Tatsuo Miyajima Unstable
29 Jan—17 Mar 2022

Tatsuo Miyajima Unstable

29 Jan—17 Mar 2022
Buchmann Galerie
Press release

Buchmann Galerie is pleased to announce the eleventh solo exhibition at the gallery of new works by Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima (b. 1957 in Tokyo).

 

Tatsuo Miyajima is concerned with fundamental questions of time, space, and existence. A significant part of his multifaceted oeuvre comprises works featuring digital light-emitting diodes (LEDs), specially developed by the artist and manufactured for him, whose numerals light up in continuous and repetitive cycles from 1 to 9. For Miyajima, these numerals represent the path from life to death, the finality of which is symbolized by the “0” or zero, which therefore never appears in his works.

 

For the exhibition Unstable, Tatsuo Miyajima presents works from two new LED-based series of works: Unstable Time and HITEN.

 

Miyajima uses nylon fabric for the first time as support ground for the newly developed series Unstable Time. The single-color “LED gadgets” are affixed to fabric in a spiral or circular fashion and count in various rhythms. The instability and softness of the fabric, hung freely on the wall, references the impossibility of being able to fully control the world and adds an element of “instability” to the work that oscillates dialectically between uncontrollability and freedom. Time and the universe are not fixed or absolute, but something gently flowing and malleable. The only thing we can do when confronted with such an uncontrollable world is to face the various phenomena with our imagination.

 

Keep changing, connect with everything, and continue forever are the three conceptual underpinnings of Tatsuo Miyajima’s multifaceted work. The new works from the HITEN series explore these guiding principles with minimalist precision. LEDs are arranged on small, wall-mounted consoles and change color after each countdown cycle. Tatsuo Miyajima sees this as a reference to reincarnation in Buddhism (Samsara); Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of eternal return (Ewige Wiederkehr) also comes to mind here. The work’s title, Hiten, is a reference to a painted angel inside the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, China. This angel, donning a vibrantly colored vestment, flies freely in the sky without being controlled by anyone.

 

The cyclical nature of Tatsuo Miyajima’s work, the constant change that underlies it, invites viewers to reflect and meditate on the “impermanence” or transitoriness of all being.

 

“New technologies coexist naturally with old traditions in my everyday life,” Tatsuo Miyajima says of the origins of his complex triple jump between Far Eastern philosophy, technology, and contemporary theory. The artist’s latest works applies this research into essential concepts to the instability of contemporary reality. In a world increasingly dominated by numbers and counting, Tatsuo Miyajima’s existential examination of time and numbers is stirringly relevant.

 

Important works by the artist are represented in the collections of the Tate Gallery London, the Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlung Munich, La Caixa Barcelona, Deste Foundation Athens, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Leeum Seoul, Kunstmuseum Bern, and M+ in Hong Kong.

 

In the last three years, solo exhibitions have been held at the Minsheng Museum in Shanghai, the Chiba City Museum in Chiba, Japan, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California, and the EMMA Museum in Espoo, Finland. The artist’s body of drawings is currently on view in an exhibition at the Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg.

 

For more information on the artist or images of his work, please feel free to contact the gallery at any time.

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

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

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

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