Keiichi Tanaami
02 Sep - 04 Oct 2014
Keiichi Tanaami
Clock Work Marilyn 9, 1972
Silkscreen print on paper
18.5 x 24.5 inches / 47 x 62.2 cm
AP aside from an edition of 55
Clock Work Marilyn 9, 1972
Silkscreen print on paper
18.5 x 24.5 inches / 47 x 62.2 cm
AP aside from an edition of 55
KEIICHI TANAAMI
2 September - 4 October 2014
Sikkema Jenkins & Co. is pleased to present works by Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami on view from September 2 to October 4, 2014.
Known for his broad artistic talents, the current exhibition includes drawings, prints, video animations, and recently rediscovered collages, focusing on work produced from the late 1960’s to early 1970’s. Influenced by a trip to New York City in 1967 and encounters with work by Andy Warhol, the pieces brim with American iconography and consumerism – stars and stripes, Coke-Cola, Hollywood stars, cartoon and comic book characters. An interest in the erotic excess of American culture during that period is also evident, later leading Tanaami to become the first artistic director of Japanese Playboy.
It was during this time that Tanaami first began to experiment with making animated films, six of which are on view including the 1973 animated video for John Lennon’s Oh Yoko!. Along with the American pop culture motifs, the videos demonstrate the influence of the psychedelic movement taking place in both in the US and in Japan in the 1970’s.
Keiichi Tanaami was born in 1936 in Tokyo, Japan. Upon graduating from Musashino Art University, where he studied design, Tanaami briefly took up work at a advertising agency before leaving to pursue an independent career. Since then his work has been extensively exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York and Centre Pompidou, Paris. His work will be included in the upcoming group exhibitions Puddle, pothole, portal at SculptureCenter in Long Island City from October 2, 2014 to January 5, 2015; International Pop at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis from April 11 to September 6, 2015; and The World Goes Pop at Tate Modern in London from September 17, 2015 to January 24, 2016.
2 September - 4 October 2014
Sikkema Jenkins & Co. is pleased to present works by Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami on view from September 2 to October 4, 2014.
Known for his broad artistic talents, the current exhibition includes drawings, prints, video animations, and recently rediscovered collages, focusing on work produced from the late 1960’s to early 1970’s. Influenced by a trip to New York City in 1967 and encounters with work by Andy Warhol, the pieces brim with American iconography and consumerism – stars and stripes, Coke-Cola, Hollywood stars, cartoon and comic book characters. An interest in the erotic excess of American culture during that period is also evident, later leading Tanaami to become the first artistic director of Japanese Playboy.
It was during this time that Tanaami first began to experiment with making animated films, six of which are on view including the 1973 animated video for John Lennon’s Oh Yoko!. Along with the American pop culture motifs, the videos demonstrate the influence of the psychedelic movement taking place in both in the US and in Japan in the 1970’s.
Keiichi Tanaami was born in 1936 in Tokyo, Japan. Upon graduating from Musashino Art University, where he studied design, Tanaami briefly took up work at a advertising agency before leaving to pursue an independent career. Since then his work has been extensively exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York and Centre Pompidou, Paris. His work will be included in the upcoming group exhibitions Puddle, pothole, portal at SculptureCenter in Long Island City from October 2, 2014 to January 5, 2015; International Pop at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis from April 11 to September 6, 2015; and The World Goes Pop at Tate Modern in London from September 17, 2015 to January 24, 2016.