Kenjiro Okazaki (b. 1955, Tokyo) is an acclaimed Japanese artist, architect, critic, and theorist whose multifaceted practice spans painting, sculpture, robotics, landscape design, costume and set design, and architecture. With a unifying emphasis on form, Okazaki explores themes related to time, space, and the human experience through a postmodernist lens. His work aligns with the approaches of artists such as Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Paul Klee, Tomoyoshi Murayama, Filippo Brunelleschi, and John Cage, focusing on the perception and reconstruction of time.

Okazaki's creative output extends beyond traditional art forms, with notable works such as a collaborative performance titled I Love My Robot with renowned choreographer Trisha Brown. His works have been exhibited worldwide and featured in various public collections throughout Japan. In 2002, he was selected as the director of the Japanese pavilion at the International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.

Recent major exhibitions include Retrospective Strata at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art in Aichi, Japan (2019) and TOPICA PICTUS at The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo (2020). In 2024, he was featured in Form at Now and Later 形而の而今而後at Pace, Seoul, Korea, and This Must Be the Place at Benesse House Museum, Naoshima, Japan. 

In addition to his artistic practice, Okazaki is an active theoretician and critic, contributing significant scholarship to the field of abstract art. He is the author and co-author of several influential books, including Renaissance: Condition of Experience (Bunshun Gakugei Library, 2015), an analysis of Filippo Brunelleschi, and Abstract Art as Impact: The Concrete Genealogy of Abstract Art(Akishobo, 2018), for which he was awarded the prestigious Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 2019. His widely recognized contributions to redefining abstraction have solidified his status as an important voice in contemporary Japanese culture and beyond.

Okazaki has also been honored with the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2014. His four-decade career continues to influence the global art community.

Kenjiro Okazaki (né en 1955 à Tokyo) est artiste, critique et professeur invité à l’Université des Arts de Musashino. Il vit et travaille à Tokyo. Kenjiro Okazaki est un artiste japonais dont la pratique variée inclut la peinture, la sculpture, la robotique, le design de paysages, le design de costumes et de décors, ainsi que l’architecture. Son travail, axé sur la forme et explorant des thèmes liés au temps, à l’espace et à l’expérience humaine, s’inscrit dans une perspective postmoderniste, en dialogue avec des artistes tels que Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Paul Klee, Tomoyoshi Murayama, Filippo Brunelleschi et John Cage.

Ses œuvres sont présentes dans de nombreuses collections publiques au Japon et ont été exposées à travers le monde. En 2002, Okazaki a été choisi pour assurer le commissariat du pavillon japonais d’architecture à la Biennale de Venise. Il a également collaboré avec la chorégraphe Trisha Brown pour la performance I Love My Robot en 2007. En 2014, il a reçu la bourse Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship du Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG).

Récemment, Okazaki a exposé ses œuvres dans des institutions prestigieuses telles que le le Musée Municipal de Toyota à Aichi, au Japon (2019) et le Musée National d’Art Moderne de Tokyo (2020). En 2024, il a été présenté dans Form at Now and Later 形而の而今而後 à la galerie Pace, Séoul, en Corée, et dans This Must Be the Place au Benesse House Museum, Naoshima, au Japon. 

En tant que théoricien et critique, Okazaki a co-écrit plusieurs ouvrages influents, dont Renaissance: Condition of Experience(Bunshun Gakugei Library, 2015), une analyse sur Filippo Brunelleschi, et Abstract Art as Impact: The Concrete Genealogy of Abstract Art (Akishobo, 2018), qui a reçu le prix du Ministère de l’Education des Beaux-Arts Japonais en 2019. Sa carrière de plus de quarante ans continue d’influencer la communauté artistique mondiale.

Kenjiro Okazaki, 神殿での跳躍 / In Minoan Chronology, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
Photo: Shu Nakagawa

Kenjiro Okazaki, A parrot in a coat arrived, collar golden as sulfur around the throat. Who dwells under the clothes? (...), 2024

Acrylic on canvas

Photo: Claire Dorn