Mariko Mori and the Tokyo retrospective All That Shines
Published on 08/29/2026 at 11:23 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Mariko Mori has built a body of work that moves from cyberpunk-inflected performance to meditative installations about cosmic consciousness. The announced retrospective Mariko Mori: All That Shines at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo will bring this trajectory into one institutional arc, as the museum’s exhibition page outlines.
The upcoming survey in Tokyo
The Mori Art Museum positions Mariko Mori: All That Shines as Japan’s first major institutional retrospective of Mori’s work since Pure Land at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in 2002. The show is scheduled to run on the 53rd floor of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower from October 31, 2026 to March 28, 2027.
According to the museum, the retrospective will feature around forty works spanning more than three decades, across photography, video, drawing, sculpture and large-scale interactive installations. Organized in collaboration with The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the exhibition is co-curated by Alexandra Munroe and Kataoka Mami, both central figures in framing Mori’s practice within global contemporary art.
Framing a long work series arc
The announcement describes the retrospective as a survey of Mori’s integration of art, science and metaphysics, focusing on her concept of “Oneness” that links human consciousness, ancient cosmologies and technological futures. This framing connects early photographic works such as Play with Me and the Subway series to later immersive environments like Wave UFO and Tom Na H-iu, where visitors enter installations that visualize collective brainwaves or stellar cycles.
External coverage underlines that the Tokyo show will track Mori’s shift from 1990s social critique and sci-fi aesthetics to large-scale, site-responsive works engaging prehistoric sites and astronomical data. This encompasses long-running series such as Dream Temple, Rebirth and Oneness, in which she tests how ritual and technology can coexist in contemporary art practice.
All news and background on Mariko Mori
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The work core across media
Mori’s early career in the mid 1990s included staged self-portraits in urban settings, where she appeared as a techno-futuristic figure embedded in Tokyo’s consumer culture, a phase often associated with works like Play with Me. From there she moved toward immersive installations such as Wave UFO, a pod-like environment capturing visitors’ brain activity and projecting it in real time as abstract forms.
Later projects like Tom Na H-iu and Sun Pillar extend this interest to astronomical and geological timescales, pairing sculptural forms with data streams from observatories and cosmic ray detectors. Across these series, Mori’s work groups maintain a consistent focus on cycles, rebirth and a technologically mediated spirituality, rather than a purely critical stance toward digital culture.
Where the artist stands now
Against this backdrop, Mariko Mori is positioned for the forthcoming retrospective Mariko Mori: All That Shines at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, which the museum confirms will run from October 31, 2026 to March 28, 2027 as a comprehensive survey of her three-decade practice.
Key facts on Mariko Mori
- Artist: Mariko Mori
- Medium / Genre: Installation, photography, video, sculpture
- Born: 1967, Tokyo, Japan
- Place(s) of practice: Tokyo and New York
- Active since: Early 1990s, with international recognition from mid 1990s self-portrait series
- Key work groups: Play with Me, Pure Land, Wave UFO, Tom Na H-iu, Oneness
- Current/last exhibition: Mariko Mori: All That Shines, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, October 31, 2026 - March 28, 2027 (retrospective announced in the museum’s FY2026 schedule)
- Major collections: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Awards: Publicly documented distinctions include participation in major international biennials and institutional honors; specific prize listings vary by source.
- Next date: October 31, 2026 - opening of Mariko Mori: All That Shines at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Frequently asked questions about Mariko Mori
When and where will Mariko Mori: All That Shines be on view?
The retrospective Mariko Mori: All That Shines is scheduled at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo from October 31, 2026 to March 28, 2027, on the 53rd floor of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, as the museum’s announcement details.
What themes does Mariko Mori explore in her major work groups?
Across series such as Pure Land, Wave UFO, Tom Na H-iu and Oneness, Mori interweaves technology, ancient cosmologies and ideas of collective consciousness, often using interactive installations and digital imaging to visualize spiritual and scientific concepts.
How significant is the Tokyo retrospective in Mariko Mori’s career?
The Mori Art Museum describes Mariko Mori: All That Shines as Japan’s first major institutional retrospective of her work since 2002, consolidating over three decades of practice and marking a key institutional moment for her position in contemporary art.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
