A recent subject of rediscovery by the global art world, Keiichi Tanaami is an acknowledged psychedelic master within his native Japan, although a recent spate of high-profile international exhibitions at noted institutions, including the Walker Art Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Tate Modern, and Jewish Museum in New York have helped to bolster his reputation as a leading practitioner of “International Pop.”As a true cultural omnivore, Tanaami drew liberally from his many interests, which ranged from graphic design to pop music and American kitsch. In 1969, Tanaami travelled to New York where he met Andy Warhol at his Factory, and later became the first art director of Japanese Playboy in 1975. Yet he maintained strong links with the artistic avant-garde on both sides of the Pacific, working with the Neo-Dada “boxing painter” Ushio Shinohara, and hosting Robert Rauschenberg and Michel Tapié during their visits to Japan. Augmenting all of these manifold influences, however, was a lingering terror brought on by his memories of the firebombing of Tokyo during World War II, and several months in hospital spent grappling with pulmonary edema in 1981, during which he experienced nightly hallucinations.During the 1980s, Tanaami also began experimenting with a series of wooden sculptures whose fabrication methods were originally deployed in the manufacturing of Japanese toy puzzles. According to the artist, some of the other inspirations for these wooden pieces came from his childhood memories of playing with wooden blocks, as well as “experiencing a bottomless labyrinth in Meguro Gajoen” — a luxury high-end ryotei restaurant filled with traditional nihonga paintings that was also a prime location for wedding receptions. Deftly blurring the boundaries between art and craft, Tanaami’s works from this era predate the late 90s vogue for collectible design objects and limited edition figurines, while retaining a taste for the macabre.This two-part retrospective at NANZUKA focusing on the period between the late 1970s and the early 1990s explores how Tanaami departed from the more straightforward adulatory and imitative style that the iconic Japanese pop artist pioneered in the mid-1960s. Notable during this transitional period are his growing interests in mysticism and symbolism, which saw him plunder the rich heritage of his native Japan for fresh motifs and inspiration.Also visible during this period was a heightened appreciation for Asian aesthetics, especially after a 1980 visit to China, where Tanaami observed that “in comparison to Western gardens serving to represent an infinite expanse, Chinese and Japanese gardens are concerned with nature-modeling…attempts to express the vast cosmos within the context of a condensed nature.”Keiichi Tanaami’s “Passage in the Air” (1975-1993) is on view at NANZUKA, Chapter 1 through August 8, 2015, and Chapter 2 from August 29 through September 26, 2015.Follow @ARTINFOJapan
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