Biography

Contemporary artist (self-described "coordinologist"). Born in Nagoya City. In 1960, participated in the avant-garde collective Neo Dadaism Organizers, but withdrew that same year. The following year, he moved to the United States and was a New York-based artist thereafter. Through his experience of collaboratively working with the poet Madeline Gins, he began to utilize symbols, letters, numbers and prepositions in his works. In 1970, at the Japan Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, he exhibited a group of works from “The Mechanism of Meaning” series, along with other works. In 1979, successively held solo exhibitions throughout Japan, including one at our museum. In the 1980s, he focused on the subjects of the body and perception from an architectural perspective. From the 1990s, worked with design concepts, such as found in the Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art, the Site of Reversible Destiny–Yoro Park, and the Reversible Destiny Lofts—Mitaka. In 1997, he became the first Japanese artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim.