Keiichi Tahara: Photosynthesis with Min Tanaka
September 9 (Saturday) – December 24 (Sunday), 2017[1] Bordeaux-11, 1980 105×159 cm ⓒKeiichi Tahara

In 1971, at the age of 20, Keiichi Tahara went to France. Fascinated by the light in Europe, the quality ofwhich was unlike any he had seen in Japan, he made the nature of light itself a focus of exploration, and with
Paris as his base, went on to win high acclaim for his photographic work. Min Tanaka, on the other hand,began his activities as a modern dancer during the 1960s. His career took off in 1974 with the development ofa unique new style of dance expression that attracted wide attention.
By chance during the autumn of 1978, the two artists met and decided to explore the relationship between
physical light and the human body. In photo shoots that continued from 1978 to 1980, the photographer
captured on film images of the dancer reacting to different kinds of light, atmospheres and seasons withinvarious urban and natural environments in Europe, America, and Japan, images that were stowed away unseen
over the years. In 2016, after a hiatus of 36 years, the two decided to "return to their origins," to resume theirphoto sessions and begin making new work again. They also published the photo book Photosynthesis 1978 1980.
Until his passing due to illness this past June, Tahara had been making preparations for this exhibition which
will present 46 carefully selected photographs (all black-and-white), 41 of which were taken during the '78 '80 period and 5 in the year 2016. To mark the culmination of his collaboration with Tahara, Min Tanaka willhold several dance performances over the course of the exhibition, providing a rare chance to view thislegendary artist who first danced at the museum in the Fifth Hara Annual exhibition in 1985.
An exhibition catalogue for this show will be published by SUPER LABO.

■ Profiles

Keiichi Tahara©T. Minamoto

Min Tanaka©Madada Inc.

Keiichi Tahara
Born in Kyoto in 1951, Tahara was a recipient of many awards, including the Grand Prix des Jeunes
Photographes in Arles, France (1977), the Kimura Ihei Prize in Japan (1985) and the Chevalier des Arts et desLettres in France (1993). In recent years, he had expanded his activities into the fields of sculpture andenvironmental art as an extension of his exploration of light. In 2004, he held the solo exhibition Keiichi
Tahara - Light Sculptures at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, and in 2017, the solo exhibition
Photosynthesis 1987-1980 at the National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic. He passed away in 2017.
Min Tanaka
Born in Tokyo in 1945, Tanaka studied classical ballet and modern dance and started his activities as a dancer
in the 1960s. In the 1970s, he developed a unique style of dance of his own, garnering critical acclaim both inJapan and abroad. In 1978, he moved to a mountain village where he began and continues to explore dance
through a farming life. He is also an actor, first appearing in Twilight Samurai directed by Yoji Yamada in2002. His many awards include the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, France (1990). He is also the author ofsuch books as I Was Naked All The Way (2011) and Conscious Body, Contagious Mind (2013).
■ Related Events
Min Tanaka Dance
After a long hiatus, Min Tanaka returns to the Hara Museum to give three dance performances. As the dances
will occur outdoors in the museum's courtyard garden, they have been scheduled to allow the artist to take fulladvantage of the seasonal changes.
1st Performance: September 30 (Saturday) Reservations accepted from 11:00 am on September 12 (Tuesday).
2nd Performance: November 18 (Saturday) Reservations accepted from 11:00 am on October 31 (Tuesday).
3rd Performance: December 23 (Saturday/national holiday) Reservations accepted from 11:00 am on
December 5 (Tuesday).

* Information for All Performances
Venue: The Courtyard Garden at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Venue opens at 6:00 pm (Guests may view the current exhibition prior to curtain time. Please note that themuseum will be closed to the public between 5:00 and 6:00 for preparations.)
Performance starts at 7:00 pm
Ticket Price: ¥ 3,000 per person (includes museum admission); ¥ 2,000 for Hara Museum members and up to
one accompanying person.
How to reserve: Please apply by email to: event@haramuseum.or.jp. Write the date of the performance and"Min Tanaka Dance" on the subject line, followed in the body by your name, contact number and number ofaccompanying persons. Hara Museum members should also include their membership number. Reservations
will be confirmed by return mail.
※Requests will be processed on a first come, first served basis until the seating capacity is reached.
※Please send a separate request for each performance you wish to attend. A single request for multiple
performances will not be accepted.
※The performances will take place outdoors (in the courtyard garden) regardless of the weather conditions.
Please note that the performances will be standing room-only (no seating will be provided).
Exhibition Details
Title: Keiichi Tahara: Photosynthesis with Min TanakaDates: September 9 (Saturday) – December 24 (Sunday), 2017
Venue/Organizer: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0001 Tel: 03-3445-0651
E-mail: info@haramuseum.or.jp Website: http://www.haramuseum.or.jp
Mobile site: http://mobile.haramuseum.or.jp Blog: http://www.art-it.asia/u/HaraMuseum
Twitter: http://twitter.com/haramuseum (in Japanese only / account name: @haramuseum)
Cooperation provided by: L'ATELIER MATSUDAIRA, Shashin Kosha, Top Art Kamakura Ltd.
Special cooperation provided by: BUILT Ltd., SUPER LABO
Hours: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Wednesdays until 8:00 pm (5:00 pm if a national holiday)(last entry 30 minutes
before closing)
Closed: Mondays (except September 18 and October 9), September 19 and October 10
Admission: General 1,100 yen; Students 700 yen (high school and university) or 500 yen (elementary and juniorhigh); Free for Hara Museum members, students through high school every Saturday during the school term;
100 yen discount per person for groups of 20 or more
Directions to the museum: 5 minutes by taxi or 15 minutes on foot from JR Shinagawa Station (Takanawaexit); or from the same station take the No.96 bus, get off at the first stop (Gotenyama), and walk 3 minutes
Guided tours: Free Japanese-language tours are given by a museum curator every Sunday and national holiday,
starting at 2:30 pm and lasting about 30 minutes. No reservation is required. Free mini-tours in English are alsoavailable on a periodic basis. Please enquire at the admission counter on the day of your visit.

Images for Publication*Plate 1 (on page 1) constitutes the main visual. When requesting multiple images, please use the numbers
below to refer to the images.
*Photo credit for all images: ⓒKeiichi Tahara*Please include the credit along with the respective caption.
*Please do not trim or alter the images. Putting text over the images is prohibited.

[2] Island-11, 1980 159 x 105 cm[5] Rome-5, 1979 159 x 105 cm[8] New York-1, 1978

[3] Paris-4, 1978 31 x 47 cm[6] Bordeaux-5, 1980

31 x 47 cm*[1][2][5][7] Archival pigment print

31 x 47 cm[9] Berdeaux-13, 1980

47 x 31 cm[7] Bordeaux-6, 1980

159 x 105 cm

31 x 47 cm[3][4][6][8][9] Gelatin-silver print

Press Enquiries
Contact: Junko Watanabe / Yasuko Kajita
T. +81.3.3280.0679
E. press@haramuseum.or.jp[4] Akikawa-5, 1980