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Kenjiro Okazaki

  • “Every single pine needle, every grain of sand at the beach, every fog in the dark woods…,” 2016, Acrylic on canvas, H 210 x W 210 x D 7 cm

  • “‘Who is it, and what have you come here for.’ The mountain stream water slipping quietly through the mossy crag was always cool and clear,…,” 2016, Acrylic paint on canvas, H 235 x W 201.5 x D 7 cm

  • “I suspect you will dry out this water, or otherwise drink it down. But the water will absolutely not perish. The water simply changed form and moved on…,” 2016, Acrylic on canvas, H 210 x W 260 x D 7 cm

  • “Broom of empty space/ Aufheben,” 2016, Acrylic on canvas with wooden frame, H 25 x W 18 x D 3 cm

  • Installation view from solo exhibition “Kenjiro Okazaki,” 2016, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo

  • “Logos / Beat ice in the quest for fire, point to heaven to receive fish,” 2016, Acrylic on canvas with wooden frame, H 18 × W 23 × D 6.5 cm

  • “Ten figures borne from the navel / Vishnu,” 2016, Acrylic on canvas with wooden frame, H 18 × W 23 × D 6.5 cm

  • “Tieholtsodi ’s back / Moon and sun still in the swamp,” 2016, Acrylic on canvas with wooden frame, H 29.5 x W 22 x D 6.5 cm

  • “Land of Po pay / Old man’s clay,” 2016, Acrylic on canvas with wooden frame, H 22 × W 29.5 × D 6.5 cm

  • “Nestle in the mistletoe (your first shave),” 2016, Acrylic on canvas with wooden frame, H 18 × W 25 x D 6.5 cm

Profile
Kenjiro Okazaki Kenjiro Okazaki (b. 1955) is a Japanese visual artist whose works span over several genres, including painting, sculpture, as well as landscape and architecture.

Many of his works have been featured in public collections throughout Japan and in various exhibitions around the world. In 2002, Okazaki was selected as the director of the Japanese pavilion of the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice Biennale. His works include a collaborative performance ‘I Love my Robot’ with the choreographer Trisha Brown, premiered in early 2007. He received a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG) in 2014.

Okazaki is an active theoretician and critic, and has authored several books, including Renaissance: Condition of Experience (Bunshun Gakugei Library, 2015) featuring his analysis of Filippo Brunelleschi, and Abstract Art as Impact: The Concrete Genealogy of Abstract Art (Akishobo, 2018) which received the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 2019.

Awards
2014 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG)
2007 "I love my robots," Dance work co-created with the Trisha Brown Dance Company,
Grant from Japan Foundation and Asian Cultural Council
1992 Triangle Artists’ Workshop (Pine Plains, New York), Grant from Japan Foundation
1986 Grant from Asian Cultural Council Fellowship to study in New York

Solo Exhibitions
2021 TOPICA PICTUS, galerie frank elbaz, Paris
TOPICA PICTUS, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
2020 TOPICA PICTUS, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi
TOPICA PICTUS, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
TOPICA PICTUS, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
A Decade or So Ago・As Tears Go By, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2019 Kenjiro Okazaki - Retrospective Strata, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi
Solo exhibition, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2018 Solo exhibition, Galleria Finarte, Nagoya
2017 'Things’ never die. It only changes its form., A-things, Tokyo
2016 Solo exhibition, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
POST / UMUM = OCT / OPUS, Kazenosawa Museum, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan
2015 Solo exhibition, Galleria Finarte, Nagoya
2014 B-things and C-things @ A-things, A-things, Tokyo
Hand painted Ceramic Tile / Painting, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
2011 Solo exhibition, Galleria, Finarte, Nagoya
2010 Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
2009 MOT Collection Special Exhibition: Kenjiro Okazaki, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Solo exhibition, Galleria Finarte, Nagoya
2008 Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
2007 ZERO THUMBNAIL, A-things, Tokyo

Group Exhibition
2021 Kenjiro OKAZAKI & Hisao MATSUURA exhibition, Galleria Finarte, Nagoya
Special feature exhibition | Kenjiro Okazaki, Enrico Isamu Oyama, Rafaël Rozendaal, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2020 5,471 miles, Blum & Poe, Tokyo
-Inside the Collector’s Vault, vol.1- Takahashi Collection, WHAT museum, Tokyo
2019 Parergon: Japanese Art of the 1980s and 1990s, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
Abstractions in Asia: from 1960 to nowadays, Vazieux - Art Gallery Paris, Paris
Drawing: Manner | Kenjiro Okazaki, Enrico Isamu Oyama, Aya Kawato, Hideki Makiguchi, Goro Murayama, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2018 Starting Points: Japanese Art of the '80s, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture
2015 An Art Exhibition for Children: Whose place is this?, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo
Shunsuke Imai, Kenjiro Okazaki, Enrico Isamu Oyama, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2014 Articulating Form, BankART1929, Kanagawa Prefecture
2007 Europera 5, Suntory Hall, Tokyo
Painting As Forest: Artist as Thinker, Okazaki Mindscape Museum, Aichi Prefecture

Publication
2021 Collection of Critical Essays, vol. 1: Sensorial Eden, Akishobo
2020 TOPICA PICTUS, Nanarokusha Publishing Inc.
2018 Abstract Art as Impact: The Analysis of Modern Art, Akishobo.
2014 Renaissance: Condition of Experience, Bungeishunju Ltd.
2004 Little Lellolello, Shogakukan Inc.
2004 Popahhpe Popipappu, Crayon House.

Collection
　 Agency for Cultural Affairs
Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art
Benesse Art Site Naoshima
Chiba City Museum of Art
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art
Iwaki City Art Museum
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art
Mitaka City Arts Foundation
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Museum of Modern Art, Toyama
National Museum of Art, Osaka
National Museum of Modern Art,Tokyo
Ohara Museum of Art
Oita Art Museum
Okazaki City Mindscape Museum
Osaka City Museum of Modern Art
Setagaya Art Museum
Sezon Museum of Modern Art
Taguchi Art Collection
Takahashi Collection
Takamatsu City Museum of Art
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
Faret Tachikawa（Tachikawa City） Fukuyama City
Hiroshima Prefectural Women's University
Yumeooka Art Project（Yokohama City）

Others
Art Fairs
2017　　 Art Basel Miami
Art Stage Singapore
2016 Art Fair Tokyo
2014 Art Basel Hong Kong
Curation
2019 Kazuo Sakata: Recoup Lost Ground, Tokyo Station Gallery, Tokyo
2017 The Insight of Kenjiro Okazaki - Abstract Art as Impact -How Abstract Arts can become Concrete Tools, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi Prefecture

Profile

Kenjiro Okazaki Kenjiro Okazaki (b. 1955) is a Japanese visual artist whose works span over several genres, including painting, sculpture, as well as landscape and architecture.

Many of his works have been featured in public collections throughout Japan and in various exhibitions around the world. In 2002, Okazaki was selected as the director of the Japanese pavilion of the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice Biennale. His works include a collaborative performance ‘I Love my Robot’ with the choreographer Trisha Brown, premiered in early 2007. He received a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG) in 2014.

Okazaki is an active theoretician and critic, and has authored several books, including Renaissance: Condition of Experience (Bunshun Gakugei Library, 2015) featuring his analysis of Filippo Brunelleschi, and Abstract Art as Impact: The Concrete Genealogy of Abstract Art (Akishobo, 2018) which received the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 2019.

Awards

2014 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG)
2007 "I love my robots," Dance work co-created with the Trisha Brown Dance Company,
Grant from Japan Foundation and Asian Cultural Council
1992 Triangle Artists’ Workshop (Pine Plains, New York), Grant from Japan Foundation
1986 Grant from Asian Cultural Council Fellowship to study in New York

Solo Exhibitions

2021 TOPICA PICTUS, galerie frank elbaz, Paris
TOPICA PICTUS, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
2020 TOPICA PICTUS, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi
TOPICA PICTUS, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
TOPICA PICTUS, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
A Decade or So Ago・As Tears Go By, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2019 Kenjiro Okazaki - Retrospective Strata, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi
Solo exhibition, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2018 Solo exhibition, Galleria Finarte, Nagoya
2017 'Things’ never die. It only changes its form., A-things, Tokyo
2016 Solo exhibition, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
POST / UMUM = OCT / OPUS, Kazenosawa Museum, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan
2015 Solo exhibition, Galleria Finarte, Nagoya
2014 B-things and C-things @ A-things, A-things, Tokyo
Hand painted Ceramic Tile / Painting, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
2011 Solo exhibition, Galleria, Finarte, Nagoya
2010 Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
2009 MOT Collection Special Exhibition: Kenjiro Okazaki, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Solo exhibition, Galleria Finarte, Nagoya
2008 Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo
2007 ZERO THUMBNAIL, A-things, Tokyo

Group Exhibition

2021 Kenjiro OKAZAKI & Hisao MATSUURA exhibition, Galleria Finarte, Nagoya
Special feature exhibition | Kenjiro Okazaki, Enrico Isamu Oyama, Rafaël Rozendaal, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2020 5,471 miles, Blum & Poe, Tokyo
-Inside the Collector’s Vault, vol.1- Takahashi Collection, WHAT museum, Tokyo
2019 Parergon: Japanese Art of the 1980s and 1990s, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
Abstractions in Asia: from 1960 to nowadays, Vazieux - Art Gallery Paris, Paris
Drawing: Manner | Kenjiro Okazaki, Enrico Isamu Oyama, Aya Kawato, Hideki Makiguchi, Goro Murayama, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2018 Starting Points: Japanese Art of the '80s, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture
2015 An Art Exhibition for Children: Whose place is this?, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo
Shunsuke Imai, Kenjiro Okazaki, Enrico Isamu Oyama, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2014 Articulating Form, BankART1929, Kanagawa Prefecture
2007 Europera 5, Suntory Hall, Tokyo
Painting As Forest: Artist as Thinker, Okazaki Mindscape Museum, Aichi Prefecture

Publication

2021 Collection of Critical Essays, vol. 1: Sensorial Eden, Akishobo
2020 TOPICA PICTUS, Nanarokusha Publishing Inc.
2018 Abstract Art as Impact: The Analysis of Modern Art, Akishobo.
2014 Renaissance: Condition of Experience, Bungeishunju Ltd.
2004 Little Lellolello, Shogakukan Inc.
2004 Popahhpe Popipappu, Crayon House.

Collection

　 Agency for Cultural Affairs
Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art
Benesse Art Site Naoshima
Chiba City Museum of Art
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art
Iwaki City Art Museum
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art
Mitaka City Arts Foundation
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Museum of Modern Art, Toyama
National Museum of Art, Osaka
National Museum of Modern Art,Tokyo
Ohara Museum of Art
Oita Art Museum
Okazaki City Mindscape Museum
Osaka City Museum of Modern Art
Setagaya Art Museum
Sezon Museum of Modern Art
Taguchi Art Collection
Takahashi Collection
Takamatsu City Museum of Art
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
Faret Tachikawa（Tachikawa City） Fukuyama City
Hiroshima Prefectural Women's University
Yumeooka Art Project（Yokohama City）

Others

Art Fairs
2017　　 Art Basel Miami
Art Stage Singapore
2016 Art Fair Tokyo
2014 Art Basel Hong Kong
Curation
2019 Kazuo Sakata: Recoup Lost Ground, Tokyo Station Gallery, Tokyo
2017 The Insight of Kenjiro Okazaki - Abstract Art as Impact -How Abstract Arts can become Concrete Tools, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi Prefecture
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