Hidai Nankoku’s WORK exhibit

Hidai Nankoku, A second-generation calligrapher, was one of the most audacious practitioners of this form in post-war Japan.

The art piece called Work is an ink painting on paper of monumental scale, not unlike a painting on canvas. Nankoku created this piece during a performance at Yushima Seido, a temple in Tokyo in August 1964, a physically demanding act given the large format of the Work.

To correctly display and protect the enormous but delicate art piece, the M+ Museum required an exceptionally large, custom-designed showcase using non-reflective glass.

Work is 4.63m high and 3.5 meters wide and requires two glass panels weighing more than 300 kg each.