Italian Luxury Furniture Brand "Poltrona Frau" to Host Special Exhibition "Sisyu Exhibition ~ Encounter with Different Cultures" with Calligrapher Sisyu, Participating in "Osaka Art & Design 2026"
Italian luxury furniture brand Poltrona Frau will host a special exhibition "Sisyu Exhibition ~ Encounter with Different Cultures" with calligrapher Sisyu in Osaka. As part of "Osaka Art & Design 2026", new works fusing tradition and innovation will be displayed, introducing a blend of Eastern and Western sensibilities as contemporary art.
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Italian luxury furniture brand "Poltrona Frau" will participate in "Osaka Art & Design 2026 (hereinafter, OAD)", an art and design event held in Osaka from Thursday, May 28, 2026, to Tuesday, June 23.
OAD is a touring event where visitors can encounter art and design throughout the city of Osaka, spanning north to south from Umeda to Shinsaibashi, Namba, and Abeno. Diverse exhibitions by emerging creators will be held at approximately 60 department stores, commercial facilities, galleries, and interior shops, immersing the entire city in creative energy.
As part of this event, Poltrona Frau Osaka will host a special exhibition "Sisyu Exhibition ~ Encounter with Different Cultures" in collaboration with calligrapher Sisyu, who elevates Japanese thought and culture into contemporary art. This exhibition is realized by the resonance of two parties who share commonalities: craftsmanship backed by solid tradition and a creative philosophy that pursues innovation.
At the venue, a diverse range of new works will be displayed, including pieces that fuse techniques of Italian classical painting with calligraphy, new calligraphic expressions that incorporate ideas from oil painting to challenge the concept of negative space, and three-dimensional works that develop ink lines as solids.
Please enjoy an artistic experience that transcends conventional boundaries, together with the exquisite space of Poltrona Frau.
[ "Sisyu Exhibition ~ Encounter with Different Cultures" Event Outline ]
■Poltrona Frau Osaka
Exhibition Period: Thursday, May 28, 2026 - Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 19:00
Closed: Wednesdays, Saturdays *Open on national holidays
*Poltrona Frau Osaka is closed on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so it will be closed on Wednesday, May 27, even though it is within the OAD period. The exhibition will start from Thursday, May 28.
URL: https://www.idc-otsuka.jp/poltrona-frau-tokyo-aoyama/shop/osaka
[ Osaka Art & Design 2026 Overview ]
Period: Wednesday, May 27, 2026 - Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Areas: Umeda / Dojima / Nakanoshima / Kyomachibori / Honmachi / Shinsaibashi / Namba / Abeno / and other various locations in Osaka city
Organizer: Osaka Art & Design Executive Committee
Event Official Website: https://www.osaka-artanddesign.com/
■ Features of the Exhibition Works (Partial Excerpt)
Ink Traces Liberated from Paper [Three-Dimensional Calligraphy]
Sculptural ink trace works created by returning to the history of writing. The origin of writing dates back to oracle bone script, born approximately 3300 years ago. At that time, characters were carved into the bones of cattle and deer. The space was not flat; characters originally existed as three-dimensional objects.
Sisyu drew inspiration from this origin and devised a unique expression that liberates characters from paper. This is a new artistic expression of calligraphy where the rhythm of the brush and even the time axis of its creation are visualized, even for people unfamiliar with Japanese culture and language.
Oil Painting Concept x Calligraphy [Calligraphy without Negative Space]
Oil paintings are completed by layering countless brushstrokes, including the background. Japanese paintings and calligraphy, on the other hand, revere "negative space" as beauty, but due to their simplicity, they were sometimes considered "unfinished" by Western standards.
Sisyu focused on this fundamental difference and boldly challenged traditional negative space. On handmade Japanese paper by a Living National Treasure, multiple layers were built up to create the background. The negative space, which was previously "empty space," transforms into an "afterglow" imbued with density. Onto this, brushstrokes are etched with special ink combining traditional techniques and new materials.
The beauty of subtraction unique to calligraphy and the profound presence akin to oil painting. Works possessing both of these qualities fuse Eastern and Western sensibilities, elevated as art that vividly resonates in contemporary spaces.
Profile
Sisyu
Calligrapher / Artist / Professor at Osaka University of Arts
Began calligraphy at age six. Studied for three years in Nara and Kyoto. Ordained at Todai-ji Temple. Her works, which reconstruct traditional culture with a new approach, such as "Calligraphy," "Three-Dimensional Calligraphy" (liberating calligraphy from the constraints of flat surfaces and traditional culture), and "Calligraphy Painting" (where characters merge with painting), are said to be Japan's unique contemporary art in the world. Overseas, she was the first Japanese to win "Gold Prize" for calligraphy painting and "Highest Gold Prize" for sculpture at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts held in the underground venue of the Louvre Museum in France. The following year, she was invited as a "Guest of Honor Artist" at the same exhibition, holding a large-scale exhibition. Domestically, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress (now Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita) visited the "Sisyu" exhibition, and Sisyu herself guided them. She also created the title calligraphy for NHK historical dramas "Ryomaden" and "The Pot of Beauty."
https://www.e-sisyu.com/
About Poltrona Frau
Founded in 1912
Keywords:
OAD is a touring event where visitors can encounter art and design throughout the city of Osaka, spanning north to south from Umeda to Shinsaibashi, Namba, and Abeno. Diverse exhibitions by emerging creators will be held at approximately 60 department stores, commercial facilities, galleries, and interior shops, immersing the entire city in creative energy.
As part of this event, Poltrona Frau Osaka will host a special exhibition "Sisyu Exhibition ~ Encounter with Different Cultures" in collaboration with calligrapher Sisyu, who elevates Japanese thought and culture into contemporary art. This exhibition is realized by the resonance of two parties who share commonalities: craftsmanship backed by solid tradition and a creative philosophy that pursues innovation.
At the venue, a diverse range of new works will be displayed, including pieces that fuse techniques of Italian classical painting with calligraphy, new calligraphic expressions that incorporate ideas from oil painting to challenge the concept of negative space, and three-dimensional works that develop ink lines as solids.
Please enjoy an artistic experience that transcends conventional boundaries, together with the exquisite space of Poltrona Frau.
[ "Sisyu Exhibition ~ Encounter with Different Cultures" Event Outline ]
■Poltrona Frau Osaka
Exhibition Period: Thursday, May 28, 2026 - Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 19:00
Closed: Wednesdays, Saturdays *Open on national holidays
*Poltrona Frau Osaka is closed on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so it will be closed on Wednesday, May 27, even though it is within the OAD period. The exhibition will start from Thursday, May 28.
URL: https://www.idc-otsuka.jp/poltrona-frau-tokyo-aoyama/shop/osaka
[ Osaka Art & Design 2026 Overview ]
Period: Wednesday, May 27, 2026 - Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Areas: Umeda / Dojima / Nakanoshima / Kyomachibori / Honmachi / Shinsaibashi / Namba / Abeno / and other various locations in Osaka city
Organizer: Osaka Art & Design Executive Committee
Event Official Website: https://www.osaka-artanddesign.com/
■ Features of the Exhibition Works (Partial Excerpt)
Ink Traces Liberated from Paper [Three-Dimensional Calligraphy]
Sculptural ink trace works created by returning to the history of writing. The origin of writing dates back to oracle bone script, born approximately 3300 years ago. At that time, characters were carved into the bones of cattle and deer. The space was not flat; characters originally existed as three-dimensional objects.
Sisyu drew inspiration from this origin and devised a unique expression that liberates characters from paper. This is a new artistic expression of calligraphy where the rhythm of the brush and even the time axis of its creation are visualized, even for people unfamiliar with Japanese culture and language.
Oil Painting Concept x Calligraphy [Calligraphy without Negative Space]
Oil paintings are completed by layering countless brushstrokes, including the background. Japanese paintings and calligraphy, on the other hand, revere "negative space" as beauty, but due to their simplicity, they were sometimes considered "unfinished" by Western standards.
Sisyu focused on this fundamental difference and boldly challenged traditional negative space. On handmade Japanese paper by a Living National Treasure, multiple layers were built up to create the background. The negative space, which was previously "empty space," transforms into an "afterglow" imbued with density. Onto this, brushstrokes are etched with special ink combining traditional techniques and new materials.
The beauty of subtraction unique to calligraphy and the profound presence akin to oil painting. Works possessing both of these qualities fuse Eastern and Western sensibilities, elevated as art that vividly resonates in contemporary spaces.
Profile
Sisyu
Calligrapher / Artist / Professor at Osaka University of Arts
Began calligraphy at age six. Studied for three years in Nara and Kyoto. Ordained at Todai-ji Temple. Her works, which reconstruct traditional culture with a new approach, such as "Calligraphy," "Three-Dimensional Calligraphy" (liberating calligraphy from the constraints of flat surfaces and traditional culture), and "Calligraphy Painting" (where characters merge with painting), are said to be Japan's unique contemporary art in the world. Overseas, she was the first Japanese to win "Gold Prize" for calligraphy painting and "Highest Gold Prize" for sculpture at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts held in the underground venue of the Louvre Museum in France. The following year, she was invited as a "Guest of Honor Artist" at the same exhibition, holding a large-scale exhibition. Domestically, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress (now Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita) visited the "Sisyu" exhibition, and Sisyu herself guided them. She also created the title calligraphy for NHK historical dramas "Ryomaden" and "The Pot of Beauty."
https://www.e-sisyu.com/
About Poltrona Frau
Founded in 1912
Keywords: