Statement
I depict common scenes from various myths that illustrate the world's origin.
For instance, a scene from Japanese mythology narrates the traditional and
legendary history of the emergence of the Japanese archipelago. In this story, a god
hides in a cave, resulting in darkness across the world, and when she comes out,
light is restored to the world. The biblical narrative also portrays the scenery when
God creates the world and begins to let light into it. I am interested in the aspect
that these world-creation stories legitimize people's identity, explaining why the
land belongs to them. I am also inspired by scientific descriptions, such as how the
atoms created in stars were scattered into space by the final supernova explosion of
those stars. The Earth was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago through
the collisions and mergers of micro-planets.
I explore the link between landscape and identity. The myth of the creation of the
world serves the function of creating identity in society why they own the
land—answering questions about who we are and why we live here.
A commonality among these narratives is that people have never seen these
sceneries. Thus, I portray scenes of genesis before the existence of life, featuring
inorganic materials such as light, water, rock, and air. By depicting this common
scene in various identity stories, I attempt to relativize and universalize the idea of
"home land."
Bio
Sao Tanaka is a visual artist based in Tokyo and New York City. She works with
painting, photography, video, and installation. She received a BFA in Japanese
painting from Tama Art University, an MA in Sociology and cultural anthropology from
Hitotsubashi University and also studied digital photography at the School of
Visual Arts.
She has shown her works at Mizuma & Kip's Gallery in New York, SVA Gallery,
ASYAAF Art Fair in Korea, Bunkamura Gallery in Japan, Hiroshima City Museum of
Contemporary Art in Japan, published in Impressions Number 42 Part Two Double
Issue, The Journal of the Japanese Art Society of America.
She worked on a commission project of mural painting for the Mitsui Garden Hotel
Roppongi Tokyo Premier BALCON TOKYO. She received the Hiraizumi Curator Jury
Prize, SHIBUYA ART AWARDS 2019, MFA Fine Arts Scholarship School of Visual Arts,
Winning Selection Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art "Open Call for Art
Project Ideas 2018, Grand Prize The 5th 21 Century Asia Design Competition from the
Kyoto University of Art in Kyoto Japan.
2021 MPS Digital Photography, School of Visual Arts, New York (Transferred from MFA
Fine Art)
2017 MA Sociology, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Institute for the Study of
Global Issues, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo
2014 BFA Painting, Department of Painting Japanese Painting course, Tama Art
University, Tokyo
Solo Exhibition
2022 ” MELD GOLD” Mizuma&Kips Gallery, New York
Group Exhibition
2023 “Echoes From New York” Lurf MUSEUM, Group exhibition Tokyo, Japan
2022 “Newtopia,” Mizuma &Kips Gallery, Group exhibition, New York, USA
2021 “Recalled” MPS Digital Photography Graduate exhibition, SVA Gramercy
Gallery, New York, USA
2021 “Tamabi DNA - A Genealogy of Contemporary Nihonga, Japanese Painting 1965”,
Tama Art University Museum, Tokyo
2021 “Within Sight,” Mizuma &Kips Gallery, Group exhibition, New York, USA
2020 ASYAAF 2020, Overseas Artists Section, presented by Gallery LVS, Seoul,
Korea
2019 “SHIBUYA AWARD 2019 Award exhibition”, Bunkamura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
2018 “Genbi Dokodemo Kikaku Kobo 2018 (Open Call for Art Project Ideas 2018)
winning selection exhibition”, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art,
Hiroshima, Japan
Art Fair
2023 Art Miami 2023, Mizuma Art Gallery
2020 ASYAAF 2020, Overseas Artists Section, Gallery LVS, Seoul, Korea
Commission Work
2023 Farm to Me, Tokyo, Japan
2020 Mitsui Garden Hotel Roppongi Tokyo Premier BALCON TOKYO, Tokyo, Japan
Award
2019 Hiraizumi Curator Jury Prize, SHIBUYA ART AWARDS 2019 (Hosted by SHIBUYA
AWARDS ASSOCIATION in Tokyo)
2019 MFA Fine Arts Scholarship, School of Visual Arts in New York
2018 Winning Selection Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art “Open Call for
Art Project Ideas 2018” (Hosted by Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary
Art in Hiroshima.)
2005 Grand Prize The 5th 21 Century Asia Design Competition (Hosted by Kyoto
University of Art in Kyoto)
2004 Winning Selection The 4th 21 Century Asia Design Competition (Hosted by
Kyoto University of Art in Kyoto)
２０１４ 多摩美術大学美術学部絵画日本画卒業
２０１７ 一橋大学社会学研究科地球社会専攻修了
２０２１ School of Visual Art Digital Photography 修了
受賞
２０１９ 第6回SHIBUYA AWARD 平泉千枝賞
２０１９ MFA Fine Arts Scholarship, School of Visual Arts in New York
２０１８ ゲンビどこでも企画公募２０１８ 広島市現代美術館
２００５ 第5回２１世紀アジアデザインコンペ大賞受賞 京都芸術大学
個展
２０２２ ” MELD GOLD” Mizuma&Kips Gallery, ニューヨーク
グループ展
２０２３ ” Echoes From New York”, Lurf MUSEUM, 東京
２０２２ ” Newtopia”, Mizuma & Kips Gallery, ニューヨーク
２０２１ “Recalled”, MPS Digital Photography Graduate SVA Gramercy Gallery, ニュ
ーヨーク
２０２１ 現代日本画の系譜－タマビDNA展,多摩美術大学美術館, アートテークギャラリー
東京
２０２１ “Within Sight” Mizuma & Kips Gallery, ニューヨーク
２０２０ ”ASYAAF 2020 Overseas Artists Section”, Gallery LVS, ソウル
２０１９ SHIBUYA AWARDS 2019 ART部門受賞作品巡回展, Bunkamura Gallery
２０１８ どこでもゲンビ企画公募入選作品展, 広島市現代美術館, 広島
コミッションワーク
２０２３ Farm to Me 3階レストラン 作品制作
２０２０ 三井ガーデンホテル六本木プレミアBALCON TOKYO 壁画制作