Tomorrow is Yesterday

The illustrious Japanese Master, Zen monk, poet and calligrapher, Ikkyū Sōyun (1394–1481) dedicated his life and art radically to investigating raw truth – leaving no part of himself unrevealed, attempting moral, spiritual and personal inclusiveness. Although a monk, Ikkyū never pretended to be saintly and took his passions as a natural part of life. “Crazy Cloud”, as Ikkyū was known and often referred to him self, left a profound, harsh, delicate, brilliant, reckless, radical, precise, arrogant and intimate poetic and artistic trace behind.

Searching for the connecting thread that runs through the cultural fabric of past and present, tradition and modernity – transgressing boundaries of nationality and historical era – 9 international artists have been invited by Nina Venus, the curator of this show, to create works along the lines of one of Ikkyū’s verses.

Acclaimed artists Holly Coulis, Christine Fenzl, Jochen Flinzer, Torben Giehler, Nan Goldin, Susanne A. Homann, Michael Lange, Mariella Mosler and Piotr Nathan contributed works especially created for this exhibition.