able to live<br />

outside of time. like when you’re at<br />

the movies. When you watch a film,<br />

it’s like you’re living outside of reality.<br />

I wish I could get away from that<br />

constraint, that fatality from which<br />

no one can escape.<br />

Vocation<br />

If I couldn’t get a job in a Honda factory,<br />

then I thought I’d be just as happy being<br />

an explorer, a marine biologist, for example,<br />

in order to satisfy my yearning to see<br />

the world…<br />

The quotations by Takeshi Kitano are originally from the book<br />

Kitano par Kitano, written by the artist in collaboration<br />

with Michel Temman and published by Grasset in February <strong>2010</strong>.


FIlMS, TV, BOOKS<br />

—<br />

FIlMOGRAPHY TV SHOWS<br />

(Selection)<br />

1989<br />

Violent Cop<br />

Director,<br />

Writer<br />

and Actor<br />

1990<br />

Boiling Point<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

1991<br />

A Scene at the Sea<br />

Director,<br />

Writer<br />

and Editor<br />

1993<br />

Sonatine<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

1995<br />

Getting Any?<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

1996<br />

Kids Return<br />

Director,<br />

Writer<br />

and Editor<br />

1997<br />

Hana-bi (Fireworks)<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

• Golden Lion,<br />

Venice<br />

Film Festival<br />

1999<br />

Kikujiro<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

2000<br />

Brother<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

2002<br />

Dolls<br />

Director,<br />

Writer<br />

and Editor<br />

2003<br />

Zatoichi<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

• Silver Lion,<br />

Venice<br />

Film Festival<br />

2005<br />

Takeshis’<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

2007<br />

Glory to<br />

the Filmmaker!<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

2007<br />

One Fine Day<br />

Director,<br />

Writer<br />

and Editor<br />

2008<br />

Achilles<br />

and the Tortoise<br />

Director,<br />

Writer, Editor<br />

and Actor<br />

Actor in selected<br />

other films<br />

1983<br />

Nagisa Oshima,<br />

Merry Christmas,<br />

Mr Lawrence<br />

1993<br />

Toshihiro Tenma,<br />

Many Happy Returns<br />

1995<br />

Robert longo,<br />

Johnny Mnemonic<br />

1995<br />

Takashi Ishii,<br />

Gonin<br />

1997<br />

Jean-Pierre limosin,<br />

Tokyo Eyes<br />

1999<br />

Nagisa Oshima,<br />

Taboo<br />

2000<br />

Kinji Fukasaku,<br />

Battle Royale<br />

2002<br />

Kenta &<br />

Kinji Fukasaku,<br />

Battle Royale II<br />

2004<br />

Yoichi Sai,<br />

Blood and Bones<br />

7<br />

1981/1989<br />

Oretachi<br />

Hyokinzoku<br />

1983/1986<br />

Takechan<br />

no Omowazu<br />

Waratteshimaimashita<br />

1983/1999<br />

Super Jockey<br />

1985/1990<br />

Sports Taisho<br />

1985/1995<br />

Genki TV<br />

1986/1989<br />

Takeshi’s Castle<br />

1989/1996, 2007<br />

Owarai Ultra Quiz<br />

1989/Present<br />

Beat Takeshi’s<br />

TV Tackle<br />

1990/Present<br />

World Great TV<br />

1997/2009<br />

Takeshi No Daredemo<br />

Picasso<br />

1998/2002<br />

Kokoga Hendayo<br />

Nihonjin<br />

2006/Present<br />

Takeshi Kitano<br />

presents<br />

Coma Univ.<br />

Mathematics<br />

2008/Present<br />

Jouhou 7 days<br />

Newscaster<br />

2009/Present<br />

Takeshi<br />

No Nippon<br />

No Mikata<br />

BIBlIOGRAPHY<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

has published<br />

over eighty books<br />

under the name<br />

of Beat Takeshi<br />

or Takeshi Kitano.<br />

Two of them have<br />

been translated<br />

into English:<br />

Boy, Vertical, 2007<br />

A Guru Is Born<br />

Vertical, 2008<br />

Selected english<br />

books on<br />

beat takeshi kitano<br />

Aaron Gerow,<br />

Kitano Takeshi<br />

British Film Institute,<br />

2007<br />

Abe Casio,<br />

Beat Takeshi<br />

vs. Takeshi Kitano<br />

Kaya Press,<br />

2005<br />

Imai Takako, Tommy<br />

udo, Sato Yuki,<br />

Machiyama Tomohiro,<br />

Abe Casio,<br />

Beat Takeshi Kitano<br />

Tadao Press,<br />

2001


CuRRENT EVENTS<br />

— In cinemas<br />

tAkeShi kitAno,<br />

Achilles And the tortoise<br />

Océan Films Distribution<br />

Release date: <strong>March</strong> 10, <strong>2010</strong><br />

Following Takeshis’ (2005) and Glory to the Filmmaker!<br />

(2007), Achilles and the Tortoise (2009) is Takeshi Kitano’s<br />

third full-length film to reflect on the condition of the artist.<br />

Here he works less as a filmmaker and more as a painter.<br />

With his extremely dark sense of humor, he expresses<br />

the anguish of the painter who, in vain, devotes his<br />

existence to discovering himself.<br />

TAKESHI KITANO,<br />

THE ICONOCLAST<br />

THE FILMMAKER<br />

AND ACTOR FOR THE BIG<br />

AND THE SMALL SCREEN<br />

MARCH <strong>11</strong> TH TO JUNE 26 TH<br />

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In bookshops<br />

tAkeShi kitAno,<br />

KitAno pAr KitAno<br />

In collaboration with Michel Temman. Éditions Grasset<br />

Release date: February 27, <strong>2010</strong><br />

A culmination of years of interviews with the French<br />

journalist Michel Temman, Takeshi Kitano has published<br />

his first autobiography outside Japan. How does one<br />

manage to be both a celebrity and an exacting filmmaker?<br />

Kitano reveals all, confiding in the reader as if they were<br />

just friends, seated around the table with a good bottle<br />

of wine—one of his passions.<br />

TAKESHI KITANO<br />

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THE FILMMAKER<br />

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THE ACTOR / CINEMA<br />

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THE ACTOR / TELEVISION<br />

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AROUND TAKESHI KITANO<br />

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www.centrepompidou.fr


uPcoMing<br />

EXhibition<br />

—<br />

Mœbius<br />

October <strong>2010</strong> > February 20<strong>11</strong><br />

In October <strong>2010</strong>, the <strong>Fondation</strong><br />

<strong>Cartier</strong> will present an important<br />

solo exhibition devoted to the work<br />

of Jean Giraud, alias Mœbius,<br />

undoubtedly the most influential<br />

comic strip artist working in France<br />

today. A master of draftsmanship,<br />

he has developed a variety<br />

of styles from the detailed realism<br />

of Blueberry, to the dreamlike<br />

drawings of Arzak or<br />

The Airtight Garage.<br />

Mœbius has chosen the theme<br />

of metamorphosis as the central<br />

focus of his exhibition—a theme<br />

that can be found throughout<br />

his work. Replete with shifting<br />

landscapes and characters<br />

in continuous transformation,<br />

the drawings of Mœbius explore<br />

the limits of the unconscious,<br />

revealing an imaginary and<br />

fantastical world. Through<br />

the often sudden and disturbing<br />

metamorphosis of a character,<br />

Mœbius opens up the possibility<br />

that the forms in our environment<br />

may not be as stable as<br />

they seem.<br />

Including original notebooks,<br />

comic boards, and paintings as<br />

well as the artist’s work in film<br />

and animation, the exhibition<br />

will also provide the possibility<br />

for the public to discover new<br />

previously unpublished drawings.<br />

With the support of<br />

Media Partners<br />

PRActicAL<br />

inFoRMAtion<br />

—<br />

opening hours ⁄ adMission<br />

Open every day except Monday,<br />

from <strong>11</strong> a.m. to 8 p.m.<br />

Tuesday evenings until 10 p.m.<br />

Admission: 7.50 €<br />

Reduced rate: 5 €*<br />

Admission free **<br />

Free entry for visitors under 18 on<br />

Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.<br />

Ticket sales in advance at<br />

Fnac stores and on fnac.com<br />

* Students, under 25, “carte Senior” holders,<br />

“Amis des Musées”, unemployed.<br />

** “Laissez-passer”, children under 10,<br />

and ICOM members.<br />

access<br />

261, boulevard Raspail 75014 Paris<br />

Tel. + 33 (0)1 42 18 56 50<br />

Fax + 33 (0)1 42 18 56 52<br />

Metro Raspail or Denfert-Rochereau<br />

(lines 4 & 6) / Bus 38, 68, 88, 91<br />

RER Denfert-Rochereau (line B)<br />

Vélib’ 2, rue Victor Schoelcher<br />

Disabled parking at<br />

2, rue Victor Schoelcher.<br />

accueil des groupes<br />

Guided tours, Tuesday to Friday,<br />

from <strong>11</strong> a.m. to 6 p.m.<br />

(min. 10 people).<br />

Adults: 8 € per person<br />

Students and “Carte Senior”<br />

holders: 5 € per person (free<br />

admission for group leaders)<br />

Self-guided tours, Tuesday to Sunday,<br />

from <strong>11</strong> a.m. to 6 p.m. (min. 10 people).<br />

Adults: 7 € per person<br />

Students and “Carte Senior”<br />

holders: 4 € per person (free<br />

admission for group leaders)<br />

Advance booking essential:<br />

Visitors Department: Tel. + 33 (0)1 42 18 56 67<br />

info.reservation@fondation.cartier.com<br />

laissez-passer<br />

The Laissez-passer offers free<br />

and unlimited priority access<br />

to the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong>, free<br />

access for a guest accompanying<br />

the cardholder on Wednesdays,<br />

guided visits to the exhibitions,<br />

invitations to Nomadic Nights<br />

events, and reduced prices for<br />

special events (limited number<br />

available, reservation only), a 5%<br />

discount at the bookstore and<br />

in specialized bookstores in Paris,<br />

as well as privileges in numerous<br />

other cultural institutions in Paris<br />

(museums, theatres…).<br />

Annual membership: 38 €<br />

Reduced rate (students,<br />

“carte Senior” and “carte famille<br />

nombreuse” holders): 25 €<br />

Tarif jeune (moins de 25 ans) : 18 €<br />

Contact: Visitors’ Department<br />

Tel. + 33 (0)1 42 18 56 67<br />

info.laissezpasser@fondation.cartier.com<br />

fondation.cartier.coM<br />

Visit the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong> website<br />

to find all information related<br />

to the exhibition (videos, making-of,<br />

interviews, and more). You may<br />

also follow the <strong>Fondation</strong> <strong>Cartier</strong>’s<br />

current events on Twitter (twitter.<br />

com/Fond_<strong>Cartier</strong>) and Dailymotion<br />

(dailymotion.com/<strong>Fondation</strong><strong>Cartier</strong>)<br />

as well as on Facebook and iTunes U,<br />

where you may download podcasted<br />

tours of the exhibitions.<br />

press info<br />

Linda Chenit<br />

assisted by Matthieu Simonnet<br />

Tel. + 33 (0)1 42 18 56 77 / 65<br />

Fax + 33 (0)1 42 18 56 52<br />

linda.chenit@fondation.cartier.com<br />

Images on line: fondation.cartier.com<br />

the exhibition beat takeshi Kitano, Gosse de peintre is organized with support from the <strong>Fondation</strong> cartier <strong>pour</strong> l’art contemporain, under the aegis of the <strong>Fondation</strong> de France, and with the sponsorship of cartier. images © office Kitano inc.

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