2018 Catalogue Archive

In his Spaceless Space series (2001– present), Takashi Kunitani merges his own body with the industrial neon tube. The irregular, bulbous shapes are the result of Kunitani deforming the neon tube with his breath. The artist’s transformation of the tube moves it away from its industrial associations as it becomes an organic object, radiating with glowing argon that fills a biomorphic volume. Kunitani studied under Gutai artist Norio Imai at Seian University of Art and Design in Shiga Prefecture, and Imai’s influence on the artist can be felt in his use of a minimal vocabulary to produce an awareness of interior/exterior and a quiet activation of space. Kunitani’s work has been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions, including: Something Red, Kyoto Art Center; Takashi Kunitani: Deep Projection, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art; and Two Passages, Nuit Blanche Kyoto 2012, Kyoto Art Center.