SUPER OPEN STUDIO is an art project aiming to open up artists’ studios to the public.
In 2013, this project began as a main program of Art Laboratory Hashimoto, which is operated by Sagamihara City. The following 2 years witnessed the gradual development of relationships among participating studios and artists. As one of its outcomes, Super Open Studio NETWORK, an executive body run by artists, took over its operation since 2015. In 2018, Super Open Studio NETWORK and Art Laboratory Hashimoto took a step forward to form SUPER OPEN STUDIO Executive Committee 2018 in order to strengthen its operating system without losing its artist-run structure. This year, in addition to forming SUPER OPEN STUDIO Executive Committee 2019, we increased the number of our directors from 1 to 6 so that we can showcase our activities from multiple angles.
The physical location of SUPER OPEN STUDIO, Sagamihara City and segments of Machida City and Hachioji City, encompasses many art universities such as Joshibi University of Art and Design, J. F. Oberlin University, Tama Art University, and Tokyo Zokei University. Many graduates from those universities have decided to stay in this area and continued their art practices in their studios, which used to be storage facilities or defunct factories. There are over 20 of those studios around this area and more than 100 artists are part of them. Thus, this area can be considered as one of the largest art-producing regions in the country.
In this event, each studio introduces its distinct program including art exhibition and on-site artmaking. Moreover, Art Laboratory Hashimoto, one of this year’s SUPER OPEN STUDIO exhibition spaces, holds several exhibitions curated by multiple artists in addition to bus tours, a talk and a workshop.
Through SUPER OPEN STUDIO, we hope you will catch a glimpse of how artworks are created and enjoy encounters and banter with the participating artists.
SUPER OPEN STUDIO Executive Committee 2019