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Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
"Memories of the Land / Body" (2020) Oil on linen, H300xW600cm
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Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
"RIB" (2021) Oil on linen, H200xW300cm
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Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
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Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
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Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
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"Artificial green by nature green 2.0
(collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) "
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
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"Artificial green by nature green 2.0
(collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) "
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
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"Artificial green by nature green 2.0
(collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) "
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
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"Artificial green by nature green 2.0
(collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) "
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
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"Artificial green by nature green 2.0
(collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) "
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Mapping the Land/Body/Stories of its Past, Installation view, ANOMALY, Tokyo, 2021, Photo: Keizo Kioku
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"Long term memory" (2018-2019)
Roppongi Crossing 2019: Connexions
Installation view, MORI ART MUSEUM, 2019
Photo: Keizo Kioku
Courtesy of MORI ART MUSEUM
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"Swoon" (2018)
-Inside the Collector's Vault vol.1- WHAT MUSEUM, Tokyo, 2020
Photo: Keizo Kioku
courtesy of WHAT MUSEUM
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"Kancil and Crocodiles" (2020)
Jean-François Prat Prize exhibition Installation view, The Bredin Prat Foundation for Contemporary Art, Paris, France, 2020
Photo: Romain Darnaud, courtesy of Bredin Prat Foundation
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"Black eyes" (2016)
Jean-François Prat Prize exhibition Installation view, The Bredin Prat Foundation for Contemporary Art, Paris, France, 2020
Photo: Romain Darnaud, courtesy of Bredin Prat Foundation
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"Red List" (2015)
Jean-François Prat Prize exhibition Installation view, The Bredin Prat Foundation for Contemporary Art, Paris, France, 2020
Photo: Romain Darnaud, courtesy of Bredin Prat Foundation
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Memories of the Land / Body (2020)
"Tiger Orchid – ROH at Art Basel OVR: Miami Beach" Installation view, Indonesia, 2020
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My Heart In My Hand (Gray Shade) (2020)
"Tiger Orchid – ROH at Art Basel OVR: Miami Beach" Installation view, Indonesia, 2020
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"Survivor" (2019)
Aichi Triennale2019, Installation view, Nagoya City Art Museum, 2019
Photo: Tetsuo Ito
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"Survivor" (2019)
Aichi Triennale2019, Installation view, Nagoya City Art Museum, 2019
Photo: Tetsuo Ito
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"Artificial green by nature green" (collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) (2019)
ArtJog MMXIX ART IN COMMON Installation view, Jogja National Museum of Art, Indonesia, 2019
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"Artificial green by nature green" (collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) (2019)
ArtJog MMXIX ART IN COMMON Installation view, Jogja National Museum of Art, Indonesia, 2019
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"Artificial green by nature green" (collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) (2019)
ArtJog MMXIX ART IN COMMON Installation view, Jogja National Museum of Art, Indonesia, 2019
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"Artificial green by nature green" (collaboration work with Bagus Pandega) (2019)
ArtJog MMXIX ART IN COMMON Installation view, Jogja National Museum of Art, Indonesia, 2019
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"Repatriation" (2015)
Meet the Collection Installation view, Curation: Kei Imazu, Yokohama Museum of Art, 2019
Photo: Haruyuki Shirai
courtesy of Yokohama Museum, Kanagawa
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"Repatriation" (2015)
Meet the Collection Installation view, Curation: Kei Imazu, Yokohama Museum of Art, 2019
Photo: Haruyuki Shirai
courtesy of Yokohama Museum, Kanagawa
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Pithecanthropus Erectus (2019)
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition
"Anda disini / You are here" Installation view, MUSEUM HAUS KASUYA, Kanagawa, 2019 Photo: Akira Okada courtesy of MUSEUM HAUS KASUYA
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Pithecanthropus Erectus (2019)
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition
"Anda disini / You are here" Installation view, MUSEUM HAUS KASUYA, Kanagawa, 2019 Photo: Akira Okada courtesy of MUSEUM HAUS KASUYA
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Pithecanthropus Erectus (2019)
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition
"Anda disini / You are here" Installation view, MUSEUM HAUS KASUYA, Kanagawa, 2019 Photo: Akira Okada courtesy of MUSEUM HAUS KASUYA
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Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Measuring Invisible Distance Installation view, YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo, 2018
Photo: Keizo Kioku
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"Repatriation" (2015)
Kei Imazu Solo Exhibition Repatriation Installation view, YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo, 2016
Photo: Keizo Kioku
Imazu draws on a range of sources for the imagery within her artwork: from renowned masterpieces, illustrated museum catalogues, encyclopedias and even trivial photos found on social media. Taking these images and editing them in Photoshop she makes a preliminary sketch in preparation for the oil paintings she goes on to make.
Her method almost stands in contradiction to the work she produces; the energetic and seemingly free brush strokes are in fact precisely pre-arranged employing the digital software available to her. Glitches, which are created by the processing of heavy data, and the familiar-looking image of the software window, things that nowadays we see on a daily basis, have become striking motifs in her paintings.
Development in technology has always brought a change to human perception, especially in relation to art since even prehistoric times. Imazu’s work both in its creation and in its final manifestation is a reflection of this. However, in the midst of the accelerated development in computer graphics and smart phones – things now seen as essentials – Imazu’s work seeks to acquire updated viewpoints on art history by encompassing self-consciousness and reaction to this current spatial arena and its objects. Through the distorted and intertwined images depicted on the canvas, viewers witness a trace of the long time the artist pursued a deep contemplation of the notion of painting itself.
In 2009, Imazu was awarded Prize for Excellence at VOCA, and Encouragement Award at the 5th Kinutani Koji Award. A painting of hers that measures over 4 metres in length was recently acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 2017. In 2020, Prix Jean François Prat (France), the prize to promote contemporary painting nominated her as a finalist.