A sushi chef by day…author and pop surrealist painter by night. I first stumbled upon Mr. Tanaka’s paintings at the Groundworks coffee shop on Traction about 4 years ago.
What I saw appeared to be some type of alien manuscript consisting of iconic cartoon figures, amoebas, cubes, and symbols all being mathematically quantified on canvas. Characters were well-rendered and filled with color, but were painted flat on the canvas in a preconceived order like a prehistoric cave painting of a great hunt.
Kenji’s work sparked memories of all those cool illustrations in science books I dug as a kid- but with cartoons, robots and mystery! What appeared to be some sort of channeling ended up being Kenji’s visual articulation of his ever evolving manifesto about the changing times and evolution of the human race called “Sayonara to Capitalism”.
Artist/Philosopher/Mind-Chemist Kenji Tanaka talks a bit about his fantastical artistic equations, life in the USA, and his “Good byes and Hellos to Capitalism”.
Nathan Cartwright: What is Sayonara to Capitalism about?
Kenji Tanaka: Cult religion…cult politics…prejudiced-formality-tradition…affectation…writing, talking and painting without meaning…dreaming, criticizing with no experience…job with no fun…apathy…feignedness…rationalness…and antonyms of instinct, intuitiveness, primitiveness and smell.
Nathan Cartwright: You once told me you were a Breatharian for awhile. What is this practice?
Kenji Tanaka: I had a Breatharian experience for 6 weeks. It’s a practice based on fasting and living off, yes, air. Many religions still recommend short-time-fasting for better health. Fasting or liquid diet is for cleaning the pipe (intestine). I heard that even Jesus recommended colon cleansing in the Bible.
Nathan Cartwright: You have a unique name for your style of artwork “Cartoon Abstract”. Please explain.
Kenji Tanaka: I believe that artists try to express something invisible, superstitious, and unexplainable. Painting is the window of the massive invisible energy that consumes us…many artists struggle to express what they see or think to other people…often simplicity wins…as an artist, if you can find one word, sentence, or picture you’re familiar with, then people will be able to get closer to the idea, thought. I use pictures, characters, and phrases with which people are familiar.
Nathan Cartwright: How does your artwork relate to your philosophy; Sayonara to Capitalism?
Kenji Tanaka: If I say “capitalism is ending”, it has heavy tone and people won’t listen to what I say. To me, it’s pretty obvious that capitalism is not working any more, but the question is what’s coming next? Who’s leading? What kind of planet do we live in? How will we survive? As an artist, I need to fill in the blanks with happy pictures to make my audience more comfortable. When I paint at the Hive I feel that I’m one of the crew in Noah’s ark.
Nathan Cartwright: I love your use of cartoon and pop imagery. What purpose do they play in your work?
Kenji Tanaka: It helps to connect to my audience, and create a more enjoyable atmosphere. The cartoons are easier to understand and connect to a broader audience than harsh political imageries.
Kenji will be featured at The Hive Gallery alongside Wilson Hsu in November, opening 11/ 01/ 08.