Overview

The philosophy of deconstruction and reconstruction lies at the center of Aiko Tezuka’s dizzyingly intricate textile works. Since the beginning of her art practice Tezuka has been interested in the surface of objects. What makes up the surface of the object? What is behind the surface? Can the surface be pulled back? Although we inhabit a surface world, it’s a material limit that we often take for granted. Every time we peel a surface, a new surface will appear immediately – an infinite loop, rendering the surface unreachable and invisible. The artist’s central inquiry probes the very fabric of existence, questioning how to peel away layers and render the invisible visible.

 

For Tezuka, time is the clandestine force residing just beyond these immutable surfaces. Uncharted rainbows of color spill from tightly woven compositions. With the meticulous unraveling of textile surfaces, into myriad threads, the artist reverses time and in the process, demystifies her unspooled surfaces. These undone tapestries become an exploration of what lies beneath, a reflection on the threads that bind past, present, and future.

 

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Tezuka graduated from Musashino Art University with an MA and the Kyoto City University of Arts with a PhD in oil painting. Her work has been acquired and exhibited by numerous museums throughout Europe and Asia including Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Fukuoka Art Museum, The National Art Center Tokyo, Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Textile Museum (Tilburg, the Netherlands), Johann Jacobs Museum (Zürich, Switzerland), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, South Korea), Turner Contemporary (Margate, UK), Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Berlin, Germany), and Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Hamburg, Germany).

Works
Exhibitions
Biography

Biography

1976

Born in Tokyo, Japan

1999

Graduated in Painting from Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan

2001

Completed Master’s Degree in Painting at Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan

2005

Completed Ph.D in Painting at the Art Research Department of Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto, Japan

2006 - 2009

Worked as an instructor in Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto; Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kyoto; Kibi International University, Okayama, Japan

2010
Lived and worked in London, UK, supported by the Gotoh Cultural Award

2011

Lives and works in Berlin, Germany, supported by a fellowship under the Japan Government Overseas Study Programme

2012 -

Participates in the International Studio Program in Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

 

Solo Exhibitions

2022

Aiko Tezuka – (Re)weaving Histories, Rijksmuseum (Asian Pavilion), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April
Wash hands in a fountaine (tentative title), Itamuro Onsen Daikokuya, Nasushiobara, Japan, April

 

2021

STUDIO-Exhibition with Aiko Tezuka, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany, May

 

2019

Dear Oblivion – 親愛なる忘却へ, Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin, Germany, 13 September – 30 November 2019

Flowery Obscurity – 華の闇MA2 gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 7 – 28 September 2019

Dear Oblivion – 親愛なる忘却へ, Spiral, Tokyo, Japan, 3 – 28 September 2019

 

2018

Fragments of Thoughts, Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany, 24 April – 25 May 2018

 

2015

Stardust Letters, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo, Japan, 18 July – 8 November 2015

Lessons for Restoration, MAGO, Eidsvoll, Akershus, Norway, 27 June – 27 September 2015

Unraveling, Restoring, Ayala Museum, Manila, Philippines, 8 June – 19 July 2015

 

2014

Thin Membrane, Pictures Come Down, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany, 13 September – 9 November 2014

Certainty / Entropy, Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany 13 September – 25 October 2014

Certainty / Entropy, Third Floor Hermès Singapore, Singapore, 9 May – 27 July 2014

Art Basel Hong Kong, booth of Galerie Michael Janssen, Hong Kong, 15-18 May 2014

 

2013

Rewoven, Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin, Germany, 9 November – 21 December 2013

Ghost – Suspended Organs, Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany, 22 March – 9 May 2013

Ghost – Suspended Organs, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany, 18 January – 10 February 2013

 

2011

Prism Lag, Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum, Kyoto, Japan, 17 March – 12 June 2011

Transparent Fruits, KENJI TAKI Gallery, Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan, 5 March – 23 April (Nagoya), 11 March – 23 April (Tokyo) 2011

 

2009

Fragile Surface – Cat’s Cradle, KENJI TAKI Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 16 July – 9 September 2009

 

2008

Aiko Tezuka, Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company South Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

 

2007

Sewing up, in between Ghosts, Fuchu Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Thin Film, Underground Forest, SPIRAL/Wacoal Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan, 5 – 18 January 2007

Aiko Tezuka, KENJI TAKI Gallery, Nagoya, Japan

 

2005

Aiko Tezuka, INAX Gallery 2, Tokyo, Japan, 1 – 26 April 2005

Aiko Tezuka, CASO, Osaka, Japan

 

2

Outside of Modernism, ARTCOURT Gallery, Osaka, Japan, 5 March – 3 April 2004

 

2001

Aiko Tezuka, Tokyo Art Factory, Tokyo, Japan

 

2000

Aiko Tezuka, Gallery Rasen, Tokyo, Japan

 

Awards

2010

Fellowship under the Japan Government Overseas Study Programme (for 2 years), Tokyo, Japan

2nd prize at the award of Mr. I, Okayama Prefecture, Okayama, Japan

 

2009

Annual award from The Gotoh Memorial Foundation (fellowship to study abroad for 1 year), Tokyo, Japan

 

2005

3rd Prize, VOCA Exhibition, Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan

 

2002

1st prize, Kyo-ten, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan

 

Public collection

Itamuro Onsen Daikokuya, Nasushiobara, Japan

TextielMuseum, Tilburg, Netherlands

Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich, Switzerland

The Art Museum in North­Trøndelag (Kunstmuseet Nord-Trøndelag), Namsos, Norway

Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan

Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin, Germany

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, South Korea

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan

Okazaki Mindscape Museum, Aichi, Japan

Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa, Japan

The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, Japan

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION, Aichi, Japan

The Palace Side Hotel (Room 439), Kyoto, Japan

 

Interview, Publication

art magazine, issue September 2014, page 88, Germany

Arte TV ‘Metropolis’  (from around 37minutes 15 seconds, for 6 minutes) 13 – 20 April 2014, Germany and France

Lecture and Speaking

2018

(Artist Talk) Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich, Switzerland, 29 April

(Artist Talk) The Art Museum in North­Trøndelag, Namsos, Norway, 20 January

 

2017

(Artist Talk) HINT Project, Denmark, 28 October

(Lecture) Tokyo University of the Arts, Sculpture course, Tokyo, Japan, 1 June

(Lecture) Département d’histoire de l’art, université de Genève, 17 March

 

2016

(Artist Talk) Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin, Germany, November

 

2015

(Artist Talk) The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, Gwacheon, South Korea, November

(Artist Talk) The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan, October

(Artist Talk) Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo, Japan, July

(Artist Talk) Ayala Museum, Manila, Philippines, June

 

2014

(Artist Talk) Third Floor Hermès Singapore, May

(Artist Talk) Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany, September

 

2013

(Artist Talk) Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany, March

(Artist Talk) Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany, February

(Lecture) The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan, February

 

2012

(Artist Talk) Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto (with Takeshi Sakurai, director of the museum, and Meo Saito, artist), Kumamoto, Japan, April

 

2011

(Artist Talk) Royal College of Art, Sculpture (arranged by Prof. Richard Wentworth), London, UK, December

 

2010

(Artist talk) Toyota Municipal Museum of Art (with Toshiharu Suzuki, curator of the museum), Aichi, Japan, April

(Artist talk) Tokyo Metropolitan TEIEN Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, September

(Lecture) Musashino Art University, Sculpture, Tokyo, Japan, July

(Lecture) Kyoto Seika University, Textile course, Kyoto, Japan, November

(Lecture) Kyoto University of Art and Design, Art Studies and Cultural Production course, Kyoto, Japan, October

 

2009

(Artist talk) The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (with Mihoko Nishikawa, curator of the museum), Tokyo, Japan, February

(Artist talk) Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Aomori, Japan, July

(Lecture) Kawashima Textile School, Kyoto, Japan, February

(Lecture) Musashino Art University, Painting, Tokyo, Japan, May

 

2008

(Artist talk) Fuchu Art Museum, (with Kunio Motoe, director of the museum), Tokyo, Japan, March

(Artist talk) Okazaki Mindscape Museum, (with Amano Kazuo, chief curator of Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, and with Mika Yoshizawa, artist), Aichi, Japan, March

(Lecture) Kobe Design University, Fashion Design course, Kobe, Japan, May

 

2007

(Artist talk) Fuchu Art Museum, (with Kunio Motoe, director of the museum), Tokyo, Japan, March

(Artist talk) Okazaki Mindscape Museum, (with Amano Kazuo, chief curator of Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, and with Mika Yoshizawa, artist), Aichi, Japan, March

(Lecture) Kobe Design University, Fashion Design course, Kobe, Japan, May

 

Group Exhibitions

2023

Group Show 'Opposing Materiality'  Maybaum Gallery San Francisco CA 

Seattle Art Fair, Maybaum Gallery, Seattle WA 

Art Market San Francisco. Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco CA 

 

2022

PRINT&PAINT. 350 years flowers on cotton, KASTEEL D’URSEL, Belgium, May
—t—e—x—t—i—l—e—, HAUNT//frontviews and drj art project, Berlin, Germany, April

 

2021

Fuji Textile Week, Fujiyoshida, Japan, December
Loose Ends, Jane Lombard Gallery, NY, June
Charlottenburg, Bar Am, Berlin, Germany, April
Workation Risort Bichu Yakage, Yakage, Okayama, Japan, January

 

2020

Linking Transformations. Positionen japanischer und norddeutscher Gegenwartskunst, Stadtgalerie Kiel, Kiel, Germany, 26 September 2020 – 21 February 2021

The Haptic Eye, online group exhibition, Curated by Mark Gisbourne, Organized by ArtCircle, Artists: Shaarbek Amankul, Birgit Dieker, Sheila Hicks, Ritzi & Peter Jacobi, Marie Claire Messouma Manlanbien, Aiko Tezuka, Günter Weseler, Magda (Vitalyos) Ziman, 18 September – 30 December 2020

Loose Thread, online group exhibition, hosted by BLANK SPACE Gallery, NY, New York, 6 September – 27 September 2020

Collection Highlights, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, 28 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

 

2019

MOT Collection: Pleased to meet you. New Acquisitions in recent years, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan, 29 March – 16 June 2019

Weavers of Worlds – A Century of Flux in Japanese Modern / Contemporary Art –, Grand Reopening Exhibition, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan, 29 March – 16 June 2019

This is our collection + Yinka Shonibare CBE: Flower Power, Grand Reopening Exhibition, the Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, 21 March – 26 May 2019

 

2018

Group show (featuring three artists), MA2 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 30 November – 22 December 2018

Cultural Threads, TextielMuseum Tilburg, Netherlands, 24 November 2018 – 12 May 2019

RAUM XVII, Werkhalle Wiesenburg, Berlin, Germany, 13 – 30 September 2018

Notes from a trembling community in a wilful state of flux, Hotel Maria Kapel (HMK), Hoorn, The Netherlands, 8 September – 20 October 2018

Watch Your Bubble!, Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany, 10 May – 23 June 2018

A Painting for the Emperor, Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich, Switzerland, 8 February – 31 May 2018

I HEAR YOU (Jeg Hører Deg), The Art Museum in North­Trøndelag, Namsos, Norway, 20 January – 26 May 2018

 

2017

re:construction, PLADS artspace, Aarhus, Denmark, 29 October – 25 November 2017

Sommerfest, Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany, 11 – 26 August 2017

ripple effect – through the surface, MA2 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 26 May – 17 June 2017

New Acquisitions 2013~16 Samramansang from KIM Whanki to YANG Fudong, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea, 13 March – 13 August 2017

CAMK Collection vol.5 / You know? It’s said that Kumamoto-local-treasures have unveiled!, Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto, Japan, 18 February – 26 March 2017

Entangled: Threads & Making, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 28 January – 7 May 2017

 

2016

Nightfall (LE RETOUR DES TÉNÈBRES), Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland, 2 December 2016 – 19 March 2017

Spider’s Threads – Spinning images of Japanese beauty, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan, 15 October – 25 December 2016

Bleibt man an einem Ort, oder nicht (2-persons show with Shingo Yoshida), Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, 9 September – 21 October 2016

Schnittmengen, Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin, Germany, 3 June 2016 – 08 January 2017

Die Gezeiten, Transmitter – Raum für Kultur und Sprache, Berlin, Germany, 24 -26 June 2016

Disegno – Japanische Zeichenkunst der Gegenwart, Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, 9 April – 28 May 2016

HÖHENRAUSCH, EIGEN + ART Lab, Berlin, Germany, 12 February – 05 March 2016

 

2015

Artist File 2015 Next Doors, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, Gwacheon, South Korea, 10 November 2015 – 14 February 2016

Artist File 2015 Next Doors: Contemporary Art in Japan and Korea, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan, 29 July – 12 October 2015

TOMROM, Larvik kunstforening, Larvik, Vestfold, Norway, 23 May – 21 June 2015

Ob das Blatt sich an die Wurzel erinnert?, Galerie Dina Renninger, Munich, Germany, 13 May – 13 July 2015

TOMROM, Sandefjord kunstforening, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway, 9 May – 7 June 2015

 

2014

Mr. I Prize winner exhibition, Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan, 8 November – 14 December 2014

h a u s s t e l l e n , exhibition concept in Pompéry’s apartment, Berlin, Germany, 25 April – 5 May 2014

Japanische Gegenwartskunst und Textil, Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, 24 January – 22 February 2014

Installation View / Installationsansicht, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany, 17 January – 9 March 2014

In Search of Critical Imagination, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, 5 January – 23 February 2014

 

2013

To Open Eyes, Art and Textiles from the Bauhaus to Today, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany, 17 November 2013 – 2 March 2014

Disruptive Patterns. Plots, Plans and Movements. (Prelude), Altes Finanzamt, Berlin, Germany, 16 -20 September 2013

The Empire of Folds: Fashion and Textile Art from Japan, Museum Bellerive,  Ein Haus des Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich, Switzerland, 30 August 2013 – 12 January 2014

Embracing the land: reframing textiles, Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art KINARE, Niigata, Japan, 20 July – 20 October 2013

STOFF Summlung Textile Skulpturen, Kreissparkasse Rottweil, Germany, 18 June – 28 July 2013

BLUMEN, Galerie Mikael Andersen, Berlin, Germany, 24 May – 31 August 2013

How to become who you are, BWA, Tarnów, Poland, 10 May – 23 June 2013

Home Stories, Villa 102, Bockenheimer Landstrasse 102 (former Literaturhaus), Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 15 March – 28 April 2013

MOT Collection, Our Ninety Years: 1923-2013 Afterimages of tomorrow, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan, 6 April – 9 June 2013

Please do not touch!? (a special exhibition from the permanent collections), Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan, 12 January – 7 April 2013

 

2012

Letters from the Field (curated by NODE), Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany, 21 – 26 August 2012

The New Contemporaries, @KCUA gallery, Kyoto Art University of Arts, Kyoto, Japan, 3 – 25 March 2012

 

2011

Art in an Office, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan, 8 January – 27 March 2011

 

2010

SHOW in the project space, Royal College of Art, Sculpture, London, UK, 12 – 15 December 2010

The 20th Anniversary of the Gotoh Memorial Foundation, Bunkamura The Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 30 October – 7 November 2010

Celebratory Textiles – from Edo to the present day, Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Japan, 10 April – 13 June 2010

 

2009

City_net Asia, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 30 September – 22 November 2009

Sidetrack, Tokorozawa Biennial, Saitama, Japan, 28 August – 23 September 2009

Stitch by Stitch, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 18 July – 27 September 2009

New power! New collections in 2008, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan, 11 April – 21 June 2009

 

2008

Pre-Exhibition Tokorozawa Biennial of Contemporary Art SIDING RAIL ROAD, Saitama, Japan, 27 August – 12 September 2008

Secrets and Trick, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan, 5 July – 24 August 2008

Tangent, Artist in residence, Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Aomori, Japan, 14 June – 13 July 2008 (Residence: 28 April – 19 July 2008)

New collections show, Okazaki Mindscape Museum, Aichi, Japan, 16 February – 13 April 2008

MOT annual 2008, Unraveling and Revealing, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 9 February – 13 April 2008

Art in TIME AND STYLE MIDTOWN vol.3 Drawing, TIME&STYLE MIDTOWN, Tokyo, Japan, 1 February – 31 May 2008

 

2007

Cycle and Recycle, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan, 7 September – 4 November 2007

Paradise of Illusion, MA2 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 11 May – 16 June 2007

Sawako Tanizawa, Aiko Tezuka, Gunji Fukasawa, Kentaro Yokouchi, CASO, Osaka, Japan, 17 – 29 April 2007

Painting as Forest: Artist as Thinker, Okazaki Mindscape Museum, Aichi, Japan, 10 February – 25 March 2007

 

2006

Echigo – Tsumari Art Triennial 2006, Tokamachi, Niigata, Japan, 23 July – 10 September 2006

√roots, Honenin temple, Kyoto, Japan, 15 – 24 June 2006

 

2005

Spiral Take Art Collection, Spiral/Wacoal Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan, 20 – 30 October 2005

WILD GIRLS LULLABY, art zone, Kyoto, Japan, August 2005

art in transit, The Palace Side Hotel (Room 439), Kyoto, Japan, June 2005

VOCA 2005 The Vision of Contemporary Art (3rd prize winner), Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 15 – 30 March 2005

 

2004

Spiral Take Art Collection, Spiral/Wacoal Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan, 23 October – 7 November 2004

Selected Artists in Kyoto-2004 New Wave, The Museum of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, 24 January – 8 February 2004

 

2003

Art Court Frontier, ARTCOURT Gallery, Osaka, Japan, 12 July – 3 August 2003

 

2002

Kyo-Ten, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art (1st prize), Japan, 4 – 20 June 2002

Events
News