Keiichi Tanaami
Eye Beam
Throughout his illustrious career, Keiichi Tanaami has continued to explore new frontiers of creativity.
Now in 2020, the first woodcut print by the artist has been completed. Born from traditional woodcut printing techniques dating back to the Edo Period, the psychedelic contemporary ukiyo-e is the epitome of the art of Mr.Tanaami, who has effortlessly flitted over the boundary between high art and pop culture. Eyes gaze through a pitch-black sky lit up by sparks from an exploding military aircraft, seemingly piercing through the mind of the viewer. The title "Eye Beam" refers to the clear vision of the artist who has witnessed the history and culture of post-war Japan.
Contemporary artisans took on the challenge of reproducing the world of Keiichi Tanaami, where gorgeously colored dreams and memories mingle with one another. Welcome to the new "Floating World" of Keiichi Tanaami, a world woven together by Eros and Thanatos.
Eye Beam
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Comments from the Artist
"Perhaps because I loved animation since I was a child, when I draw a picture, I always think about how each element will move in the next instant. Even when I am drawing a still image, I am constantly imagining the next scene. I hope to create the effect of distilling multiple frames of a manga in a single picture. It could be that this gives a certain floating sensation to my work.
There is a story behind the "beam" that is in the title of this piece... I experienced air raids as a young child. At night, I saw searchlights of the Japanese military illuminating American B-29 bombers. The multiple streaks of light cutting through the night sky fascinated me, although the grown-ups around me were stricken with fear. Even after I became an adult, I often remembered those beams of light stretching out into the darkness. I think that is the origin of the beams in my work."
Limited Edition: 100
Dimension of picture: 56.5×39.7㎝
Dimension of picture: 56.5×39.7㎝
Frame：72.7×54.5 cm original frame
Paper used: Echizen kizuki hosho washi
(produced by living national treasure Ichibei Iwano)
Date of publication: July 2020
Special bonus: 1 proof print
(with the artist's autograph and serial number)
Production: The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints
Production cooperation: NANZUKA
The key block used to print the thin outlines is the backbone of a woodblock print and is carved with painstaking care.
The woodblock of a work by Keiichi Tanaami with only the outlines exudes an overwhelming presence.
A proof print of the key block. Multicolored woodblock prints are printed one color at a time using multiple woodblocks.
Both years of experience as an artisan and a modern sense of color are needed to prepare the pigment.
Colors are printed one at a time while paying keen attention to the overall color balance.
The method of rubbing particles of pigment into the fibers of Japanese handcrafted paper is a unique and important part of Japanese woodcut printing.
Vivid colors float up from an ink-black background.
The ukiyo-e is printed on Echizen kizuki hosho washi (a unique kind of Japanese paper) handmade from 100% paper-mulberry fibers by Ichibei Iwano, a living national treasure.
Faithfully carving out each intricate line
One unique feature of the works of Keiichi Tanaami is an exquisite intricacy suggestive of a mandala, a geometric figure representing the universe in Esoteric Buddhism. The carver puts all his focus on the point of a sharp knife and translates the intensity onto the Japanese mountain cherry woodblock.
Following a long tradition to explore the colors of NOW
Throughout his long career utilizing various modes of expression, the unique color palette has been a constant in the works of Keiichi Tanaami. Although it was well suited to the brilliant colors of traditional woodcut prints, expressing the radiance and a certain venomous quality of the colors was a new challenge for the printer.
Photo: Kenji Mori
Keiichi Tanaami
Keiichi Tanaami was born in Tokyo in 1936 and graduated from Musashino Art University. He has been active as a graphic designer, filmmaker, and artist since the 1960s, never heeding the boundaries of mediums or genres but instead aggressively traversing them through his work. The history and trajectory of his practice spanning well over half a century have garnered tremendous support from younger generations of artists around the world, as he is viewed as a new figure of the artist in the 21st century. In 2019, Tanaami presented his collaboration with adidas Originals “Adicolor x Tanaami.” In addition, with his works being on permanent exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art New York (MoMA) that celebrated its renewal opening, he continues to receive one and only acclaim as an artist who represents postwar Japan.
Furthermore, renowned museums around the world such as The Art Institute of Chicago (USA) and the National Portrait Gallery (USA) in recent years have newly welcomed Tanaami’s works to their collections.
Recent exhibitions: “International Pop” (Walker Art Center, Dallas Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA, 2015-2016), “The World Goes Pop” (Tate Modern, London, 2015), “Tokyo Pop Underground” (Jeffery Deitch, NY & LA, 2019) and more.
◆ Keiichi Tanaami official website ≫
These titles will be sold to customers selected by drawing lots.
If you wish to purchase the work, please enter the draw during the following period.
We will notify you of the results of the draw.
Entry Period: September 4 (12 p.m.) - September 10 (12 p.m.), 2020 -Japan Time-
First sale of 30 prints
*Entering a draw is limited to only one product per customer.
Please note that customers who select more than one will be excluded from the draw.
Keiichi Tanaami "Eye Beam" 250,000yen (excluding tax)
Original Frame 15,000yen (excluding tax)
Special bonus: 1 proof print (with the artist's autograph and serial number)
One proof print printed from just the woodblock for the outlines will be given as a gift. The proof shows the intricate line drawings of Keiichi Tanaami's work.