Born in 1975, Tanaka currently lives and works in Los Angeles. In his diverse art practice spanning video, photography, site-specific installations, and interventional projects, Tanaka visualizes and reveals the multiple contexts latent in the most simple of everyday acts. In his recent projects, he has documented behaviors that were unconsciously exhibited by people confronting unusual situations, such as one piece of pottery made by five potters and a piano played by five pianists simultaneously, seeking to reveal group dynamics in a micro-society and temporal community.Tanaka has been showing widely, including at the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), the Taipei Biennial 2006 (Taipei), the Gwangju Biennial 2008 (Gwangju), the Yokohama Triennale 2011 (Yokohama), and the Japan pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale. He received a Special Mention for National Participation at the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013 and the Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year 2015 award. His publications include “Precarious Practice” (Hatje Cantz, 2015) and “Abstract Speaking—Sharing Uncertainty and Collective Acts” (NERO Magazine, The Japan Foundation, 2013). He also takes part in and collaborates with ARTISTS' GUILD and Contemporary Art Think-tank.
Website: http://kktnk.com/
Studies and Residency Programs
2012qwatz, Rome, Italy
2009-2012Awarded the Fellowship of Overseas Study Programme for Artists by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese Government (recommended by Kazuhiro Yamamoto)
2007Summerakademie, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland
2005-2006Artist in Residence at Le Pavillon, Palais de Tokyo Paris with supports of Pola Foundation and French government scholarship
2005Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan(MFA)
2004Artist in Residence at Location One, New York with a support of Asian Cultural Council (ACC) fellowship
2000Graduated from Tokyo Zokei University, Japan(BFA)
1998Studied at Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Wien, Austria, under exchange student program
Works
Installation Views
Selected Exhibitions
セカイノコトワリ―私たちの時代の美術京都国立近代美術館2025
いつもとなりにいるから 日本と韓国、アートの 80 年横浜美術館2025
スキマをひらく京都市立芸術大学ギャラリー @KCUA（アクア）2025
京都芸術センター開設25周年記念展「そのへんにあるもの」京都芸術センター2025
ここは未来のアーティストたちが眠る部屋となりえてきたか？国立西洋美術館2024
再現場 休館中の長期プロジェクト振り返り広島市現代美術館2023
リニューアルオープン記念特別展 Before/After広島市現代美術館2023
Awards & Grants
2015Deutsche Bank Artist of the YearDeutsche Bank
2013ソロ・プロジェクト 特別表彰第55回ヴェネチア・ビエンナーレ国際美術展
2012qwatz レジデンスプログラム（ローマ滞在）qwatz contemporary art platform
2009文化庁新進芸術家海外研修制度（ロサンゼルス滞在・推薦：山本和弘）文化庁
2007サマーアカデミー参加（パウル・クレー・センター、ベルン）Zentrum Paul Klee
2005ポーラ美術振興財団 在外研修助成ポーラ美術振興財団
2005フランス政府給費留学生（Le Pavillon／パレ・ド・トーキョー 参加）フランス政府
2004アジアン・カルチュラル・カウンシル（ACC）助成（Location One 参加・ニューヨーク滞在）Asian Cultural Council
Public Collections
Orange County Museum
Asian Society and Museum
FRAC Champagne-Ardenne
Dallas Museum of Art
M+
Mori Art Museum
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto
Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art
The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma
Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
Artnow International Foundation
Kadist Art Foundation
Deutsche Bank Collection
Yamato Press
Publications
2016共にいることの可能性、その試み、その記録著書・grambooks
2015Precarious Practice著書・Hatje Cantz
2014必然的にばらばらなものが生まれてくる著書・武蔵野美術大学出版局
2013質問する その1（2009-2013）著書・ART iT
2013Abstract Speaking - Sharing uncertainty and collective acts著書・NERO Magazine／国際交流基金
