Aiko Tezuka
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).
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Ghost in Indigo
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Talisman (system)
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Certainty / Entropy (Japan 7)
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Certainty / Entropy (England 4)
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Seep Out - Parrot Pink (23-01)
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Fragile Surface - Parrot Pink (23-05)
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Fragile Surface - Bird (24-01)
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Seep Out - Bird (23-02)
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Fragile Surface - Bird (23-05)
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Seep Out - Abstract Pink (23-02)
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Fragile Surface - Blue Peacock 6
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Fragile Surface - Parrot Blue (23-04)
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
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Art Miami 2023
Booth AM529 5 - 10 Dec 2023Tuesday, December 5, 2023 Platinum VIP Preview: 4.30pm - 6:30pm Access for Art Miami + CONTEXT Art Miami Platinum VIP Passholders Tuesday, December 5, 2023...Read more -
Seattle Art Fair 2023
27 - 30 Jul 2023Opening Evening Thursday, July 27: 6—9pm All Public Days Friday, July 28: 11am—7pm Saturday, July 29: 11am—7pm Sunday, July 30: 11am—6pm The Fair Pass allows...Read more -
Art Market San Francisco: Booth D15
20 - 23 Apr 2023Opening Evening Thursday, April 20, 2023: 6—9pm All Public Days Friday, April 21, 2023: 11am—7pm Saturday, April 22, 2023: 11am—7pm Sunday, April 23, 2023: 11am—6pmRead more