The SOLO Colection: A window on Japanese history and contemporary culture through art

Abstract

The purpose of this research is the analysis of the Japanese art collections of the Colección SOLO, one of the most important collections of contemporary art in Europe. This collection was created in Spain in the second decade of the 21st century and, today, has works by artists from all over the world; a particularity worth highlighting, since most of the collections in this country, whether public or private, usually have collections mainly from national, European or Western artists. In the case of the Colección SOLO, Asian artists especially stand out, including Japanese artists with 112 pieces by 22 authors, many of them leading artists. In addition to highlighting this collection, the artists and their works present in it, this study aims to highlight the practice of Japanese contemporary art collecting, as it offers a window into Japanese history and contemporary culture. Through the collections of Japanese art, we can learn about the evolution of the links or relationships that Japan and Spain have established over time and, on the other hand, through the pieces the particular vision that we had of the same history, in the most of the cases, told through the Western prism.