Kota Ezawa Explained

Kota Ezawa
Birth Place:Cologne, West Germany
Education:Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (1990-1994)
Alma Mater:San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), Stanford University

Kota Ezawa (born 1969, Cologne, West Germany)[1] is a Japanese-German American artist and arts educator.[2] His artwork usually responds to current events from sources in the news, pop culture, and art history. Ever since his debut 2002 video animation of The Simpson Verdict, Ezawa has been known for his flattened style in works on paper, light-boxes, and videos. By flattening his pieces into more two-dimensional figures, he creates more focus on the re-contextualized historical events in his pieces.

Originally from Germany, he moved to San Francisco in 1994 and is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area.[3]

Biography

Ezawa grew up in Mössingen, outside Tübingen, West Germany; his father, Kennosuke Ezawa, was Japanese and a professor of Germanistik at the University of Tübingen.[4] [5] [6] He attended Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1990 until 1994 and studied with Nan Hoover and Nam June Paik.[7] He moved in 1994 to San Francisco, California. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1995 from San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). In 2003 he received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Stanford University.[8]

Since 2000, Ezawa has produced his own abstracted computer animations.[9] His work often juxtaposes seemingly contrary videos, politics, and celebrity recounting historical events, reminding the viewer that history is seen through an interpretative lens.

In 2005 he received the Artadia Award. In 2006, Ezawa received a SECA Art Award.[10] [11]

He is an Associate Professor of Film and Fine Arts at California College of the Arts (CCA).[12]

Kota Ezawa has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions at Chrysler Museum of Art (2015), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (2013), Wexner Center for the Arts (2009), St. Louis Art Museum, Artpace (2006), the Wadsworth Atheneum and many others.[13] [14] His work is also included in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.[15]

Work

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kota Ezawa. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). 2016-07-16.
  2. Web site: Past Exhibitions. San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB). 2016-07-16.
  3. Web site: Ryan Lee Gallery Now Represents Kota Ezawa. Selvin. Claire. 2019-06-18. ARTnews. en-US. 2019-10-21.
  4. Web site: Reality Twice Removed. Fischer. Jack. 2010-07-01. Stanford Magazine. 2016-07-16.
  5. Web site: Kota Ezawa: The Crime of Art, Interview. LUM Art Zine. en-US. 2019-10-21.
  6. Web site: Kennosuke Ezawa.
  7. Web site: Kota Ezawa. 2018-09-21. FAMSF Search the Collections. en. 2019-10-21.
  8. Web site: Kota Ezawa Biography. artnet. 2016-07-16.
  9. Web site: Bio: Kota Ezawa. UC Berkeley Art, Technology, and Culture Colloquium. 2016-07-16.
  10. Web site: 2006 SECA Art Award Sarah Cain, Kota Ezawa, Amy Franceschini, Mitzi Pederson. 2007. www.sfmoma.org. en-US. 2019-10-28.
  11. Web site: Haines Gallery presents two solo exhibitions featuring new works by artists Binh Danh and Kota Ezawa. artdaily.cc. 2019-10-28.
  12. Web site: Kota Ezawa. California College of the Arts. 2016-07-16.
  13. Web site: Offsite: Kota Ezawa. e-flux.com. 2016-07-16.
  14. Web site: Kota Ezawa. 9 February 2016. Artadia. en-US. 2016-07-16.
  15. Web site: Kota Ezawa .
  16. Web site: Southern Exposure. Meacham. Steve. 2008-03-21. The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Digital. 2016-07-16.
  17. Web site: Kota Ezawa. The warhol. 2016-07-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20160823233447/http://www.warhol.org/education/resourceslessons/Kota-Ezawa/. 2016-08-23. dead.
  18. Web site: Kota Ezawa. Simpson Verdict. 2002. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). 2016-07-16.
  19. Web site: Ezawa, Kota. Oxford Art Online, Grove Art Online. 2010. Oxford University Press. en. 10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T2088456. 2019-10-27. Jana. Reena. 978-1-884446-05-4.
  20. Web site: Kota Ezawa: Re-Animating History. Williams College Museum of Art. 2019-10-26.
  21. Web site: LYAM 3D. Smithsonian American Art Museum. en-US. 2019-10-27.
  22. Web site: Choco Drink TV by Kota Ezawa. americanart.si.edu. 2016-07-16.
  23. Web site: Partial View: Whitney Biennial 2019. whitney.org. en. 2019-10-26.