Profile

Keiichi Tanaami, born in 1936 in Tokyo, is one of the leading pop artists of postwar Japan.


“Most of my expressions are based on my actual experiences,” he has said. “The countless amount of stimulative experiences, happenings and encounters…they become the keywords of my expressions.” Best known for his cartoonish and colorful paintings that blend dream figures and references to childhood experiences with pop culture iconography, Tanaami has also worked in video, animation, as well as graphic design and commercial illustration.


While a university student, He was associated with artists such as Ushio SHINOHARA and Tomio MIKI, the leading figures of Neo-dada Japan, then after his graduation in the middle of 1960’s, he was influenced by the psychedelic culture and Pop art, and has been making works widely such as films, silk-screens, paintings, and sculptures. Especially the encounter with Andy Warhol in the end of 1960’s, got him triggered, and he has kept experimental tries against main problems in the contemporary art scene, such as “art and design”, “merchandise and art”, and “connection between daily life and beauty” until today.


Recent solo exhibitions

2011 “Art BASEL”, NANZUKA UNDERGROUND

2010 “Frieze Art Fair”, NANZUKA UNDERGROUND

2010 “Wander in The Chaos World - Keiichi Tanaami’s Fantastic World - ”, The OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shennan, China

2009 “KANNOOON”, NANZUKA UNDERGROUND

2009 “SPIRAL 2”, Galerie Gebr.Lehmann, Dresden /Berlin

2009 “Kochuten”, NANZUKA UNDERGROUND

2008 “DAYTRIPPER”, Art & Public –Cabinet PH, Geneva

2008 “COLORFUL”, NANZUKA UNDERGROUND, Tokyo

2008 “Spiral”, Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Berlin