Curriculum vitae
Ken’ichiro Taniguchi

1976
Born in Sapporo, Japan
Currently live and work in Berlin, Germany

https://kenichirotaniguchi.com/
info@kenichirotaniguchi.com
Education2000 Hokkaido University of Education, Bachelor of Fine Arts

Awards and Grants
2021
2020

Projektförderung aus Mitteln des BESD-Programm, Berlin, Germany
Grant, Nomura Foundation, JPGrant, Pola Art Foundation, JP
2017
Grant, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation
2014
First prize, The 1st Hongo Shin Memorial Sculpture Award, Sapporo, Japan
Nominated, The 26th UBE Biennale, Japan2009
Finalist, Thieme Art Award, Amsterdam, the Netherlands2008-2010 Grant, Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan
2008
Finalist, The 11th Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art			Taro Okamoto Museum, Kawasaki, Japan

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021
2020
2019

Hecomi & City Study #43, Galerie PHOEBUS, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Hecomi & City Study #42, Sebastian Fath Contemporary, Mannheim, Germany
Hecomi & City Study #41, A4 Museum, Chengdu, China
Hecomi & City Study #40, Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
2018
Hecomi & City Study #39, N2 GALERIA, Barcelona, Spain
2017
Hecomi Study - Taipei and Mine city, Akiyoshidai International Art Village							Yamaguchi, Japan2015
Hecomi Study #31, Hongo Shin Memorial Sculpture Museum, Sapporo, Japan

Selected Group Exhibitions
2020

The Bomb. 75 years after Nagasaki and Hiroshima,				
JAPANMUSEUM Siebold Huis, Leiden, the Netherlands

2018
2017

Stadtgalerie Kiel, Linking Transformations, Kiel, Germany
Rijks Museum, Asian Pavilion, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
What Remains, CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands

2016
THE SPRING EXHIBITION 2016, Kunsthal Charlottenborg					Copenhagen, Denmark2015
The 26th UBE Biennale, Yamaguchi, Japan2014
Sapporo International Art Festival 2014, Sapporo, Japan2013
Mapping, NIU Art Museum, DeKalb, Illinois, USA

Residencies

2019
A4 Museum, Chengdu, China
2016
Taipei Artist Village, Taiwan
2014
Hangar, Barcelona, Spain - Barcelona Hecomi Map Project
2013
MIET Air, Beers, the Netherlands - Hecomi Casting Project
2010
Stichting KiK Art Program, Kolderveen, the Netherlands			
- Milk Factory Hecomi Map Project
2008
Duende, Rotterdam, the Netherlands - Rotterdam Hecomi Map Project

Commissions

2018
Sculpture Hecomi Study for Sapporo city,					Sapporo community plaza, Japan2012
Sculpture Hecomi Study for Rotta Nova, Museum Rotterdam					Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Sculpture Hecomi Study for CJIB (Ministry of Justice)			
Wester State, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands

Collections

Stadtgalerie Kiel (Germany), Stedeliek Museum Schiedam (the Netherlnads)
Maeght Foundation (France), Miniature Museum of Contemporary Art(the Netherlands), Museum Rotterdam (the Nethalands), Bijzondere Collecties(the Netherlands), Javier Marin Foundation (Mexico), DKV Foundation (Spain)
olor VISUAL collection (Spain), Krankenhaus Hedwigshoehe (Germany)

WorksKen’ichiro Taniguchi Sculpture StudioWhat is hecomi ? – The motif of the work –Hecomi is a Japanese term I adopted to describe cracks and fissures or broken off anddamaged areas, created by natural forces, on man-made surfaces such as roads or walls.
By looking only at their shape one can see that even hecomi, which have a bad imageof being old and dirty, have various attractive characteristics such as surprising novelty,
heartwarming charm and overwhelming power. This may be because the voice that aroseright at the boundary between humans and nature was given a visible form. Also, they arereminiscent of shapes seen on maps or remind us of creatures. Sometimes one may feel asense of familiarity towards them.
Being intrigued by hecomi, I have used them as a motif for my work since 2000.
HecomiHecomi Study
Hecomi fitting,which is the act of laying a shiny yellow piece of PVC with an inorganic texture right into the crack,
represents the attempt to change its negative being to something light, pop, and positive.

Why compressed PVC ? Why Yellow ?
The reason for the use of compressed PVC plates is that by using material that symbolically represents pros
and cons of our modern society, its inorganic and synthetic texture starkly contrasts the organic shapes ofcracks. Simultaneously, it dispels the obscure and rather heavy impressions of cracks, whilst the striking
color of compressed PVC plates adds to them a light and uplifting feel, as the glowing yellow stands out of
the often dark and gloomy surroundings. The PVC plates we use are made from recycled materials.

Hecomi Fitting - Burchardstr. 6, Hamburg, DE, 14.5 x 89.3 cm, 2019

Burchardstr. 6, Hamburg, DE, 30 x 57 x 10 cm, 2020

Sculpture - Folding Hecomi Shape -I regard these two-dimensional shapes as a challenge specifically assigned tome. So, instead of using conventional sculpting techniques such as modeling andcarving, I research three-dimensional sculpture using a technique I refer to as“folding the plane”.
*The title of each work corresponds to the address of the crack’s original location

Hecomi Fitting, Grensweg 6, NL, 42 x 93 cm, 2013

Grensweg 6, NL, #1, State III, 17 x 22 x 11 cm, 2017

Architect: Felix Claus

One of my sculptures was permanently installed in the interior atrium of the new build-Hecomi Study for CJIBDutch Ministry of Justice, Leeuwarden, NL

Shape of hecomi

123

relocated repeatedly since its establishment in 1990. In order to create a work for them,I visited the ten places where their offices had previously been and collected hecomi ateach location. They were then arranged in chronological order on a singular axis so as toCommission work

1. Willemskade 141991

89

ing of the CJIB. The Netherlands Department of Justice Tax Bureau (CJIB) has been

Aluminum
930 x 660 x 645 cm2012

Oorsprongpark 6Utrecht
1990

76

visualize the history of CJIB in form of a sculpture.

Gerechtsgebouw
2. Zaailand 102
1994 -

3. Amicitia
Nieuweweg 1a1997 -

4. Zuiderstate, Badweg 41998 -

5. Oosterstate, Badweg 4a1998 -

6. Oostergoweg 2
1999 -4

7. Heliconstate, Heliconweg 61999 -

8. Oorsprongpark 6, Marnixstate
2002 -5

9. Nieuwlandstate
2002 -Hecomi Study for Rotta Nova, Rotterdam, NL- Shape from 10th century

With the cooperation of the Archaeological Team of Rotterdam (BOOR), we visited an ar-

Compressed PVC, Steel, Hinges
142 x 108 x 111 cm
2012

around the 10th century. At that time, I was fascinated by a structure of willow branches

Commission and Collection of Museum Rotterdam
Cooperation: BOOR (Archaeological Team of Rotterdam)

The excavation site

Tracing view

The wall of woven willow twigs

chaeological site in Rotta, which is the birthplace of Rotterdam and was a residential areathat appeared 10 m underground and was used to reinforce the clay walls of a farmhouse.
A sculpture created with that very shape as its motif is housed in the Museum Rotterdam
as a symbol of the 1000 years of history from that point in time to the present.

Hecomi Study for Kotoni River- W20 N12, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, JP
enlargement 1 : 7Iron
290 x 310 x 140 cm
2015

Hecomi Fitting, 392 x 36 cm, 2014

An award-winning work of The 1st Hongo Shin Memorial Sculpture Award, 2014

Hecomi Study for Bunkichi Okazaki, Barato, JP
enlargement 1 : 3
Compressed PVC, Steel, Hinges
501 x 132 x 66 cm, 2015

*Bunkichi Okazaki(1872–1945)
was a pioneer in early river conservation in Japan.
He established the river improvement theory called “naturalism”.

Hecomi Study #31, Hongo Shin Memorial Sculpture Museum, Sapporo, JP, 2015

Hecomi Study for Former Kibe elementary school, JP
Compressed PVC, Brass, Steel, Hinges, Rotatable devicestatable devices
38 x 57 x 21 cm, 2017
Hecomi Fitting: 120 x 88 cm, 2017

No. 9, Beiping E Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, TW#5, enlargement 1:3

Valkhof Nijmegen, NL, State II
Compressed PVC, Steel, Hinges, Brass, Woods, Acrylic plate
67 x 78 x 25 cm, 2021
Hecomi Fitting: 101 x 58 cm, 2013

Compressed PVC, Brass, Steel, Hinges, Wood, Leather, Rubber, Acrylic plate
Rotatable devices, Wheel, Valve handle, Iron lever handle, Gear
126 x 107 x 50 cm, 2019
Hecomi Fitting: 55.5 x 33 cm, 2016

Hecomi Mapping

Between 2000 and 2021, I have collected roughly 400 shapes in 45 countries.
Hecomi maps are records of those cracks gathered from certain cities and places
or according to a certain approach / theme. By arranging them in the manner ofa field guide, the uniqueness of each shape stands out. They possess the samefunctions like a map and one can read them as such. In addition, there are othermaps such as Luxes’ Island Hecomi Map or Hamburg Altona Hecomi Map thatwere created by participants of workshops I hosted.

Ostsee kai, Kiel, Germany, 2021

Apeldoorn, the Netherlands

Kassel, Germany

Hamburg, Germany

Hong Kong

Nagasaki, Japan

Mumbai, India

Taipei, Taiwan

Leiden, the Netherlands

Sapporo, Japan

Lerma, Spain

Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Ube, Japan

Helsinki, Finland

Echigotsumari, Japan

Chengdu, China

Kiel, Germany

Sevilla, Spain

Basel, Switzerland

Hiroshima, Japan

Eastbourne, UK

Mannheim, Germany

Copenhagen, Denmark

Utrecht, the Netherlands

Münster, Germany

Barcelona, SpainLondon, UKMine, JapanCity StudyJust as every city has its own history, it has its own shape. As people gather, start
to live, and expand the scope of their activities, towns gradually change theirappearance.
While for the “hecomi studies” my height determines the way I work, in my citystudies the viewpoint is set far up high in the sky. When I look at the city from abird’s eye view, I see the breadth of human activities, which can be said to haveformed a hecomi in the middle of nature. The work documents the constant struggle
between green (nature) and the city, but at times also organic forms of kindness toeach other as well as the dynamism of the rivers running through the city, the shapesthat reflect the geography – history of the city itself.

City Study for Sapporo, Japan– Exploring the shape of Sapporo 2018
Sapporo Community Plaza, a cultural complex consisting of an art exchange center, a theater, and a library. Three works, “Shape of Sapporo”, a three-dimensional
work “Hecomi Study for Sapporo”, and “Illustrated Book of Sapporo’s Shape”
were permanently installed in the two atrium spaces.
“Shape of Sapporo”, which outlines the border between the city and nature/waterfront, scattered green areas, parks and so on, was adopted from aerial photographsof the Sapporo area. “Illustrated Book of Sapporo’s Shape” comprises of 51 parts
that were divided according to the flow of rivers through the city and arrangedon the wall. “Hecomi Study for Sapporo” is a sculpture made from combing andfolding these parts. The three works are made in a way that allows viewers to walkaround them and play puzzles in their mind.

Documentary - 16 min.17
https://kenichirotaniguchi.com/city-study/project/sapporo
https://youtu.be/1_BxlK5zy7o

Hecomi Study for Sapporo, 1 / 3300 scale, Carbon, Stainless steel, 6.2 x 7 x 5.8 m
Illustrated Book of Sapporo’s Shape, 1 / 6600 scale, Aluminium, 30 x 5 m
Shape of Sapporo, 1 / 6600 scale, Carbon, Stainless steel, 5.6 x 5 m
Copyright©2018 City of Sapporo All right Reserved. SAPPORO COMMUNITY PLAZA

City Study for Ube, Japanapprox. 1 / 2,700 scale
Iron
220 x 210 x 165 cm,
2015

The 26th UBE Biennale, Ube Tokiwa Museum Park, Ube City, Yamaguchi, Japan, 2015

City Study for Kiel, Germany
approx. 1 / 7,500 scale

Compressed PVC, Brass, Steel, Hinges, Wood, Acrylic plate, Rotatable devices
280 x 177 x 120 cm
2020
Collection – Stadtgalerie Kiel, Germany

Linking Transformations, Stadtgalerie Kiel, DE, 2020, Photo: Helmut Kunde, Strande

City Study for London, UK #4
approx. 1 / 27,000 scale

Compressed PVC, Brass, Steel, Wood, Hinges, Rotatable devices
190 x 150 x 155 cm, 2018

Linking Transformations, Stadtgalerie Kiel DE, 2020. Photo: Helmut Kunde, Strande

City Study - Green Remains, Apeldoorn, NLapprox. 1 / 23,000 scale
Compressed PVC, Brass, Steel, Hinges, Rotatable devices
135 x 162 x 155 cm, 2016

City Study for Nagasaki, JPapprox. 1 / 30,000 scale
Compressed PVC, Brass, Steel, Hinges, Wood, Acrylic plate
Rotatable devices, Caster
60 x 160 x 60 cm, 2020

Rijks Museum, Asian Pavilion, Amsterdam, NL, 2018

City Study for Taipei, TW #3
Compressed PVC, Brass, Steel, Hinges, Rotatable devices
194 x 80 x 60 cm, 2016

Hecomi Study - Taipei and Mine city, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, JP, 2017

2021 Ken’ichiro Taniguchi Sculpture Studio