Tsubasa Kato

One common characteristic of Kato’s multimedia projects, involving performance, structures and video, is communal practice: his representative Pull and Raise series (moving a large structure with ropes) relies on spontaneous participation.
In addition to these projects in public space, Kato has also executed projects which play with social boundaries, such as They do not understand each other on an uninhabited island between Korea and Japan.
Since completing a project in Tohoku after the 2011 disaster, his work has become more satirical: four white males tied together perform the US national anthem in Woodstock 2017. A community of refugees facing eviction pulls down a structure that resembles their homes in Break it Before it’s Broken.
His projects and installations challenge the viewer to reconceive their sense of distances between us.

Artist Website



Works

CV

1984
Born in Saitama, Japan
Lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

2015-17 Visitor Research Scholar, Department of Architecture, University of Washington, Seattle
“Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists” supported by Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan
“Japan-U.S. Exchange Friendship Program in the Arts” supported by Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission
2010 M.F.A., Department of Painting, Tokyo University of the Arts
2007 B.A., Department of Painting, College of Art and Design, Musashino Art University

Selected solo show

2021
“Turf and Perimeter”
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery,
Tokyo, Japan
2020
“Superstring Secrets”
MUJIN-TO Production,
Tokyo, Japan
2018
“(Drawing) Fractions of the Longest Distance (Vietnam ⇅ United States)”
MUJIN-TO Production,
Tokyo, Japan
2017
“(Drawing) Fractions of the Longest Distance (Mexico City ⇄ Jakarta),”
MUJIN-TO Production,
Tokyo, Japan
2015
“Reach Out”
MUJIN-TO Production,
Tokyo, Japan

Selected group show

2022
“Collection of the National Museum of Art, Osaka, 100years of Contemporary Art”
Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum,
Hiroshima, Japan
“The Brilliant Days”
former Ulsan Education and Training Institute Auditorium and Lecture Buildings in Ulsan Daewangam Park,
Ulsan, South Korea
2021
“Scratching the Surface”
Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart - Berlin,
Berlin, Germany
2020
“They Do Not Understand Each Other”
Tai Kwun Contemporary,
Hong Kong
“BECOMING A COLLECTIVE BODY”
MAXXI - the National Museum of 21st Century Arts,
Rome, Italy
2019
“Co/Inspiration in Catastrophes”
Museum of Contemporary Art,
Taipei, Taiwan
“Takamatsu Contemporary Art Annual Vol.08 / Dissect the Society”
Takamatsu Art Museum,
Kagawa, Japan
“Aichi Triennale 2019: Taming Y/Our Passion”
Aichi Arts Center,
Aichi, Japan
“Who Opens Up the World?”
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art,
Aichi, Japan
“21st DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow”
The National Art Center,
Tokyo, Japan
2018
“Catastrophe and the Power of Art”
Mori Art Museum,
Tokyo, Japan
2017
“Reenacting history_ Collective Actions and Everyday Gestures”
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art,
Gwacheon, South Korea
“Condition Report: The Mashup Syndicate”
Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem,
Jakarta, Indonesia
2016
“Uprisings”
Jeu de Paume,
Paris, France
“Spider’s Thread”
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art,
Aichi, Japan
2015
“Time of Others”
The National Museum of Art,
Osaka, Japan

Public collection

Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art,
Japan
Mori Art Museum,
Japan
The National Museum of Art, Osaka,
Japan
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo,
Japan
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art,
Japan
Ulsan Art Museum,
South Korea
Takamatsu Art Museum,
Japan
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