Ei Arakawa

Born 1977 in Fukushima (Japan), he lives and works in New York.

A graduate of the School of Visual Arts, this young Japanese artist refers both to the painter On Kawara and to the Japanese avant-garde movement Gutai which, between the 1950s and 70s, used conceptual works, happenings and “body art” in its efforts to create a new kind of art on the ruins of the traditional Japanese aesthetic. Ei Arakawa’s performances, installations, happenings and dance combine and layer the materials and energies of other artists, whether strangers or friends. These he is constantly recycling in his own work, the contents, sequences and conclusions of which he usually improvises in response to events at the time. At the Château d’Eau he will be producing a new installation devised as a response to the exhibition by Dom Robert on the first floor of the same gallery.

He also proposes a performance, See weeds, at the Abattoirs - Musée Frac Occitanie Toulouse: from a selection of Gutai works chosen from the collection of the Abattoirs - Musée Frac Occitanie Toulouseattoirs and which are featured in his exhibition at the Château d'Eau, Ei Arakawa proposes a performance set against the backdrop of Picasso and Josh Smith's stage curtains.