What I want to do is to make visible existence, visible connections and visible relations appear more clearly. And to cause non-visible existence, non-visible connections and non-visible relations to appear. And to cause visible existence, visible connections and visible relations not to appear.
- Keiji Uematsu
In his multidisciplinary practice, Keiji Uematsu strives to illuminate the invisible relationships between objects and the spaces they inhabit. For more than five decades the artist has carried out the terms of a rigorous manifesto that spotlights the de-familiarisation of space and draws his viewers’ attention to the interplay of such natural forces as gravity, tension and material attraction through media including photography, drawing and sculptural installation.
Keiji Uematsu, Performance for Heidelberg, 1981
Uematsu’s project drawings are an essential part of his oeuvre, documenting the artist’s unflagging commitment to sculptural innovation from the early years of his career to the present day. They present blueprints for his work and demonstrating his continued exploration into the natural forces of gravity, tension, and material attraction that underpin his entire practice.
Keiji Uematsu was born in 1947 in Kobe, Japan and lives and works in Minoh, Japan and Dusseldorf, Germany. He received his BFA from Kobe University in 1969 and since then has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 38th Nakahara Teijiro Prize (2013); the Kobe city Cultural Prize (2010); the 6th Asago 2001 Outdoor Sculpture in Tataragi '99, Grand Prize (1999) and the 22nd Iue Culture Prize (1998). His work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions worldwide, including at the Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, Ashiya, Japan (2021); Royal Society of Sculptors, London, UK (2019); Kunstlerverein Malkasten, Dusseldorf, Germany (2016, 2005); Otani Memorial Art Museum, Hyogo, Japan (2006); Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Aomori, Japan (2003) and the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Fukuoka, Japan (2003). Major group shows include the National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (2018); Tate, London, UK (2016); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (2015), which travelled to Grey Art Gallery, New York, NY and Japan Society, New York, NY; The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan (2015); Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany (2012) and The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA (2007). His work is housed in international collections, including the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris, France; Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, Munich, Germany; The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan; Moderna Museet Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.
