One Thousand Days One Million Years, On Kawara's first major exhibition for an American museum in over 15 years, will open to the public on January 1, 1993 at Dia Center for the Arts, 548 West 22nd Street, 4th floor. Devised specifically for Dia Center for the Arts, it responds to the site in New York City, with over 1000 paintings from the "Toclay Series", all of which were executed in Manhattan between 1966 and 1992, to be shown throughout the 1993 calendar year. A different group of these works will be installed each month. A Million Years (Past), Kawara's monumental ten volume epic, presented for the first time in New York City will be continuously on view throughout the duration of the show. In addition, One Millíon Years (Future), also a multi-volume work, in a new depature will be realized in the form of a sound piece.

Of Japanese origin but widely regarded as a cosmopolitan artist, on account of his extensive travels, Kawara has produced several ongoing series of works in a variety of forms including telegrams, post cards, and street plans as well as paintings, to chart a life course. Fundamental to his existential stance is the affirmation of existence, as witnessed by the recording of a speciflc date at a particular place. So, for example, Kawara's paintings must be concluded within a single day, the day whose date is represented in the language and according to the grammatical conventions of the country in which he happened to be present. Hand-made cardboard boxes which house these paintings typically contain a newspaper clipping from the city in which the artist executed the work, testimony to the historical context in which it was generated.

Since the early 1970s Kawara's work has been shown widely in Europe and later, in America, Japan and elsewhere. Several comprehensive exhibitions of his work have recently been organized, including On Kawara: Date Paintings in 89 Cíties, curated by the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, this show is now travelling in the U.S., with upcoming stops at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (Nov. 21,1992-Feb.7,1992); and the San Francisco Museum of Modem Art, (Feb. 25-April 11, 1993). In 1991, On Kawara was awarded the prestigious Camegie Prize and in 1992 he received the Aachen Prize. The exhibition will close for the summer on June 20, but will reopen in September to continue and continue to December 31, 1993, Hours are Thursday through Sunday, 12 noon to 6pm.

Funding for this project has been provided by the Dia Art Council, the major annual support group of Dia Center for the Arts, and the Dia Art Circle. Support for the 1992-93 exhibitions program has also been provided through a generous grant from The Andy V/arhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

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For additional information or materials contact:
Press Department, Dia Art Foundation, press@diaart.org or 212 293 5518