Wonderful Matchbox Art!

24 Jan 2008 Category: Events & Exhibitions, Features, Japan

Wonderful Matchbox Art!

Mini-art! Japanese celebrities appear on these matchboxes made by Haruka Sakatani.

Though Tokyo’s Omotesando district is known for its chic shopping mall and boutiques, you’d find some delightful surprises in the quiet side streets: Today, we visit the tiny world of art we found at the quaint Opa Gallery. Their exhibition features - matchboxes! PingMag lays hands on this universally known household item as it gets hand-designed by 100 different artists!

Written by Ryoko
Translated by Kevin Mcgue

This charming matchbox art is now already in it’s 7th edition, and visitors ranging from children to senior citizens come to look at and touch the minuscule works. An item that undoubtedly appeals to everybody since it is so common in everyday life. So, how did it all start? We asked Opa Gallery owner Nobuo Fujinami:

“The concept of this exhibition was thought up by illustrator Mao Yamaguchi who had her own gallery and shop,” explains Fujinami. “But the idea was so interesting it was decided to take the concept to other galleries as well. Since there was a lot of interest from visitors, we not only opened another exhibition the following year but decided to start holding it every year,” he says.

How cute! A wooden box containing matchboxes painted by Mao Yamaguchi, the brainchild behind the matchbox art exhibition.

Tender matchsticks in bloom painted by Hana Asami.

Ziggy Stardust gives you a light. By Keiko Naisu.

Oh my, matchstick warmers! Crafty pieces by Yasumi Kaiya.

At first Fujinami thought that people would be interested in an exhibition of this kind of art in a gallery in general, but he found people were curious precisely because the art is so tiny. Many visitors were so young, they had never struck a match, as well as older visitors who felt nostalgic when they purused the matches.

Matchbox art by Yutaka Kato, who runs his own special website on matchbox design.

Wonderful, atmospheric matchbox design by Shinpei Yamada.

Matchbox menagerie including animal by Azumimushi.

One of the biggest draws of this exhibition is the micro size of its works - they can fit in one single gallery. In the first year, 50 artists participated. This year the individual styles of 100 artists are on display. Quite a lot!


From artist 9square comes this matchbox with a tiny bottle inside, and inside that bottle is a matchstick. Nice and dry, of course!

And from Takayuki Rachi we have a cute picture book inside, telling the epic story of a mouse and a matchbox in length.

Tiny portraits by Motomu Watanabe.

“When you open a matchbox, it turns into a three-dimensional sculpture,” explains Fujinami. “This is probably what makes it so nice to design with matchboxes rather than working on two-dimensional canvasses. Also, there is the joy of striking a match and the distinct odour that comes with it. Something you don’t get with a lighter.”


A sturdy coat for chain smokers by Chikako Abe.

A four-panel comic by Shigeru Nakamoto.

Cutsie little blue elephants by Chu Ando.

Beautifully dried leave decor by Amusium.e.

Incidentally, when PingMag went to visit the exhibition, we happened to run into two of the contributing artists: One was Simal Miura, who designs T-shirts with match motifs.

For us, he explains: “I have made tiny works before, but there was always something missing. I did the T-shirts because I wanted to do something you can actually use by wearing. Also, it was too much of a pain to go on making small things.” (Laughs)


Artist Simal Miura showing the Tees with his matchstick motifs.

When each turn comes, its head bursts into flames. Then it is all over, leaving the match worthless. Poor one! This T-shirt design shows these used matches in despair.

The other artist we met was illustrator and sculptor Makoto Osanai, who created match creatures with matchsticks inside matchsticks.

She says: “I have always worked with sculpture. This time I did something quite simple, which is matches inside a match.” (Laughs) “I also made a match picture book, and figurines of the characters in that store. And in case you were wondering, you can actually use these matches.”


Osanai with his sweet match creatures.

… and more of his match cuties.

We bet the artists had quite some fun with the making! But equally the visitors who are allowed to freely touch, grab and hold the matchstick works of art!


Oh! Apple-shaped keyholder with a matching matchbox design. By Shigeko Ueda.

Made from ceramic, this delicate one by Nozomi Magai has a miniature children’s swing on top. For your letter case!

A funny frog takes centre stage, by Kotobuki Okada.

A portrait of gallery owner Fujinami by Nobuo Yahagi.

So sweet! Feminine underwear designs on a matchbox. By Natsuko Takahiro.

Thanks to Nobuo Fujinami and all of the 100 contributing artists for showing us the tiny, wonderful world of matchbox art. Next time you’ll be shopping in Omotesando, drop by the exhibition!


Exhibition poster: A tiny world designed in matches by 100 artists.

Info:

Original Match Label & Match Box Art Exhibition Vol.7
Location: Opa Gallery, Tokyo.
Running until Monday, January 28th.
Open every day except Thu from 11am to 7pm.

21 Comments

  1. nice1 !!

    : )

    Posted by: MiCurseZ on January 25th, 2008 at 1:11 am

  2. First photo I love watch ‘OneMans’ they are so funny and Yamaguchi from ‘Tokio’ is so freaking hot!

    Posted by: miguchi on January 25th, 2008 at 4:59 am

  3. That looks awesome! Will it come to London, PLEASE!

    Posted by: Badger on January 25th, 2008 at 5:07 am

  4. hello pingMAG!
    See my papertoys …
    I hope you like it :¬)
    http://www.cubotoy.co.nr or
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubotoy/

    Posted by: Angello Garcia Bassi / CUBOTOY on January 25th, 2008 at 5:26 am

  5. You guys should see the portraits of matches that my partner in design Thijs Verbeek made, no photoshop!!! He has lit about 2000 matches to come up with a small selection in which you can actually see faces
    http://thijsverbeek.nl/index1.html

    Posted by: vos broekema on January 25th, 2008 at 6:27 am

  6. Haha nice! I love the match dolls!

    Posted by: Akai on January 25th, 2008 at 7:44 am

  7. [...] from Ping mag has written a feature on Matchbox Art. Share [...]

    Posted by: Global Voices Online » Japan: Matchbox Art on January 25th, 2008 at 6:45 pm

  8. sisi, you can make it!~

    Posted by: x-noise on January 26th, 2008 at 12:47 am

  9. Quite unique

    Posted by: Siggy on January 26th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

  10. the big one is cute

    Posted by: Sergey Epifanov on January 29th, 2008 at 6:48 am

  11. i love these, they are so cute! it makes me want to go and make things now

    Posted by: dendoo on January 29th, 2008 at 8:28 pm

  12. [...] via [...]

    Posted by: 奇妙的火柴盒艺术(Wonderful Matchbox Art) on January 31st, 2008 at 2:14 am

  13. [...] para visitar el país del sol naciente, siempre podéis leer el artículo que hemos encontrado en pingmag, en donde hablan de OPA y su curiosa exposición: cajas de cerillas ilustradas por más de 100 [...]

    Posted by: Barcelona’s Chiringuito » Archivo del weblog » Arte en diminutivo on January 31st, 2008 at 6:35 pm

  14. this is amazing. very inspirational and definitely reenforces the idea that good things come in small packages…

    Posted by: nicool on February 5th, 2008 at 8:45 pm

  15. [...] found an old post about match box arts at ping online magazine. Not sure if you need to warm match boxes (isn’t it rather dangerous?) but they are [...]

    Posted by: Match box warmer? : not coconut on June 3rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm

  16. Hi….

    i need a picture who communicate with a matchbox connectivity concept both side hand to hand matchbox hold on human

    Posted by: Kamran Khan on September 6th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

  17. [...] Matchbox art Published September 26, 2008 graphic Found on PingMag. [...]

    Posted by: Matchbox art « on September 26th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

  18. hi

    This is yogesh from India.a passionate philumenist and designer by profession.I was thinking possibility of holding this exhibition in India. With a multi cultural background and rich heritage of art,it would be nice to see various artists from india participating and giving a new identity to this art.
    Would be glad to hear from you.

    brgds

    yogesh

    Posted by: yogesh on January 6th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

  19. [...] Though Tokyo’s Omotesando district is known for its chic shopping mall and boutiques, you’d find some delightful surprises in the quiet side streets: Today, we visit the tiny world of art we found at the quaint Opa Gallery. Their exhibition features - matchboxes! Read the full story>>> [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue - Tokyo-Based Journalist & Filmmaker » Wonderful Matchbox Art! on March 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm

  20. [...] na: http://pingmag.jp/2008/01/24/match-exhibition/ Rating 3.00 out of 5 Share/Save Subskrybuj You can skip to the end and leave a response. [...]

    Posted by: 7rano – portal dla ludzi ceniących dobre projektowanie » pudełka od zapałek on August 2nd, 2009 at 8:55 pm

  21. http://www.matchboxprojects.com

    Posted by: Anonymous on November 30th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

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