BIOGRAPHY
ARAKAWA (1936-2010)
I am looking for a new definition of perfection.
Choose everything.
- ARAKAWA
Biography
1936
Born in Japan on July 6
1961
Arrived in New York
1963
Began collaborating with Madeline Gins on the research project “The Mechanism of Meaning”
1987
Founded Reversible Destiny Foundation (Formerly Containers of Mind Foundation) with Madeline Gins
2002
Established Arakawa & Gins Tokyo office in Japan
2010
Died in NY on May 19
Awards
1966
Ohara Museum of Art Prize, 7th Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan
1967
National Museum of Modern Art Award, 9th International Art Exhibition of Japan
1968
Best Prize, 8th Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan
1986
Awarded by the French Government: Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
1987-88
John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
1988-89
Belgian Critics’ Prize
1996
World of Literary Prize from Shincho Foundation, Japan
1997
College Art Association’s Artist Award for Exhibition of the Year/Distinguished Body of Work, Presentation or Performance Award
1998
The highest award in the Rainbow Town Urban Design Competition goes to the Arakawa/Gins Chinju no Mori/Sensorium City (Tokyo Bay)
2003
Shiju Housho – Medal with Purple Ribbon
Nihon Gendai Geijutsu Shinko Sho – Award for innovation in Japanese contemporary art from Japan Arts Foundation
2010
The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette
Conferences
2005
“Arakawa and Gins: Architecture and Philosophy,” University of Paris X-Nanterre
2008
“Reversible Destiny Declaration of the Right Not to Die: Second International Arakawa +Gins Architecture + Philosophy Conference/Congress,” University of Pennsylvania, Slought Foundation
2010
AG3: The Third International Arakawa and Gins: Architecture and Philosophy Conference, Griffith University, Australia
Constructions
1994
Ubiquitous Site * Nagi’s Ryoanji *, Architectural Body, [Permanent Installation], Nagi MOCA, Nagi
1995
Site of Reversible Destiny, Yoro, Gifu Prefecture [a seven acre site in central Japan]
1997
Reversible Destiny Office, Yoro, Gifu Prefecture
2001-05
External Genome Housing Project, Shidami, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. (Completion Date, 2005)
2002-05
Reversible Destiny Lofts Mitaka – In Memory of Helen Keller -, Tokyo, Japan
2000-08
Bioscleave House, East Hampton, Long Island (Completion Date: April 2008)
2013
Biotopological Scale-Juggling Escalator (Dover Street Market New York, COMME des GARCONS), New York, NY
Installations
1994
Inauguration of an Arakawa room at the Nordrhein-Westfalen Museum, Dusseldorf
Selected One-Man Exhibitions
1960
Muramatsu Gallery, Tokyo
1961
Mudo Gallery, Tokyo
1963
Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf
1964
Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
1965
Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf
Minami Gallery, Tokyo
Galleria dell’Ariete, Milan
1966
Wuttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart
Dwan Gallery, New York and Los Angeles
Wide White Space, Antwerp
Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf
Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
1967
Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal
Galleria Schwarz, Milan
Dwan Gallery, New York and Los Angeles
1968
Dwan Gallery, New York
Galerie Lauter, Mannheim
1969
Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
Dwan Gallery, New York
Galleria Schwarz, Milan
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (film: Why Not)
1970
Musée National d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Hannover Kunstverein, Hannover
Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe
Venice XXXV Biennale
1971
Harcus-Krakow Gallery, Boston
Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
Galeria Schwarz, Milan
Angela Flowers Gallery, London
ROSC Show, Dublin
Whitney Museum of American Art (Film: For Example)
1972
Traveling Exhibition: The Mechanism of Meaning
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt
Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg
Kunsthalle Bern, Bern
Nationalgalerie Berlin, Berlin
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich
Galerie Art in Progress, Zurich
Galleria La Bertesca, Genoa
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
1973
Daytons Gallery 12, Minneapolis
Margot Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
1974
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis
Galleria L’Uomo e L’Arte, Milano and Bergamo
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
Galerie Art in Progress, Munich
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
1975
Galerie Art in Progress, Düsseldorf
Galerie Aronowitsch, Stockholm
Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
Sonja Henie-Onstad Kunstzentrum, Oslo
Michael Berger Gallery, Pittsburgh
1976
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts and Multiples, Inc., New York
Galeria 42, Barcelona
Galerie Art in Progress, Munich
1977
Städtische Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf
Galerie Maeght, Paris
Galerie Art in Progress, Düsseldorf
1978
Gallery Takagi, Nagoya
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Johanneum, Graz
Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
1979
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis
The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo
The National Museum of Art, Osaka
Stadtische Kunstsammlungen, Ludwigshafen
1980
John C. Stoller & Co., Minneapolis
Gloria Luria Gallery, Palm Beach
Galerie Maeght, Zurich
Gallery Takagi, Nagoya
1981
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich
Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover
The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago
1982
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford
Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
Galerie Maeght, Paris
1983
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu
1984
Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan
The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield
1985
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
Arnold Herstand Gallery, New York
1986
Gallery Blu, Milan
Satani Gallery, Tokyo
1987
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
Von Straaten Gallery, Chicago
Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
1988
Satani Gallery, Tokyo
The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo
The Museum of Modern Art, Seibu Takanawa, Nagano
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
Galerie Isy Brachot, Brussels
1990
Touko Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Joseloff Gallery, West Hartford
daadgalerie, Berlin
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
1991
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
1992
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
Matsuzakaya Art Museum, Nagoya
Busche Galerie, Cologne
1993
Busche Galerie, Berlin
1994
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
1995
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
1997
Guggenheim Museum Soho, New York
Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
1998
NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC], Tokyo
2004
Nagoya University of Arts, Art & Design Center, Nagoya
2005
The Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya
2008
Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo
2010
National Museum of Art, Osaka
Kyoto Institute of Technology Museum and Archives, Kyoto
Sezon Museum of Modern Art, Nagano
Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo
2011
Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo
2012
Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo
2014
Aizuyaichi Museum, Tokyo
The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
Bibliography
Books:
Arakawa and Madeline Gins. The Mechanism of Meaning (introduction by Lawrence Alloway).
Munich: Bruckmann, 1971 (1st edition). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1979 (2nd edition). New York: Abbeville Press, 1988 (3rd edition).
Arakawa and Madeline Gins. For Example (A Critique of Never). Milan: Alessandra Castelli Press, 1974.
Arakawa and Madeline Gins. To Not To Die. Paris: Editions de la Difference, 1987.
Arakawa and Madeline Gins. ARCHITECTURE Reversible Sites, Reversible Destiny (Architectural Experiments after Auschwitz-Hiroshima). London: Academy Editions, 1994
Reversible Destiny: We Have Decided Not to Die (Guggenheim Catalog) (in collaboration with Madeline Gins). New York: Abrams, Inc., 1997.
Architectural Body (in collaboration with Madeline Gins). Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2002.
Le Corps Architectural (in collaboration with Madeline Gins). Paris: Editions Manucius, 2005.
Making Dying Illegal, Architecture Against Death: Original to the 21st Century. (in collaboration with Madeline Gins). New York: Roof Books. (November, 2006)
Essays:
“The Architectural Body – Landing Sites,” Space in America: Theory History Culture, (editors) Klaus Benesch and Kerstein Schmidt, Fall 2005.
“Gifu-Reversible Destiny” (in collaboration with Madeline Gins). Architectural Design, Games of Architecture, 1996, pp. 27-35.
“Housing Complexity” (in collaboration with Madeline Gins). Journal of Philosophy and the Visual Arts no. 6, Complexity, 1995, pp. 88-95.
“Landing Sites/The End of Spacetime.” Arakawa and Madeline Gins. Art and Design, May-June, 1993.
“Person as Site in Respect to a Tentative Constructed Plan.” Arakawa and Madeline Gins. ANYWHERE, 1992, pp. 54-67.
“The Tentative Constructed Plan as Intervening Device (for a Reversible Destiny).” Arakawa and Madeline Gins A+U: Architecture and Urbanism, December 1991, pp. 48-57.
Selected Articles & Reviews:
“Design Innovation House: Reversible Destiny Lofts.” Archiworld, 2006.
Femke Bijlsma. “Come Si Rovescia Il Destino.” Casa, May 2006.
Mari Hashimoto. “How to Live in Reversible Destiny Lofts with Directions for Use.” Casa Brutus, February 2006.
Yoshihio Sano. “The trial to cross-over.” Japan Architect, February 2006.
Lawrence B. Nagy. “Parcours vita a domicile.” Monde, February 26, 2006
Tomoko Otake. “Home sweet ‘death-defying’condo homes.” The Japan Times, January 15, 2006
Kay Itoi. “The Discomforts of Home.” Newsweek International, December 19, 2005
Arata Takahashi. Interview with Arakawa. “Innovator File. No. 45: Warning to the Pursuit of Functionality (Reversible Destiny Urban City Concept.” Innovative One, July 13, 2005
Takeshi Matsuda. “Closeup: Building a Residence with Tubes, Spheres and Cubes.” Nikkei Architecture, May 2, 2005
Joel David Robinson. “From Clockwork Bodies to Reversible Destinies (On the Architectural Experiments of Arakawa and Gins).” Art Papers, March/April 2005.
Lisa Licitra Ponti. “Arakawa + Gins. Living Bodies.” Domus 879, March 2005.
Susan Stewart, “On the Art of the Future.” The Chicago Review, Winter 2004/2005.
Karen MacCormack. “Mutual Labyrinth: A Proposal of Exchange.” Architectures of Poetry. Eds., Dworkin, Craig Douglas and Maria Eugenia Diaz Sanchez. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004
Michel Delville. “How Not to Die in Venice: The Art of Arakawa and Madeline Gins.” Architectures of Poetry. Eds., Dworkin, Craig Douglas and Maria Eugenia Diaz Sanchez. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004
Michelle Delville. “How Not to Die in Venice: The Art of Arakawa and Madeline Gins” Reading the Illegible (Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies). (ed. by Craig Dworkin. Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 2003.)
Jean-Michel Rabate, ed. “Architecture Against Death Architecture” Interfaces (21-22) A + G Special Double Issue, Fall 2003.
David Kolb. Review of Architectural Body. Continental Philosophy Review, 2003.
Patrick Pardo. “Regarding the Lives of Human Snails: Arakawa/Gins and the Architectural Body.” The Daily NY Arts Newsletter. May 15, 2003, p.1.
Aaron Kunin. “Stay Alive: Gins and Arakawa vs. The Grim Reaper.” The Village Voice, January 15 ? 21, 2003.
Joel David Robinson. Review of Architectural Body. Parachute, April 5, 2003.
Geraldine McKenzie. Review of Architectural Body. How2, Spring 2003.
Jeff Byles. “The Reversible Destiny: Architecture of Arakawa and Madeline Gins.” Plazm 27, 2002.
Mary Ann Caws “Taking Textual Time” Reimagining Textuality: Textual Studies in the Late Age of Print. ed. by Elizabeth Bergmann Loizeaux and Neil Fraistat. Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2002.
Arthur C. Danto. “Arakawa-Gins.” The Nation, August 11/18 1997, pp.31-34. Reprinted in The Madonna of the Future: Essays in a Pluralistic Art World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. pp.265-272
Samira Kawash. “Bodies at Risk- The Architecture of Reversible Destiny.” PAJ 59, 1998, pp. 17-27.
Tom McEvilley. “Arakawa and Gins at the Guggenheim Soho.” Art in America, January 1998, pp. 100-101.
Gendai Shiso. (The Journal of Contemporary Thought -Tokyo), which devotes each issue to the work of a leading contemporary thinker, devoted its August 1996 issue to Arakawa/Gins.
Howard Smagula. Currents: Contemporary Directions in the Visual Arts. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1989
Italo Calvino. “The Arrow in the Mind,” Artforum, September, 1985.
Charles Bernstein and Susan B. Laufer.“Meaning the Meaning: Arakawa’s Critique of Space,” Beauty and Critique (ed. by Richard Milazzo, 1983), 59-66.
Robert Creeley. “‘Some Place Enormously Moveable’ – The Collaboration of Arakawa and Madeline H. Gins,” Artforum, Vol. 18 (Summer, 1980), 60-65.
Arthur Danto. “The Mechanism of Meaning: Work in Progress (1963-71, 1978) ” Print Collector’s Newsletter, Vol. 10 (September, 1979), 135-136.
