Across a section of Prada’s architecturally iconic Aoyama flagship unfolds new work by pioneering Japanese pop artist Keiichi Tanaami (b. 1936). The exhibition explores parallels between traditional, artwork-emblazoned folding screens and today’s all-pervasive digital displays.
Tanaami, a key influence on younger Japanese artists including Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami, has for this show created pieces that, across various mediums, embody his signature blend of American pop culture iconography with elements drawn from historic Japanese traditions such as ukiyo-e wood-block prints.
In the centrepiece of a video installation presented in folding screen-style, fighter planes as well as a Betty Boop-like character and the wartime Japanese flag clash with octopi and human skulls, forming what can be interpreted as a discordant commentary on the tumultuous period of Japanese-US relations that the young Tanaami lived through. This is accompanied by works including a book-shaped sculpture that employs video-mapping, and a late-Muromachi period (approximately 1336-1773) folding screen by Shikibu Terutada that, just as with Tanaami’s featured work, uses its panelled structure to convey movement and atmosphere.
Text by Darren Gore