Tadashi Kawamata

Born in 1953, Tadashi Kawamata is a Japanese artist and architect who primarily lives and works between Paris and Tokyo. He obtained a doctorate from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 1984. In 1982, he represented Japan at the Venice Biennale. He was a professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts from 1999 to 2005, director of the Yokohama Triennale in 2005, and taught at the Beaux-Arts de Paris from 2007 to 2019. Since the late 1970s, he has been creating site-specific installations, first in private interiors, then in public spaces from the 1980s, all over the world. In Venice, Fukuoka, Sapporo, New York, Paris, Tokyo, etc., his wooden constructions are grafted onto existing architecture, occupying interstices, passages or in-between zones. They thus express a reflection on both urban and social contexts. In most of his projects, the artist works with students or local residents, who take part in the installation process. Tadashi Kawamata is represented by Galerie Mennour (Paris).