Keiichi Tanaami Collages

Opening: Thursday, April 30, 6:00-8:00pm

It is with great pleasure that Corbett vs. Dempsey presents Keiichi Tanaami, Collages 1969-1973 and Charline von Heyl, Why Not?

This is the gallery’s third exhibition of Tanaami, its first full-scale show of his work and also the first to concentrate on his collages. Born in Tokyo in 1936, Tanaami lived through WWII, experiencing the devastating bombings of the war’s end, which left a lasting impression on his life and art. He traveled to the U.S. in 1967, and the excessive quality of American commercial culture immediately drew his attention; from New York’s seedier strip clubs and porn shops, he procured a small library of magazines and newspapers, which he shipped back to Japan. These, along with various mainstream American and Japanese magazines, became the source material for a series of astonishing small collages, each one packed with energy and ideas, mixing pinup images with war comics and advertisements. Incredibly contemporary in feel, only recently rediscovered after having been ignored in Japan in the time that they were originally made, these collages are featured in the Walker Art Center’s current show International Pop, to which Tanaami traveled for the opening at the beginning of April. CvsD is proud to be the first gallery to present a full show of these collages in the U.S.

Both shows are accompanied by bite-size catalogs, full color, available at the opening.