Tatzu Nishi
Tatzu Nishi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nishino Tatsu 1960 |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Occupation | artist |
Tatzu Nishi (西野達, Nishino Tatsu, born 1960)[1] is an internationally exhibited installation artist. He is known for transforming historical monuments by surrounding the statue or building with domestic spaces including functioning hotels.
Early life
Nishi was born in 1960 in Nagoya, Japan. He studied at Musashino Art University, Tokyo from 1981 until 1984. Later he moved to Germany and enrolled at Kunstakadamie, Münster.
Career
Nishi has built his fabricated hotels and apartments around historical monuments in Europe, Australia, Singapore and America.
For the 2011 Singapore Biennale the artist surrounded the city state's 70-ton cement Merlion statue with a luxury hotel room.[2]
His first project in the United States was "Discovering Columbus", a penthouse apartment surrounding Gaetano Russo's statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle, Manhattan.[3] For "Discovering Columbus", Nishi designed the living room with numerous pop references to American cultural symbols.[4]
Names
Nishi often adopts different names while working on particular projects, for example Tatzu Oozu, Tazro Niscino, Tatsurou Bashi, and Taturo Atzu in addition to Tatzu Nishi.[5][6]
Projects
- "Engel", 2002, Basel, Switzerland
- "Villa Victoria", 2002, Liverpool
- "Reihe", 2002, Berlin
- "Untitled", 2009, Hamburg
- "Heroe", 2010, Guatemala City
- "Merlion Hotel", 2011, Singapore
- "Hotel Ghent", 2012
- "Discovering Columbus", 2012, Manhattan
- "Hotel Manta", 2014, Helsinki
- "The Garden which is closest to God", Amsterdam, 2015
References
- ^ "Tatzu Nishi biography". Art Inasia.com. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
- ^ "tatzu nishi: the merlion hotel at singapore biennale 2011". Design Boom.com. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
- ^ "NYC Landmark Becomes Living Room in the Sky". ABC News.com. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
- ^ Sherwood Pundyk, Anne (November 2012). "Tatzu Nishi: Discovering Columbus". The Brooklyn Rail.
- ^ Anthony Bond (2011), "Swapping public and private: Tatzu Nishi", in Ben Parry; Sally Medlyn; Myriam Tahir (eds.), Cultural Hijack: Rethinking Intervention, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, pp. 172–89, ISBN 978-1-84631-751-4
- ^ "Taturo Atzu: The Garden Which is the Nearest to God | oude kerk". oudekerk.nl. Retrieved 22 September 2015.