Koki Tanaka (田中功起, born December 6, 1975) is a Japanese artist and

videographer Videography involves capturing moving images on electronic media (such as: videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage), and can include streaming media. It encompasses both video production and post-production methods. Histori ...

. He was a visiting scholar at

Tokyo Zokei University is a private university in Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1966 by Japanese art educator, fashion designer and design journalist, Yoko Kuwasawa (1910-1977). It is a four-year art college offering both bachelor's and master's degrees in studi ...

. His work is

Minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

, and primarily focused with finding the unusual in everyday objects and situations.

Career

Tanaka was born in Mashiko, Tochigi in 1975. In 1998, he studied abroad at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

. In 2000, he graduated from

. In 2005, he earned a master's degree from

Tokyo University of the Arts or is a school of art and music in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, crafts, inter ...

. After graduation, Tanaka lived in Paris, funded by the Pola Art Foundation. He later studied in Los Angeles with the support of an

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The age ...

program. Tanaka has held exhibitions at the

Art Tower Mito is an arts complex in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. It opened in 1990 as part of the centennial celebrations of the municipality of Mito. There is a concert hall that seats 680, a theater for up to 636, a contemporary art gallery, and a landmark tower, ...

, the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art,

the Museum of Modern Art, Gunma opened in Takasaki, Gunma, Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, in 1974. The collection includes works by Monet, Renoir, and Soga Jasoku. See also * List of Cultural Properties of Japan - paintings (Gunma) References External links *The Museu ...

, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art,

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

, Museum of Art, Seoul

National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto The is an art museum in Kyoto, Japan. This Kyoto museum is also known by the English acronym MoMAK (Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto). History The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MoMAK) was initially created as the Annex Museum of the Nationa ...

, and the

Kunsthaus Graz The Kunsthaus Graz, Grazer Kunsthaus, or Graz Art Museum was built as part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2003 and has since become an architectural landmark in Graz, Austria. Its exhibition program specializes in contemporary ...

. Tanaka represented Japan at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

in 2013. He was

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

's "Artist of the Year" in 2015. In 2017, Tanaka exhibited at the

Skulptur Projekte Münster Skulptur Projekte Münster (Sculpture Projects Münster) is an exhibition of sculptures in public places in the city of Münster (Germany). Held every ten years since 1977, the exhibition shows works of invited international artists for free in d ...

. His piece was of eight

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

residents with diverse backgrounds in a workshop on how to live together. The exhibition was temporarily closed after some of the equipment used in the installation were stolen in a string of

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The t ...

and

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

at the event. In 2018 he was a Japan Cultural Envoy as part of another Agency for Cultural Affairs program.

Style

Early in his career, Tanaka was fascinated with forms and looping video of everyday phenomenon. As his career progressed, he began making videos of ordinary objects being repetitively manipulated, focusing entirely on the object, rather than the person interacting with it. After moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 2010, Tanaka began moving in a new direction where he would ask multiple people to do the same thing at once, such getting a hair cut from nine hair stylists at the same time, or having five pianists play on the same piano at once. This would remove the participants from their routine, and challenges the ordinary in a similar way to his earlier work. Tanaka's process involves gathering and then assembling cheap, easy to find objects, such as those found in 100-yen shops. After the

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which r ...

, Tanaka's work began to focus on the temporary communities brought together by crisis.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Koki 1975 births Living people Japanese contemporary artists Tokyo University of the Arts alumni People from Tochigi Prefecture