Tatsuo Miyajima

Tatsuo Miyajima achieved international recognition for his works incorporating flashing light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Since the Japanese artist began working with LEDs in 1987, he has developed a distinctive body of work that is now synonymous with the artist.
 
Initially, he only used red and green LEDs to create reliefs and sculptures. A few years later, more advanced technology allowed him to expand his color spectrum to include blue and white, and today offers him a wealth of color possibilities.
 
Miyajima, however, does not rely solely on the engaging effect of the light-emitting diodes, which flash from 1 to 9 or from 9 to 1. Instead, he employs a variety of systems for visualizing the digits. The counting follows either a rhythm set by the artist or a randomly changing speed. Created are choreographies of an unpredictable visual array of emerging clusters and movements.
 
This can range from the use of a few LEDs to monumental works comprising 2400 LEDs such as Mega Death, a large-scale installation of blue LEDs that Tatsuo Miyajima installed for the first time in the Japanese pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2001.
 
The counting of the diodes, which suggests a kind of movement in time and space, is not a purely technical, technicist matter for the artist, who was born in Tokyo in 1957. Quite the opposite: Miyajima imbues his diode clusters with meaning by forging a conceptual link between modern technology and Far Eastern Buddhist philosophy.
 
For him, the repeating series of numbers symbolize the cycle of life—the intertwining of individual and collective existence. “One constant in life is the fact that we are always changing,” says Miyajima. Therefore, the number 0 has no place in his work, since it symbolizes finality. “We humans are under the illusion that we can do anything, and we try to manipulate nature to our liking,” says Miyajima. “But nature and the universe behave in unpredictable ways.”
 
This unpredictable, permanent change, this uncertainty about what may come next, is reflected not only in his impressive works, but also in his artistic parameters: “Keep changing / Connect with everything / Continue forever!”
 
By fusing technology and spirituality, Tatsuo Miyajima’s work invites viewers to contemplate the transience of life and offers a vision of continuity that transcends the boundaries of time, space, and individuality.
 
Important works by the artist are represented in the collections of the Tate Gallery London, La Caixa Barcelona, the Deste Foundation Athens, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, the Leeum Seoul, and—arranged through the Buchmann Galerie—the Kunstmuseum Bern, the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlung Munich, and the M+ in Hong Kong.
 
Further insights into the artist’s work are offered in the publication Tatsuo Miyajima—Connect with Everything, published on the occasion of the artist’s exhibition of the same name at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2017.
 

‘Tatsuo Miyajima, photo: Nobutada Omote’
Tatsuo Miyajima, photo: Nobutada Omote

Selected Works

Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Life (Ku-wall) - no.3’, 2014, 24 LEDs, IC, microcomputer programmed by Mr. Ikegami, electric wire, passive sensor, smoked glass, stainless steel
Life (Ku-wall) - no.3, 2014
24 LEDs, IC, microcomputer programmed by Mr. Ikegami, electric wire, passive sensor, smoked glass, stainless steel
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Counter Object - 000’, 2020, Colored mirror
Counter Object - 000, 2020
Colored mirror
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Tatsuo Miyajima at Tate Modern, London’
Tatsuo Miyajima at Tate Modern, London
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Tatsuo Miyajima — Life Face on Gold’, Installation view, Buchmann Galerie, 2024-2025
Tatsuo Miyajima — Life Face on Gold, 2024-2025
Installation view
Buchmann Box
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Life Face on Gold B_20’, 2023, White silkscreen on embossed and gold leafed paper
Life Face on Gold B_20, 2023
Buchmann Box
White silkscreen on embossed and gold leafed paper
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Life Face on Gold S_23’, 2023, White silkscreen on embossed and gold leafed paper
Life Face on Gold S_23, 2023
White silkscreen on embossed and gold leafed paper
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Changing Landscape / Changing Museum, 2022’, Installation view, Buchmann Galerie, Sculpture Parc Waldfrieden, Wuppertal
Changing Landscape / Changing Museum, 2022
Installation view
Sculpture Parc Waldfrieden, Wuppertal
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Counter me on 13’, 2003, Neon, stainless steel mirror, IC controller, electric wire
Counter me on 13, 2003
Neon, stainless steel mirror, IC controller, electric wire
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘ Sky of Time’, 2019, Light Emitting Diode, Ic, Electric wire, Plastic net, Switching Power Supply.
Sky of Time, 2019
Light Emitting Diode, Ic, Electric wire, Plastic net, Switching Power Supply.
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Counter Painting on Kimono Sode - Light Violet’, 2013, Liquitex, Permanent Light Violet on Japanese Kimono Sode (about 1884)
Counter Painting on Kimono Sode - Light Violet, 2013
Liquitex, Permanent Light Violet on Japanese Kimono Sode (about 1884)
Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Counter Painting on Kimono Obi - Red’, 2013, Acrylic on traditional Japanese Kimono
Counter Painting on Kimono Obi - Red, 2013
Acrylic on traditional Japanese Kimono

News

Gallery Exhibitions

Publications

Tatsuo Miyajima

Born 1957 in Tokyo. Lives and works in Ibaraki, Japan.

 

2012 - 2016 Kyoto University of Art & Design Vice President

2006 - 2016 Tohoku University of Art & Design Vice President

Education
1986 Completed postgraduate studies at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (M.A.)
1984 Graduated from Oil Painting Course, Fine Arts Department, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (B.A.)
Grants and Awards
1998 London Institute honorary doctorate
1993 Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris
1990–1991 DAAD Scholarship Berliner Kunstprogramm Berlin,
1990 ACC - Asian Cultural Council, New York

Solo Exhibitions

2025
2024
2023
2020
2018
2017
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1983

Group Exhibitions

2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
Selected Collections

National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan

Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Japan

Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya, Japan

Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan

Panasonic Museum in Osaka, Japan

FARET Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan

TV Asahi building, Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo Opera City, Tokyo, Japan

Chiba City Museum, Chiba, Japan

Group Home Sala in Florence Village, Akita, Japan

The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan

Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto, Japan

Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan

Saitama Prefectural University, Saitama, Japan

Izumi City Plaza, Osaka, Japan

Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum, Kagawa, Japan

Iwaki City Art Museum, Fukushima, Japan

Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan

 

M+ Museum, Hong Kong

Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan

Samsung Cultural Foundation, Seoul, Korea

Leeum, Samsung Museum, Seoul, Korea

Chinese Telecom, Taipei, China

 

Tate Gallery, London, UK

The British Museum, London, UK

Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece

Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris, France

Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland

Université de Genève, Switzerland

La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain

Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany

Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany

Fondazione TESECO per l'Arte, Pisa, Italy

Chateau La Coste, Aix-en-Provence, France  

 

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, U.S.A.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, U.S.A.

Dallas Museum of Art, U.S.A.

Denver Art Museum, Denver, U.S.A.

Dannheisser Foundation, New York, U.S.A.

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada

Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia

Selected Publications
2017 "Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect with Everything", Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, with texts by Rachel Kent, Mami Kataoka, Sunjung Kim, Nobuko Nakanao
2008 "Time Train", Ferdinand Ullrich, Hans Jürgen Schwalm (ed.) with texts by Friedrich Meschede, Eugen Blume, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Kerber Verlag
2007 Rappolt, Mark, “The Time is now”, in: Art Review, Issue 07/ January 2007, p.38, London
Borcherdt, Gesine, “Tatsuo Miyajima”, in: monopol – Magazin für Kunst und Leben, Issue 1/ 2007, p. 118, Berlin
2005 Asada, Akira + Miyajima, Tatsuo: “Commemoration Talks: Death and 20th century,” Minamishima, Hiroshi: “Light of Death, Again Detour Leading toward “Tatsuo Miyajima-Beyond the Death”, Tomisawa, Haruko: “Tatsuo Miyajima’s thoughts on Nature and Artificiality,” Honda, Yoshiko: “Tatsuo Miyajima: Eternal Light after Darkness,” BEYOND THE DEATH, Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto-CAMK, 2005, pp.17-31, 34-37, 38-41 42-45 (Jap / Eng)
2004 “Tatsuo Miyajima”, MACRO, Museo d'arte Contemporanea Roma, (cat.)
2002 “Tatsuo Miyajima - Count of Life”, Essays by Dan Cameron and Kim Sun Jung (English/Korean), Artsonje Museum, Gyeonju and Artsonje Center, Seoul, (cat.)
2000 “Tatsuo Miyajima, Counter Pieces”, Essays by Johann-Karl Schmidt, Michael Auping and interview by Janice Hart and Alan Woods (German/ English), Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart, (cat.) 
“Tatsuo Miyajima, Mega death: shout! shout! count!”, Essays by Junichi Shioda and Mami Kataoka (English / Japanese ) Editor Kataoka Mami, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, (cat.)
1996 “Tatsuo Miyajima, Big Time”, Essays by Marla Price, Susan Freleger Brades, Michael Auping und Tatsuo Miyajima (Englisch), Modern Art Museum of Forth Worth and Hayward Gallery, London, (cat.)
“Tatsuo Miyajima, Whole Relativity of the Cosmos 133651”, Essays by Francine Périnet, Marnie Fleming and Grant McCracken (English) Center for Contemporary Art CCA Kitakyshu Kitakyushu + Korinsha Press&Co.,Ltd, (cat.)
“Tatsuo Miyajima, Time House”, Gairloch Gallery, Oakville Galleries
1993 “Tatsuo Miyajima”, with an interview by Bernhard Bürgi and an essay by Luk Lambrecht (German/ English), Kunsthalle Zürich und Oktagon Verlag, München & Stuttgart
1991 “Tatsuo Miyajima”, Essay by Lynne Cooke and Jos Poodt (German/ English/ Dutch and Japanese), 133651 Museum Het Kruithuis, `s-Hertogenbosch and daadgalerie, Berlin, (cat.)
 
 
Other Projects
2005 ARTISTS SUMMIT, KYOTO, Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kyoto, Japan
2002 Collaboration with SOPHNET (fashion design brand) 2002 A/W Collection Tokyo
1000 Real Life Project - Death Clock, Tokyo
2000 Floating Time - Hospice Project, Sotoasahikawa Hospital, Akita
1998 Portfolio for The Edge of Awareness
1995 Portfolio for 4. Uluslararasi Istanbul Bienali-ORIENT / ATION
1994 Mirror, multiple, Spiral, Tokyo
1993 Over Economy, acrylic, pencil on bank note \10,000
1992 Project for PARKETT
1984 Time Funeral, record jacket, SMS Records