Skylab label is composed of Keiji Itoh (Illustrator), Daisuke Kitagawa (Printing director), Ichiro Higashiizumi (Graphic designer), Hiro Sugiyama (Illustrator) and Hidemichi Yoshida (Editor). It gets members who have been working in the forefront of publication together. It’s a book label of new form established to explode existing rules and stereotypes in publishing business.

The exhibition of Skylab entitled “Creator’s Book Jam” was held at Clic in Setagaya from December 8th to 24th. There was also a workshop by Skylab members with the theme ‘sentiment over the book at the end of the 20th Century’ and a special booth where artists’ original books were displayed and sold was created. The whole exhibition presented those artists’ flexible attitude intelligibly.

Entering inside of the room through the entrance. Then a huge improvised screen that piled corrugated cartons up all over the wall came into sight. Through the screen created by Ichiro Higashiizumi, each artist’s video and other works were projected. Inside four glass case installed at the center of the room, installations created by those four artists were showcased. From small things in everyday life to sketch books and artworks, all sorts of their works were displayed inside the glass cases.

On another wall, numbers of rough sketches and original paintings were pasted casually on the wall. Maybe you’ve ever seen them all as a ‘finished form’, but it was really fresh to have a look at their production process. Those sketches and paintings were pined up easily with pushpins with document papers, and viewers could experience not only the artists’ production process but also the atmosphere as if they were actually in their studio.

There was also a shelf where Mexican cartoons and books, calendars and T-shirts by Skylab members were displayed and sold. Each section created different atmosphere and they each presented the interest and deepness of “publishing and print media”. It was an exciting exhibition.

In a peaceful mood created by the whole space, each artist’s individuality were fully displayed together with the energy of print media.

Skylab Exhibition “Creator’s Book Jam”
Date: December 8th – 24th, 2000
Place: CLIC, Seyagaya Culture and Life information center
Address: 4F Carrot Tower, 4-1-1 Taishidoh, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: +81 (0)3 5432 1500
https://www.setagaya-ac.or.jp