Imagine Tokyo in pixels, and you’ll have a glimpse of Excalibur’s world — an artist collective founded in 2007 in Tokyo by Yoshinori Tanaka. EXCALIBUR’s art is heavily influenced by Nintendo’s 1980s graphic aesthetic and the golden age of video games. The collective uses 8-bit pixels, typical of games from that era, as its foundation, giving its works a strong sense of nostalgia.

The name EXCALIBUR is taken from Final Fantasy: it’s the most powerful weapon one can obtain, a weapon everyone can share. This is the idea Yoshinori Tanaka wanted to embody with his collective — becoming a space where anyone can use the same tools.

One of EXCALIBUR’s iconic works is its bold reinterpretation of Ukiyo-e, a traditional genre of Japanese woodblock printing that often depicts elegant women, sumo wrestlers or urban landscapes. EXCALIBUR draws inspiration from the urban environment. In pixels, Tokyo becomes a potential playground for gaming — a vision they call “Ukiyo.e.”

From 19 May to 30 June, we will present in Rotterdam some of EXCALIBUR’s exciting Ukiyo.e creations.