biography
1932 born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
† 2023 in New York, USA where he lived and worked
† 2023 in New York, USA where he lived and worked
Tadaaki Kuwayama was born in Nagoya, Japan, and studied Japanese painting at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music until 1956. Inspired by American and European art, he emigrated to the United States in 1958, as did many other artists of his generation. In the years that followed, he combined the avant-garde influences of the American art scene with his traditional techniques. Kuwayama’s monochrome, metallic-looking color surface painting has become his trademark and reflects his intense exploration of form, color, materiality, and space.
Numerous group and solo exhibitions in Japan and the USA demonstrate Tadaaki Kuwayama’s artistic relevance within the American and Asian art scene. In Germany, his works have only been shown in a few solo shows, such as at the Folkwang Museum Essen (1974), the Museum für Konkrete Kunst Ingolstadt (1997), or the Galerie Renate Bender Munich (1997/2002). Kuwayama’s work can be found in public collections such as the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Folkwang Museum, Essen; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Tadaaki Kuwayama lives and works in New York with his wife, artist Rakuko Naito.