Keiji Uematsu

Keiji Uematsu was born on March 26, 1947 in Kobe, Japan.[1] He is the son of a printmaker.[2]

In 1969, graduated from Kobe University, and became a teacher of the arts and crafts at a public school.[2] In the same year, he exhibited his work at the 1st Contemporary International Sculpture Exhibition and made his debut as an artist.[2] The first solo exhibition was also held in Kyoto (Galerie 16).
In 1974, he received the Kobe City Cultural Encouragement Award.[1] In 1975, moved to West Germany. Based in Düsseldorf, he created works of art, has exhibited mainly in Europe and lesser in the United States.[2] In 1986, a second base was established in Nishinomiya, Japan.[2][3][4]
In 1988, he was selected as a representative artist of the 43rd Venice Biennale along with Shigeo Toya and Katsura Funakoshi, and exhibited his work at the Japan Pavilion.[5][6]

In 1995, due to the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the base of Nishinomiya was lost, so a new base was established in Minoo City, Osaka.[7]

In 2013, he won the 38th Teijiro Nakahara Award for his work Cutting Axis-Longitude-Latitude.[7]

• 
  Transparence-Iron, 1969.
• 
  Studio, Düsseldorf, 1977.
• 
  Inversion - Vertical space, 1988.
• 
  Studio, Düsseldorf, 1991.
• 
  Studio, Minoo, 2006.
• 
  Cutting Axis-Latitude-Longitude, 2012.

His works are expressed in a variety of ways, including images (photographs, films, videos), performances (and their image recordings), prints, sculptures, and installations.

The production of the work is called "job (= project)", and the drawing that describes the idea of ​​the project is also presented as an independent work.[1][2]
His work of sculpture or installation is a seemingly unstable structure that combines geometric volumes (cones, spirals) of stone, copper, wood, etc. "I want to express the existence of something invisible, like the universe, with a work in which the entire structure would collapse without one element."[1]

As materials for sculptures and installation works, cloth, stone, glass, iron, stainless steel, copper, bronze, brass, lumber (mainly Douglas fir), and natural wood in their solid state are often used.[1]

His style looks like an abstract, but what is expressed in his work is the embodiment of invisible forces such as gravity.[8][9][10]

First in 1971, then in 1972, or even in 1991, he wrote: "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.",[7] "What shall I now do with the world (cosmos) which denies man understanding and where these three relations comprise antinomies? Shall I find a new meaning in the world? How to shape relations between people? These are questions which deeply concern me."[1]

These words expresses the basic concept from the earliest days of his artist's activities.[1][7][11]

• 
  Transparence-H₂O, 1969.
• 
  Cutting, 1971.
• 
  Horizontal position, 1973.
• 
  Axis-Latitude-Longitude, 1980.
• 
  Corner piece I - Inversion vertical space, 1988.
• 
  Situation - Floating space, 1989.
• 
  Axis-Longitude-Latitude, 1999.
• 
  Floating form - Red, 2000.
• 
  With a tree - Touch of Spiral, 2003.
• 
  Touch of Spiral, 2007.
• 
  In between - form II, 2009.
• 
  Floating form - Invisible axis, 2015.
• 
  Cutting triangle, 2017.
• 
  Floating stone, 2017.
• 
  Invisible axis - Horizontal /Vertical inclination, 2019.
• 
  In between friction - Gift from cosmos, 2021.
• 
  Invisible force - Axis-Longitude-Latitude, 2021.

• Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Germany[1]
• Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany[1]
• Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany[1]
• Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany[1]
• Museum Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany[1]
• Daimler Art Collection, Berlin, Germany[7]
• Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, Paris, France[1][9]
• Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France[7]
• Musée Reattu, Arles, France[1]
• Maison Elsa Triolet Aragon, St-Arnoult en Yvelines, France[7]
• LA CHAPELLE art contemporain, Clairefontaine, France[7]
• Collection Pinault, France[7]
• Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden[1]
• Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, The Netherlands[7]
• Bvlgari Collection, N.Y., USA / Rome, Italy[7]
• Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York, USA[7][13]
• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA[7]