• Kyotaro Hakamata　Wanderer
• 51x16x12cm　Acrylic board　2005
• Photo: Tadasu Yamamoto, private collection

• Yasuko Iba　Untitled
• 75x90cm　Oil on canvas　2006
• Photo: Takako Yamada

These relatively young artists (all are in their thirties and forties, the youngest group in the Tsubaki-kai's history) are all currently earning recognition in the contemporary art world, and potentially among Japan's next generation of expressive leaders.
The Sixth Tsubaki-kai will run for three years from 2007 to 2009. Its group exhibitions during this time will each feature some combination of four of the six artists, creating a gradual "change of faces" aimed at lending notes of dynamism and freshness over time.
The Sixth Tsubaki-kai will also feature yearly exhibitions based on specific themes to be determined through interactive discussions among those artists showing their works that year. Already these discussions have resulted in the "Trans-Figurative" concept, which has become the overarching theme for the next three years. Referencing the two ideas of "going beyond (trans) specific forms (figures)," it symbolizes not only the participating artists' works, but also a transcendence by this group of the Tsubaki-kai of the past, and a transcendence by each individual artist of his or her current world-view. Naturally, there is also a strong possibility that these ongoing discussions will engender other new themes during the three-year period. In this way, the participating artists are not simply gathering beneath a pre-determined theme, but rather are actually creating that theme and building exhibitions accordingly as a result of their contact and interaction within the Tsubaki-kai. This approach being taken up by the Sixth Tsubaki-kai aims to bring new form and function to the "group show" format.

The first exhibition, "Tsubaki-kai 2007 —Trans-Figurative—," will present works by artists Yasuko Iba, Masanori Sukenari, Hakamata Kyotaro, and Miwa Yanagi.

Yasuko Iba is known for oil paintings with motifs based on everyday objects—such as "fruits" or "bedding"—rendered with a near-photographic sensitivity offering a feeling of concrete reality but also imbuing each with its own distinctly unique atmosphere. Masanori Sukenari creates three-dimensional works that connect intimately with the architectural space around them. Kyotaro Hakamata forms three-dimensional works based on his own personal definition of sculpture, namely "the creation of form in places where form would not ordinarily be." Miwa Yanagi uses photography, computer graphics, and video to create works centering on female and feminine motifs. Only the Tsubaki-kai offers opportunities to experience the unusual combinations that will be brought out by these artists working in tandem.