Keiichi Tanaami (Tokyo, 1936) is one of the leading artists in Japanese Pop Art. When he was a child, he witnessed the bombings that Tokyo suffered during the Second World War. Even today, at the age of 85, he continues to remember them and considers them a trauma that appears as a motif in his work.

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Tanaami's work is varied in formats and influences. His depictions include airplanes, Disney characters, death references, and explicitly sexual images. These influences are found both within Kamishibai (Japanese paper theatre) and American B-movies. He has created a universe rich in heterogeneous elements that represent an easy-to-recognize artistic signature.

 

He is recognized both heir to Andy Warhol's experimental cinema and Hugh Hefner's erotic vision. He has designed videos and album covers for Jefferson Airplane and John Lennon. He is, as indicated, a versatile artist, who reinvents himself and is constinatly active in the art world. Tanaami is receptive and permeable to all that surrounds him, as he dynamically welcomes in everything he comes in contact with as an inspiration for his work.    

 

Tanaami designs skateboards, collaborates with brands such as Paul Smith and Moncler, and has collaborated with Adidas, all while exhibiting his work in museums around the world.

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Keiichi Tanaami's work is part of major collections around the world such as Tokushima Museum of Modern Art in Japan, Singapore Museum of Art, Chicago Mid-west Film Center in USA, Stratford City Museum in Canada, and Chateau d'Annecy in France.

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Vision in the Womb 2015

Acrylic paint, digital pigment print, silkscreen print, and glass powder on canvas

80.25 x 118 inches

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