Shinkichi Tajiri

On the occasion of the hundredth birthday of Shinkichi Tajiri (1923-2009), the Beelden aan Zee museum is displaying four sculptures from the collection.

Tajiri is a unique figure: he is a Japanese man of American descent, who studied in Paris and ended up in the Netherlands, finding his home here in Baarlo, Limburg; his mentality seems to be shaped by Japanese influences, but during a visit to Japan, Tajiri did not recognize his own identity in the land of his father and mother; he was part of important artist groups and developments in the art world, but his own artistic voice was, if anything, even more important and idiosyncratic than that of CoBrA or De Nieuwe Ploeg. He seems to have lived a withdrawn existence in the Limburg countryside, but he was a lecturer at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin for 20 years and exhibited at various Documenta exhibitions in Kassel. Throughout his life, he was fascinated by Japanese themes such as the Zen and Shogun mentality, but he was also shaped by his American background (Tajiri was born in Los Angeles, and he first came to Europe as a soldier in World War II).

Together with the Bonnefanten museum and Bommel van Dam, Beelden aan Zee is displaying four sculptures in the niches of the museum starting from November 10.