Shinkichi Tajiri

Shinkichi Tajiri was an American sculptor who was also involved in painting, photography, and cinematography.

Biography of Shinkichi Tajiri

Shinkichi Tajiri was born in 1923 in Los Angeles to first-generation Japanese immigrants. After the Japanese attack on Hawaii, the Tajiri family was interned in a U.S. camp and lost their family home. In an effort to escape the camp rather than out of a sense of patriotism, Tajiri enlisted in the highly decorated all-Japanese American regiment of the U.S. Army.

Tajiri, like his brother Vincent, served as a soldier with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. They fought in Europe starting in 1943, and Tajiri was wounded in Italy. 

After World War II, Tajiri pursued his passion for art, studying at the Chicago Art Institute from 1946 to 1948. He then worked for the renowned sculptor Isamu Noguchi in New York.

In 1949, he moved to Paris, where he joined the CoBrA group and exhibited at the 1949 CoBrA exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In Paris, he studied with Ossip Zadkine and Fernand Léger, becoming a significant figure among post-war artists striving for a universal art transcending borders and nations.

In 1955, he won the Golden Palm at Cannes for his first short film, "The Vipers." 

Tajiri moved to the Netherlands in 1956 with his wife, Dutch artist Ferdi, where he remained until his death in 2009. His works are featured in major Dutch museums, MoMA in New York, and The National Museum of Art in Japan. 

Shinkichi Tajiri's Art Style

Primarily a sculptor, Tajiri explored themes of Erotica, War, and Violence as a means of crystallizing the personal horrors he had endured. His recurring imagery of the "Knot and The Warrior" reflected these experiences, while his 1967-68 series "Machines" served as a protest against the Vietnam War. In addition to his sculpture, Tajiri created a number of award-winning films, videos, photographic series, works on paper, and later, Computer Art.