Artist Biography
Tabaimo (b. 1975, Hyogo, Japan, based in Nagano, Japan) is known for her immersive video installations that explore the undercurrents of contemporary Japanese society. Her animated narratives often set mundane characters within everyday environments such as domestic interiors and communal spaces. They unveil moments of irrationality and aggression that quickly disappear behind a facade of social civility, evoking the fragmented, unstable relationship between public and private worlds.
Drawn by hand then digitally animated, Tabaimo’s images recall the styles of manga, anime and ukiyo-e—traditional Japanese woodblock prints popularised in the Edo period—with their rich palettes, shading and linework. In Japanese Commuter Train (2001), a six-screen installation that encloses viewers in a simulated suburban train ride, passengers come and go while remaining nonchalant as strange activities occur. A massive rooster appears by the window, disembodied hands crawl along the cabin, and some individuals are rolled into a sushi roll—all while fellow commuters appear detached and disengaged.
Tabaimo obtained her BFA from Kyoto University of Art And Design in 1999. Her work is held in major collections including Asia Society and Museum, New York; Birmingham Museum of Art; Cleveland Museum of Art; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Museum of Art, Osaka; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Seattle Art Museum; and Yokohama Museum of Art.
Notable recent solo exhibitions include Aitaisei-josei (2019), Yokohama Museum of Art; Transparent Distortion (2019), Pola Museum Annex, Tokyo; Tabaimo (2017), Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Tabaimo (2016), Seattle Art Museum; and Her Room (2016), San Jose Museum of Art. The artist has also participated in major international festivals including Think with the Senses - Feel with the Mind (2007), 52nd Venice Biennale; Zones of Contact (2006) 15th Biennale of Sydney; Metropolitan Iconographies (2002), 25th São Paulo Biennale; MEGA WAVE—Towards a New Synthesis (2001), 1st Yokohama Triennale; and the 47th Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (2000). The artist represented Japan at ILLUMInazioni – ILLUMInations (2011), 54th Venice Biennale.
Tabaimo had her residency at the STPI Workshop in 2008, resulting in the exhibition emerge as (2010).