Mika Tajima
Los Angeles, USA, 1975. Lives and works in New York, USA.
Connecting geometric abstraction to the shape of our built environment, Tajima's work explores the production of the performing subject in spaces where material objects outline action and engagement. Tajima employs sculpture, painting, video, music and discursive events, often using the contradictions inherent in design and architectural modernism as a foil for considering the hyper-industrial regime of collaborative and contingent production.
Often working with others,Tajima has engaged a philosopher, dancer, speaker, designer, writer, slacker, drifter, reader, divider, worker, poster, filmmaker, player, weaver, painter, photographer, and driver. Tajima sometimes works collaboratively under the moniker New Humans. Some recent collaboration includes Charles Atlas,Vito Acconci, C. Spencer Yeh, Judith Butler, among others.
Solo Exhibitions (selection)
2016
Emotion Commune, Protocinema, Istanbul, Turkey.
Embody, 11R, New York, USA.
2015
Human Synth, Taro Nasu, Tokyo, Japan.
2014
Total Body Conditioning, Art in General, New York, USA.
Negative Entropy, Eleven Rivington, New York, USA.
2013
Midori Mambo Black Russian, Halsey McKay Gallery, New York, USA (with Sam Moyer).
2011
Pineapples and Pyramids, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, USA.
The Architect’s Garden, UT Visual Art Center, Austin, USA.
After the Martini Shot, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA.
Mika Tajima, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, USA.
The Pedestrians, South London Gallery, London, United Kingdom (with Charles Atlas).
Transaction Abstraite, New Galerie, Paris, France.
2010
The Double, Bass Museum, Miami, USA.
2009
The Extras, X Initiative, New York, USA.
Today is Not a Dress Rehearsal, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA (with Charles Atlas and New Humans).
2008
Deal or No Deal, Kevin Bruk Gallery, Miami, USA.
Artissima 2008, Turin, Italy.
The Double, The Kitchen, New York, USA.
The Double, Centre for Opinions on Music and Art, Berlin, Germany.
2007
Thin Line Circuit, Lausanne, Switzerland.
New Humans: Disassociate, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, USA (with New Humans, Vito Acconci, José León Cerrillo, Philippe Decrauzat, C. Spencer Yeh).
2005
Echoplex, Swiss Institute Contemporary Art, New York, USA.
Group Exhibitions (selection)
2016
The Eighth Climate (What Does Art Do?), 11th Gwangju Biennale, Korea.
DIS-PLAY / RE-PLAY, Austrian Cultural Forum, New York, USA.
2015
Office Space, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, USA.
Painting@ The Very Edge of Art, University of Connecticut Contemporary Art Galleries, Storrs, USA.
Incorporate Me, CCS Bard Galleries and the Hessel Museum of Art, New York.
2014
Pier 54, High Line Art, New York, USA.
New Generation, Forum, FRAC Nord - pas de calais, Dunkirk, France.
Soft Shock, Eli Ping Frances Perkins, New York, USA.
Display, University of Connecticut Contemporary Art Galleries, Storrs, USA.
Moira Dryer Project, Eleven Rivington Gallery, New York, USA.
2013
New Humans, Bureau, New York, USA.
Roppongi Crossing Triennial, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Frieze Sounds 2013, Frieze, New York, USA (with Charles Atlas and New Humans).
The Fruit Loop, Soloway, New York, USA.
Book Machine (Paris), Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.
Paint things: beyond the stretcher, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, USA.
onestar press, Paris, France.
Beyond the Object, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy.
2012
An Odyssey: A Narrative of The Fabric Workshop and Museum, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, USA.
Stage Presence, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA.
Surface in Volume, Luce Gallery, Turin, Italy.
New York: Directions, Points of Interest, Massimo De Carlo, Milan, Italy.
Abstract Possible: The Stockholm Synergies, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden.
2011
Temporary Structures: Performing Architecture in Contemporary Art, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, USA.
Blur: Art /Design Cross Pollination, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA.
I don’t know if it makes any sense – I feel quite dizzy and a little drunk due to the blow. I will return with more info shortly…, IMO, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Flags for Venice, Istituto Svizzero di Roma and Swiss Institute New York, Venice, Italy.
Summer Whites, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, USA.
Common Love, Aesthetics of Becoming, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Gallery, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Maybe I should have called it ‘My Life in Nineteen Minutes’, Calder Foundation Project, New York, USA.
Formalist Sidewalk Poetry Club, Miami, USA.
2010
Today I Made Nothing, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, USA.
Wait for Me at the Bottom of the Pool, Bridgehamptom, USA.
Mixtapes, Lewis Gluckman Gallery, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Knight’s Move, Sculpture Center, Long Island City, USA.
Passing Time, 80WSE Gallery NYU, New York, USA.
Interference, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden.
2009
Second Look (at the Surface), Kuenstlerhaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria.
Blank/Bosluk, Marquise Dance Hall, Istanbul, Turkey.
ME(N)TAL, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre, Athens, Greece.
Learn to Communicate Like a Fucking Normal Person, Art Production Fund, New York, USA.
2008
Whitney Biennial, New York, USA.
Broken Plaid and other works, RISD Museum, Providence, USA.
Some Thing Else, Peter Blum Chelsea, New York, USA.
One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now, Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, USA.
2007
Sympathy for the Devil: Rock and Roll in Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA.
Every Revolution is a Roll of the Dice, Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, USA.
Stripes, Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA.
Uncertain States of America, Herning Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Uncertain States of America, Center for Contemporary Art Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
2006
Bunch, Alliance and Dissolve, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, USA.
One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now, Blaffer Art Gallery, Houston, USA.
Uncertain States of America, Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
Music is a Better Noise, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York, USA.
PICA Time-Based Art Fest, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, USA.
One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now, Asia Society, New York, USA.
Uncertain States of America, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reiquiavique, Iceland.
Uncertain States of America, Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, Annandale-on-Hudson, USA.
Yankee Doodle Flea Market , United Bamboo, Tokyo, Japan.
Video program Asian Contemporary Art Week, M.Y. Art Prospects, New York, USA.
Interface in Your Face by Fia Backstrom, Swiss Institute Contemporary Art, New York, United States.
2005
Video in Person, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA.
Uncertain States of America, Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo, Norway .
Musica Video Musica, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain.
MoMAPS1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, USA.
Grass Grows Forever in Every Possible Direction, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA.
Recess: Images and Objects in Formalism, Rush Arts, New York, USA.
Tonight we are Golden, ICA, London, United Kingdom.
2004
Solo Project video installation, United Bamboo Daikanyama, Tokyo, Japan.
Project Space, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
New Humans: Grass grows forever in every possible direction featuring design collaboration with United Bamboo, Swiss Institute Contemporary Art, New York, USA.
Art in the Office, Global Consulting Group, New York, USA.
2003
Container Exhibition, Tokyo Design Week, Tokyo, Japan.
Club in the Shadow, Kenny Schacter Gallery, New York, USA.
Surface Tension, Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, USA.
New Humans presented by Sherman Magazine, Maccarone, Inc., New York, USA.
25 Hrs, The Video Art Foundation, Barcelona, Spain.
2002
Get Out, Paley Gallery at Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, USA.
Comfort Zone, Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, USA.
Mondo Cane, Neiman Gallery, New York, USA.
2001
Changes, Jeffrey, New York, USA.
2000
Foreign Body, White Columns, New York, USA.
Decorate Seriously, Borowsky Gallery, Philadelphia, USA.
My Imaginary Friends Parlour, Projects, Brooklyn, USA.
A Complement to Love, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, USA.
Collections
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, USA.
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, USA.
The Fabric Workship & Museum, Philadelphia , USA.
Library and Archive of Bard CCS, Annandale-On-Hudson, USA.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library, Williamstown, USA.
The New York Public Library Collection, Nova Iorque, USA.
FRAC Nord Pas de Calais, France.
Furniture Art (Tulum), 2013. Spray enamel, plexiglass. 112 x 84 cm
Furniture Art (Recife), 2013. Spray enamel, plexiglass. 112 x 84 cm
Deep Focus, 2012. Digital photo, performance, cut posters, model. Furniture Art (37), Furniture Art (38), Furniture Art (Playa del Carmen), Furniture Art (London, 2)
Deep Focus, 2012. Digital photo, performance, cut posters, 3 models, setpaper
Deep Focus, 2012. Digital photo, performance, cut posters, model
Coconuts and Copper, 2012. Vinyl mesh, grommets, industrial fencing. Dimensions variable
Furniture Art (Maui), 2012. Spray enamel, plexiglass, tape. 56 x 61 x 2,5 cm
Furniture Art (Calgary), 2011. Spray enamel, plexiglass. 46 x 61 x 2,5 cm
Furniture Art (Rabat), 2011. Spray enamel, plexiglass, tape. 41 x 57 x 2,5 cm
Furniture Art (Mexico City), 2010. Spray enamel, plexiglass, tape. 41 x 57 x 2,5 cm
Furniture Art (Marrakesh), 2010. Spray enamel, plexiglass, tape. 41 x 57 x 2,5 cm
Furniture Art (Copenhagen, 2), 2010. Spray enamel, plexiglass. 41 x 56 x 2,5 cm
Furniture Art, (installation view), 2010-2012. Spray enamel, plexiglass, tape. Dimensions variable
From left to right: Furniture Art (Bilbao), 2012; Furniture Art (Chelsea), 2010; Furniture Art (Chicago), 2010; Furniture Art (Barcelona), 2010; Furniture Art (Madrid), 2010; Furniture Art (Soho), 2010, Furniture Art (St. Croix), 2010
Furniture Art, (installation view), 2010. Spray enamel, plexiglass, vintage Balans chair
From left to right: Furniture Art (Bar Harbor), Furniture Art (Copenhagen), Furniture Art (Los Angeles, 2), Furniture Art (Damascus), Furniture Art (Brussels), Furniture Art (Helsinki), Untitled, 2010
Detour, (detail), 2011. Silkscreen, acrylic paint, canvas, brass grommets, gold leaf. Each layer approximately 142 x 183 cm
The Architect's Garden, (installation view), 2011. Several materials. Dimensions variable
A Facility Based on Change, 2011. Panels, canvas, acrylic, silkscreen, paper, pins, clips, plexiglass, spray enamel, wood and Balans chair
A Facility Based on Change, 2010. Herman Miller Action Office I panels, canvas, acrylic, silkscreen, paper, pins, clips . 157,5 x 122 x 122 cm
The Extras, 2010. Wood, plywood, industrial carpet, paper, video monitor, False Expectations, "/ (IV)", "/ (V)", "Ad Hoc #9", "Ad Hoc #3", "Accessory 2", "Furniture Art (18)", "Furniture Art (19)", "Furniture Art (20)", "White out/ Disunite", "One being deaf and the other being mute", "Echoplex (live)", "Today is Not a Dress Rehearsal (close up)" in collaboration with Charles Atlas, featuring Judith Butler, lights, stands. 244 x 198 x 152 cm
M. Hulot, 2009. Inkjet on Birch plywood, wood, casters. 244 x 201 x 91 cm
Cognitive Dissonance, 2008. Canvas, acrylic, silkscreen, gold leaf, birch plywood, paper, pins, mirrored aluminum. 122 x 168 x 91 cm
The Double, (installation view), 2008. Canvas, acrylic, silkscreen, gold leaf, birch plywood, paper, pins, mirrored aluminum. Each panel 122 x 168 x 91 cm