Profile経歴
Eiji Watanabe渡辺英司
Artist美術家
Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1961. Graduated from the sculpture course of Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music in 1985, and held his first solo exhibition at Stegosaurus Studio, Nagoya, in 1989. Since 1994 he has shown regularly at Kenji Taki Gallery.
He is known for the “Garden of the Appellation” series, in which plants and fish cut out of illustrated encyclopedias are laid out like a garden; for titles that play on words, such as “Butterfly’s-Eye View” and “Sea of Eden”; and for making places: Star Gallery, Art Obulist, Jingu339. In 2004–2005 he stayed in Scotland as an overseas research fellow of the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
He works in studios in Nagoya and in Agui, Aichi.
Threads活動の柱
- The “Garden of the Appellation” series
- Plants and fish cut out of illustrated encyclopedias, laid out like a garden (1997–)
- Titles as wordplay
- Butterfly’s-Eye View, Sea of Eden, Ever Green, Talking Mirror
- Curating and running spaces
- Star Gallery (2010–16), Botao Gallery, Art Obulist (2016–), Jingu339 (2023–)
- Residencies
- Scotland (2004–05), Orkney (2010)
Biography略歴
- 1961Born in Aichi, Japan
- 1985Graduated from Sculpture Course, Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music
- 2004–2005Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh (grant from Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- Lives in Nagoya. Works in studios in Nagoya and Agui, Aichi Prefecture (愛知県阿久比町).
Solo Exhibitions個展
- 1989–93Stegosaurus Studio, Nagoya
- 1994“Stroke of Projection: part 1” and “part 2,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
- 1995/96“Brocken Spectre,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
- 1997“Mist” and “Name of a Star,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
“Garden of the Appellation 1997,” Tokiwa Gallery, Tokyo - 1998Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
- 1999“Memory of Things” and a second exhibition, Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
- 2000“Beyond Time,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
- 2001Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
“View,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya - 2002“Tomorrow is Yesterday,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
- 2003“Garden of the Appellation installation 2003,” sculpture court, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh
- 2004Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
- 2005“Garden of the Appellation installation 2005,” The Glasshouse, Edinburgh
“Re-,” C3 studio, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh - 2006“Red of Blue, Blue of Red,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
- 2007“Pause,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
- 2008“The champion jumps with a magazine on Sunday,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
“Garden of the Name,” Minokamo City Museum, Minokamo, Gifu - 2009“Talking Mirror,” Mugaen, Hekinan, Aichi
“Butterfly’s-Eye View, installation of Cairn,” Cairn Gallery, Pittenweem, Scotland
“The Name Collecting,” Hirakata Municipal Gotenyama Art Center, Hirakata, Osaka - 2010Artist in Residence in Orkney, Orkney, UK
- 2011“Comet,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
- 2012“Comet II,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
- 2013Tent and sleeper, Edinburgh, UK
“Vehicles,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya - 2014“Garden of the Reproduction,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
- 2015“Festina Lente,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
- 2016sleeper, Edinburgh, UK
- 2017“Blink,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
- 2018/19“Dream of Butterfly,” Fuji Paper Art Museum, Fuji, Shizuoka
- 2020“Merman,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya
- 2022“Release,” Higashi-Shizuoka Art & Sports / Hiroba, Shizuoka
“Sea of Eden,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
“TIME FILES – Eiji Watanabe,” OCAILLE, Tokyo (curated by Junko Suzuki) - 2024“The Morning Star,” Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo
- 2025Tokyo Biennale, Etoile Kaito Living Building, Tokyo
Art Obulist 2025 Eiji Watanabe Exhibition “Morning Monsters / W Eiji,” Okura Park, Obu, Aichi
Selected Group Exhibitions主なグループ展
- 1991“10th Parallelism in Art,” Ohararyu-Kaikan, Tokyo
- 2001“Encounter,” Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo
“Art in the Home,” Yamaguchi - 2002“Art in the Home,” Edinburgh
“Off-Side,” gm, Osaka / Yokohama Museum of Art, Art Gallery, Yokohama - 2007“All about Laughter: Humor in Contemporary Art,” Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
“Cycle and Recycle,” Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya - 2009Fukutake House, Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2009, Tokamachi, Niigata
- 2010Aichi Triennale 2010, Choja-machi Star Net Japan Building and Aichi Arts Center, Nagoya
- 2013“Nissan Art Award 2013,” BankART Studio NYK, Yokohama
- 2015“Between Botany and Art,” Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya
- 2016Art Obulist 2016 “Hurry! Slowly,” Obu Worker’s Culture Hall, Obu, Aichi
- 2017Art Zuid 2017, Art Chapel, Amsterdam
- 2019“Aichi Art Chronicle 1919–2019,” Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya
- 2022“PAPER: Paper and Contemporary Art,” Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto
- 2025“ARTZUID 2025,” Amsterdam
Projects: curating and running spaces主なプロジェクト
- 2004“conran show,” OKADA STUDIO, Chita, Aichi (curated)
- 2005Mitsunori Kimura solo exhibition “Paint Sculpture,” at the flat, Edinburgh (curated)
- 2006Mitsunori Kimura solo exhibition “ISOUROU,” sakurayama studio, Nagoya (curated)
- 2008“Field Studies,” Minokamo City Museum (outdoor), Minokamo, Gifu (curated)
- 2009“Hekinan Socrates: Ignorance of Ignorance part 2,” Mugaen, Hekinan, Aichi (curated)
- 2010–16Star Gallery, Fushimi underground mall, Nagoya (curated and run)
- 2015Adam Barker-Mill exhibition, Botao Gallery, Nagoya (as Star Projects)
- 2016Paul Goede exhibition, Botao Gallery, Nagoya (as Star Projects)
Art Obulist 2016 “Hurry! Slowly,” Obu Worker’s Culture Hall (curated)
“LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL,” Art Lab Aichi Otsubashi, Nagoya (as Star Projects) - 2017Art Obulist 2017 “Art obu Art,” around Obu City Hall (curated)
- 2018Art Obulist 2018 “Miruna no Zashiki,” around Obu City Hall (curated)
- 2019“a secret garden,” OCAILLE, Tokyo (installation in the shop)
- 2020Super Gallery, Nagoya (planned and supervised by Eiji Watanabe + MAT, Nagoya)
- 2023Jingu339, Nagoya (project space, opened and run)
Public Collectionsパブリックコレクション
- Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya
- Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita
- Hekinan City Tatsukichi Fujii Museum of Contemporary Art, Hekinan, Aichi
The full biography (solo and group exhibitions, publications) is in the catalogue, pp.67–72. Links to Kenji Taki Gallery and Jingu339 will be added once the URLs are confirmed.