Koji Tanada's work has reached both a domestic and an international audience with appearances in a number of shows, including a solo exhibition at The Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum in Shizuoka Prefecture and a group show at the Riso Museo d'arte contemporanea della sicilia in Italy.
"Springing up boy" the artist's first solo exhibition in two years, comprises six of his newest sculptures, including "girl," which was first shown at the Takashimaya "Zipangu" exhibition in Tokyo earlier this year, and "spring up boy," which he created just after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11.
After the earthquake, Tanada says he became concerned about the changes the disaster would bring to Japanese society, and what he could do to protect the precious things in life. His "springing up boy," he says, sprouts from land destroyed by nature as he reaches out to the sky; till Oct. 1.
Mizuma Art Gallery; (03) 3268-2500; 3-13 Ichigayartamachi, Shinjuku-ku; 5-min walk from Ichigaya Station, Yurakucho, Toei Shinjuku and Nanboku subway lines. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Admission free. Closed Mon. www.mizuma-art.co.jp.
