On Kawara

by Jonathan Watkins

Japanese-born, New-York-based On Kawara (b.1933) is one of the world's best-known Conceptual artists, a major international figure since the 1960s. Kawara's existence is documented solely through his daily art-making practice. Best known are his Date Paintings (1965-ongoing), in which he methodically creates a single painting a day, with simply the date written on it. This book is a rare chance for his followers to unravel more of the mystery of this cult figure, and for less familiar readers to be introduced to his fascinating life and work. A unique feature of this book is the Tribute section, which reflects the artist's lifelong commitment never to be personally documented in his own words. A collection of short statements by 30 individuals selected personally by Kawara - among them artists Lawrence Weiner and Dan Graham, and cultural theorist Homi Bhabha - create an indirect 'portrait of the artist'. In the Survey, Curator Jonathan examines the artist's long-standing from his early figurative painting in the 1950s, to his later, text-based Conceptual art. Curator René Denizot analyses in his Focus a two-person exhibition combining Kawara's work with Alberto Giacometti's, revealing both artists' shared concern for the essence of human existence. The artist's interest in the nature of consciousness is reflected in a scientific essay he has selected for his Artist's Choice from the academic Journal of Consciousness Studies . In the Artist's Writings, a series of handwritten love letters in an indecipherable code reflect the mix of the impersonal and the deeply humanistic threads that run through Kawara's art.

Genres: Art

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2002

Reviews

[Lies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text starts at his birth in Japan and continues to talk about his art, not only the famous date-painings, but also his lesser known work from the start of his carrier. It talks about everything that was important for him to become the artist that he is today, from travels, living abroad, encounters with people and so on. Good insights about his best known work. Also short texts from people that knew the artist, very insightfull. They also choose to talk consciousness and an exhibition with Giacometti.

For the pictures they choose for a lot of different work, both existing and destroyed. It gives a good view about the famous works, but still leaves room for work about his language struggles. Every important work that the artist made before he reached the Today series is here, and it helps to understand where he came from.

Well done. Very insightfull. Good picture usage.

[Sudhir Bhatia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Calendar on pg84-85. Example of data visualization.