Kikuko Tanaka
Born and raised in Japan, Kikuko Tanaka is a frantic artist currently based in New York. She has performed and exhibited in various venues, including Smack Mellon, Momenta Art, NARS Foundation, Amelie A.Wallace gallery at SUNY Old Westbury, Vox Populi, and Arario Gallery, Panoply Performance Laboratory among others. Her work has been reviewed in Art in America, Art Info, and Hyperallergic. She was a nominatee for a Rema Hort Mann Foundation Visual Art Grant in 2010. Her open-ended multi-media tragicomic epic, A Tragic Bambi, is fiscally-sponsored by New York Foundation for the Arts. She has an interdisciplinary background, holds a BA in Landscape Design from Chiba University, and has studied fine art at the School of Visual Arts, and various academic disciplines including art history, anthropology, philosophy, and literature, at Hunter College. She is also a co-founder of a gallery, Agape Enterprise, which opened it doors this November in Brooklyn, New York.
Kikuko Tanaka CV
Born in Kumamoto, Japan
Lives and works in New York
Education
2011: Graduate Center, Liberal Studies, New York, NY
2005- 2010: Hunter College, Post-Baccalaureate study in Art History, Dance and other cultural studies, New York, NY
2002-2005: School of Visual Art, Continuing Education in Sculpture and Photography
2001: School of Visual Arts, major in Fine Arts, New York, NY
1997-2001: Chiba University, Bachelor of Science in Landscape Design, Chiba, Japan
Solo Exhibition
2011
Traumatic Encounter Forever!, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
Selected Group Exhibition
2011
Civilization and Its Discontent, curated by Cat Weaver, NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY
Perfect Ten, Shag Shop, Brooklyn, NY
Annual Benefit Auction, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
Fujimori, Lu & Tanaka, Illuminated Metropolis Gallery, New York, NY
Gathering Hopes: Japanese Earthquake Relief Benefit Auction, Japanese American Association of New York, New York, NY
Buy What You Love/ benefit auction by Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Marianne Boeksy Gallery, New York, NY
Performance Art’s Doppelgangers, Roots, and Shadow Selves, Panoply Performance Laboratory, Brooklyn, NY
2010
Fountain Art Fair, with Grace Exhibition Space, Miami, Florida
I Speak American, curated by Jaime Treadwell, Delaware County Community College, PA
The Eccentric Sculptors, curated by Hyewon Yi, Amelie Wallace Gallery at SUNY at Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY
A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears, Submerged Art Gallery, Newark, NJ
Irrelevant, Arario Gallery, New York. NY
Untitled Performance Event, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
Illuminated Metropolis Launch Exhibition, Marian Spore, Brooklyn, NY
Annual Benefit Auction, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY & White Columns, New York, NY
Departures, Ben Shahn Gallery of William Paterson University, NJ, Curated by Phong Bui
2009
Generation VII, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Offering, Space 414, Brooklyn, NY, Curated by Tanja Grunert
6th Annual International Juried Exhibition, The Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts, Long Branch, NJ Curated by Kate McNamara
Nurture Art Gallery Benefit Auction, Clair Oliver Gallery, New York, NY
May My Urine Flow the East River, Governor’s Island Art Fair, New York, NY
Vox X, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, Curated by Ryan Trecartin and Larry Mangel
Momenta Arts Benefit Auction, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY & Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York, NY
Poison, Curious Matter, Jersey City, NJ
2008
12 by 12 on 12/12, Storefront Artist Project, Pittsfield, MA
Between Worlds, Curious Matter, Jersey City, NJ
Kentucky Derby Party & Art Auction, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY
2007
Night of 1000 Drawings, Artists Space, New York, NY
30 Second Spot, Artists Alliance Inc, New York, NY, Juried by Zeina Assaf
Momenta Art Benefit Auction, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY & White Column, New York, NY
Kentucky Derby Party & Art Auction, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY
2006
Kentucky Derby Party & Art Auction, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY
2005
Aphasia, Asian American Art Centre, New York, NY
T-ZONE, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY, Curated by Peter Dudek
Selected Performance
2011
“Traumatic Encounter Forever!” with Chloe Bass, TJ Hospodar, 0h10 M1ke, Raymond Fun, Eric Heist, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
“Traumatic Encounter Forever!” with Chito Yoshida and Brian McCorkle, Panoply Performance Laboratory, Brooklyn, NY
2010
Excerpt from “Traumatic Encounter Forever!” with Chloe Bass, Fountain Art Fair, Miami. FL
Traumatic Encounter Forever! With Chloe Bass, Masaki Hori, Airi Kiryu, Amellie Wallace Gallery at SUNY at Old Westbury, Long Island, NY
A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears. With 0h10 M1ke, submerged Art, Newark, NJ
A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears, with Akiko Ichikawa, Hiroshi Shafer, Masaki Hori, Stuart Stelzer, Arario Gallery, New York, NY
A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears, with Akiko Ichikawa, Hiroshi Shafer, Masaki Hori, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
A Partial Performance of “ A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears,” with Hiroshi Shafer, Design Center, New York, NY
2009
A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears, with Akiko Ichikawa and Eli Ashkenazi, Sumei Multidisciplinary Art Center, Newark, NJ
A Partial Performance of “A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears,” with Akiko Ichikawa, Space 414. Brooklyn, NY
A Partial Performance of “A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears,” with 0h10 M1ke, Hudson Guild Gallery, New York. NY
A Tragic Bambi: Mother’s Tears, with Akiko Ichikawa and Masaki Hori, Governor’s Island Art Fair, NY
A Tragic Bambi, Mother’s Tears, with Paul O’reilly, in conjunction with Bushwick Open Studio 09’, Brooklyn, NY
Happy Hour with Takako Oishi, The Kate Werble Gallery, New York, NY
Teaching/Artist Talk/ Panel Discussion
2011
Artist Talk with Alex Klein, program curator at ICA philadelphia, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
“Drawing from Imagination,” Teragoya, New York, NY
2010
Visiting Artist Lecture & Mold-Making Workshop, Lafayette College, Easton, PA
2009
Muse Fuse: Images Night 09, Karen Marston’s Studio, Nurture Art, Brooklyn, NY
Vox X Gallery Talk, moderated by Larry Mangel, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
2008
ArtSlam, Asian American Art Centre, New York, NY
2005
Asian American Art Centre, New York, NY
Bibliography
2011
Chip Schwartz, “Four-in one at Vox Populi,” Knight Arts, October 27th
Katherine Rochester, “October First Friday Picks,” Philadelphia Weekly, October 5th
Blaire Monroe, “Vox Populi Prepares for October,” Phrequency, September 16
2010
Carlos Suarez De Jesus, “Fountain Miami 2010: Donnie Darko, Styrofoam, Boobs and Urination,” Miami New Times
Roberta Fallon, “New kid on the block – I Speak American at Gallery at DCCC”
“Opening Night: Live Chickens & Brolic Dames,” Artinfo, July 30th
2009
Jacquelyn Lewis, “Artists to Watch at the Governor’s Island Art Fair,” Art in America, September 9th
2008
Dan Bischoff, “Newark opens its doors to arts,” The Star-Ledger, Wednesday October 22nd
Amanda Assadi-Rullow, “Between Worlds,” New, Thursday, September 18th
Publications
2012
“An Interview with Kikuko Tanaka”, with JD Siazon. The 22 Magazine Volume 2: Sign & Symbol, January 28th