Keiichi Tanaami, Ecstasy of Eyes, 2022, Pigmented ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, crushed glass, glitter, acrylic paint on canvas; Diptych, each panel: 57 x 39 3/8 in (145 x 100 cm); Overall: 57 x 78 3/4 in (145 x 200 cm).
Keiichi Tanaami (1936-2024)
Venus Over Manhattan is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Keiichi Tanaami, an immensely influential artist whose work left an indelible mark on the cultural landscapes of both Japan and the United States. Tanaami’s innovative practices seamlessly blended pop iconography with traditional Japanese art forms, drawing from his childhood experiences during the Second World War and his rich life thereafter. His legacy continues to inspire and shape the world of visual culture, leaving a profound impact on generations of artists and art enthusiasts.
Keiichi Tanaami, Indication and Emergence, 2021. Pigmented ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, crushed glass, glitter, acrylic paint on canvas; Triptych, each panel: 78 3/4 x 39 3/8 in (200 x 100 cm) Overall: 78 3/4 x 118 1/4 in (200 x 300 cm). © 2022 Keiichi Tanaami. Courtesy the artist and NANZUKA, Tokyo, and Venus Over Manhattan, New York.
Keiichi Tanaami, Fragment of Time, 2022. Pigmented ink, acrylic silkscreen medium, crushed glass, glitter, acrylic paint on canvas; triptych, each panel: 80 3/8 x 39 3/8 in (204 x 100 cm). Overall: 80 3/8 x 118 1/8 in (204 x 300 cm). © 2022 Keiichi Tanaami. Courtesy of the artist and NANZUKA, Tokyo, and Venus Over Manhattan, New York.
Keiichi Tanaami, Ecstasy of Eyes, 2022 . Pigmented ink, acrylic silk- screen medium, crushed glass, glitter, acrylic paint on canvas; Diptych, each panel: 57 x 39 3/8 in (145 x 100 cm) Overall: 57 x 78 3/4 in (145 x 200 cm). © 2022 Keiichi Tanaami. Courtesy the artist and NANZUKA, Tokyo, and Venus Over Manhattan, New York.
Keiichi Tanaami, "Adventure of the Eyes 28," 2022. Digital canvas print, magazine pages, ink, acrylic paint, rhinestone on canvas; 76 1/2 x 51 1/4 in (194 x 130 cm)
Keiichi Tanaami, "Adventure of the Eyes 29," 2022. Digital canvas print, magazine pages, ink, acrylic paint, rhinestone on canvas; 76 1/2 x 51 1/4 in (194 x 130 cm)
Keiichi Tanaami, "Adventure of the Eyes 30," 2022. Digital canvas print, magazine pages, ink, acrylic paint, rhinestone on canvas; 76 1/2 x 51 1/4 in (194 x 130 cm)
Keiichi Tanaami, "Pleasure of Picasso – Mother and Child No. 137," 2020-2022. Acrylic on canvas; 16 1/4 x 12 1/2 in (41 x 32 cm)
Keiichi Tanaami, "Pleasure of Picasso – Mother and Child No. 133," 2020-2022. Acrylic on canvas; 16 1/4 x 12 1/2 in (41 x 32 cm)
The artist Keiichi Tanaami photographed in his studio in Tokyo. Photo: Lance Henderstein for the New York Times. Courtesy the artist, Venus Over Manhattan, New York, and NANZUKA, Tokyo.
Keiichi Tanaami (1936-2024) is recognized as one of the leading figures of Japanese art in the post-war period. Tanaami found success early on, creating images that are now deeply forged in the cultural landscape of both Japan and the United States. Employing a wide variety of media in his practice, Tanaami has been celebrated for his work in painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, printmaking, and animation. His work is characterized by an incorporation of American and Japanese cultural references and imagery, intensity of color, graphic impact, and windowed vignettes that he renders in his densely layered, collage-like compositions.
Rising to prominence in the 1960s, Tanaami’s work registered the influence of manga imagery, the Neo-Dada movement in Japan, and the experience of his childhood during the Second World War. References to the war are a recurring motif in Tanaami’s work, which often features images of air raids, flares, and blasts of white light from the detonation of explosives. His paintings are also deeply influenced by his childhood memories of kamishibai—public theater productions for Japanese children. Tanaami’s work is notable for the manner in which it juxtaposes commercial imagery from Western culture with traditionally Japanese graphic styles, including manga and woodblock printing. Exploring the tension between disparate forces, such as the East and the West, violence and innocence, and commercial imagery and high art, Tanaami has emerged as a form-giver for subsequent generations of working artists.
Tanaami graduated from Musashino Art University in 1960. His work has been the subject of numerous international solo exhibitions at both public institutions and galleries, including recent presentations at Nanzuka Gallery, Tokyo; Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow; Kawasaki City Museum, Kanagawa; Karma International, Zurich; and the Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art, Shizuoka, among others. Tanaami’s work is frequently included in major group presentations, including exhibitions at Pioneer Works, New York, NY; Jeffrey Deitch, New York; Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angele; the Ludwig Museum, Budapest; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; and the Tate Modern, London, among others. His work is held in the permanent collections of public institutions around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Kawasaki City Museum, Kanagawa; Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama; the Art Institute of Chicago; the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C; National galerie im Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum fur Gegenwart, Berlin; the Tokushima Modern Art Museum, Tokushima; Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art, Itō; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, among many others.
The most vivid childhood experiences can implant indelible impressions.
It has recently been announced that legendary artist and graphic designer Keiichi Tanaami, who was renowned for his vivid pop style of painting that reflected his childhood memories of World War II, passed away on August 9 of a subarachnoid hemorrhage. He was 88.
The Japanese pop artist Keiichi Tanaami passed away on August 9 after a two-month battle with myelodysplastic syndrome (a rare blood cancer).
“I am sure that Tanaami’s soul will continue to live forever in this paradise that he himself has built.”
Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami, whose vivid, graphic style inspired generations of artists around the world, has died. He was 88 years old. The cause of death was a subarachnoid haemorrhage, which is usually caused by an aneurysm.
Keiichi Tanaami, whose pop-inspired work explored traumas of war and illness, died aged 88, his gallery Nanzuka announced.
Keiichi Tanaami, a pioneering Japanese Pop artist known for his psychedelic and often provocative works, has died at 88.
Revered independent filmmaker played a role in the development of autonomous and experimental animation film in Japan.
Last November, the National Art Center, Tokyo, announced the world’s first large-scale retrospective dedicated to the works of Japanese Pop Art pioneer Keiichi Tanaami.
Leading Japanese Pop artist Keiichi Tanaami, whose lively paintings, sculptures, and animated films explored the trauma of war and the hybridization of culture, died August 9 at the age of eighty-eight after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Hailing from Tokyo, artist Keiichi Tanaami (1936) arguably is Japan‘s greatest pop artist, engaging in a variety of realms, ranging from illustration and graphic design, to video and fine art.
Born in Tokyo in 1936, Keiichi Tanaami is a pioneer of pop art in Japan.
The National Art Center, Tokyo, is hosting the first major retrospective of Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami.
The first major retrospective exhibition titled “Adventures in Memory” by the internationally acclaimed artist Keiichi Tanaami (b. 1936) will be held at The National Art Center, Tokyo from August 7th to November 11th, 2024.
NANZUKA is pleased to announce Prada presents the exhibition “Paraventi: Keiichi Tanaami - パラヴェンティ : 田名網 敬一”, organized with the support of Fondazione Prada
Following his latest exhibition at Venus Over Manhattan in New York City, the Japanese pop artist reflects on creating during the Covid-19 pandemic, his favorite Pablo Picasso work, and childhood memories.
At 86, the Japanese pop artist has a lifetime of vivid recollections — some more real than others — and a new show in New York.
Venus Over Manhattan now represents Tokyo-based artist Keiichi Tanaami in collaboration with NANZUKA, Tokyo. The gallery's announcement come during their first solo exhibition with the artist, Keiichi Tanaami: Manhattan Universe, on view at 55 Great Jones Street through October 8, 2022.
Keiichi Tanaami among top downtown exhibitions.
Keiichi Tanaami exhibition at Venus Over Manhattan.
A selection of his fascinating artworks comes on view at the Venus Over Manhattan gallery in New York in a couple of weeks.
Tanaami will premiere an “optically dazzling suite” of new large-scale paintings at the eclectic New York City gallery Venus Over Manhattan. Keiichi Tanaami: Manhattan Universe (Sept. 8–Oct. 8).
We join the acclaimed artist at his latest exhibition, ‘Tanaami x adidas Originals’, at Tokyo’s Nanzuka gallery.
Tanaami continues to conjure up strange worlds. Here, he discusses the five books that define his career.
