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Kota Ezawa

Kota Ezawa

  • Biography
  • Works
  • Exhibitions
  • Press
  • German-Japanese-American, b. 1979 Lives and works in Oakland, CA Kota Ezawa’s work explores the appropriation and mediation of current events...

    German-Japanese-American, b. 1979

    Lives and works in Oakland, CA

     

    Kota Ezawa’s work explores the appropriation and mediation of current events and images, referencing sources from the news, art history, and popular culture. Since the debut of his 2002 video animation The Simpson Verdict, Ezawa has been well-known for creating light-boxes, videos, and works on paper that distill found images into his signature pared-down, flattened style. By reducing complex visual information to its most essential, two-dimensional elements, he explores the photographic record’s validity as a mediator of actual events and experiences. 
     
    His critically acclaimed series National Anthem (2018) draws from broadcast footage of NFL athletes protesting police violence and the oppression of people of color, and was exhibited in the 2019 Whitney Biennial. The Crime of Art, a set of video and related light-boxes, chronicles high-profile museum heists and acts of art vandalism in real life and Hollywood film, and was the subject of traveling exhibition and a monograph of the same title.
     

    Ezawa was born in Germany, where he began his undergraduate studies at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf with Nam Jun Paik and Nan Hoover before relocating to the Bay Area. His work has been showcased in solo exhibitions at the Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA; Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Cummer Museum of Art, Jacksonville, FL; Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, CA; SITE Santa Fe, NM; Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; St. Louis Art Museum, MO; and group exhibitions at Copenhagen Contemporary; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain; Queensland Art Gallery | Gallrey of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; and Art Institute of Chicago, IL; among many others.

    Ezawa received a SECA Art Award in 2006 and a Eureka Fellowship in 2010. His work has been acquired by leading  institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Musée D’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Canada; and Baltimore Museum of Art, MD. He has been the subject of several monographic publications, including The Crime of Art (2017) and The History of Photography Remix (2006).

     

    Artist CV (PDF)

  • Works
    • Kota Ezawa Leap into the Void, 2005 Duratrans transparency and lightbox Lightbox: 22 x 26 x 2 inches
      Kota Ezawa
      Leap into the Void, 2005
      Duratrans transparency and lightbox
      Lightbox: 22 x 26 x 2 inches
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EKota%20Ezawa%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ELeap%20into%20the%20Void%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2005%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EDuratrans%20transparency%20and%20lightbox%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3ELightbox%3A%2022%20x%2026%20x%202%20inches%3C/div%3E
    • Kota Ezawa Lennon Sontag Beuys, 2004 Single-channel video (color, sound) 2:10 minutes, looped
      Kota Ezawa
      Lennon Sontag Beuys, 2004
      Single-channel video (color, sound)
      2:10 minutes, looped
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EKota%20Ezawa%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ELennon%20Sontag%20Beuys%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2004%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3ESingle-channel%20video%20%28color%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Esound%29%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E2%3A10%20minutes%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Elooped%3C/div%3E
    • Kota Ezawa Who's Afraid of Black, White and Grey, 2023 Two-channel video (black-and-white, sound) Loop A: 38 seconds Loop B: 1:37 minutes
      Kota Ezawa
      Who's Afraid of Black, White and Grey, 2023
      Two-channel video (black-and-white, sound)
      Loop A: 38 seconds
      Loop B: 1:37 minutes
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EKota%20Ezawa%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EWho%27s%20Afraid%20of%20Black%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EWhite%20and%20Grey%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2023%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3ETwo-channel%20video%20%28black-and-white%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Esound%29%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3ELoop%20A%3A%2038%20seconds%3Cbr/%3E%0ALoop%20B%3A%201%3A37%20minutes%3C/div%3E
    • Kota Ezawa Take Off, 2013 Watercolor on paper 14.25 x 16.75 inches, framed
      Kota Ezawa
      Take Off, 2013
      Watercolor on paper
      14.25 x 16.75 inches, framed
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EKota%20Ezawa%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ETake%20Off%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2013%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EWatercolor%20on%20paper%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E14.25%20x%2016.75%20inches%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eframed%3C/div%3E
  • Exhibitions
    • Chromotherapy

      Chromotherapy

      July 8 - September 5, 2021
      Haines Gallery is pleased to announce our reopening to the public with Chromotherapy , a group exhibition celebrating the transfor-mative powers of color. Opening on Thursday, July 8, our first...
      Read more
    • Kota Ezawa: National Anthem

      Kota Ezawa: National Anthem

      November 7 - December 14, 2019
      Haines Gallery proudly presents National Anthem , a new solo exhibition by Oakland-based multimedia artist Kota Ezawa featuring his critically acclaimed series of the same title. Throughout his career, Ezawa...
      Read more
    • Likenesses

      Likenesses

      July 9 - August 31, 2019
      Haines Gallery proudly presents Likenesses , a group exhibition bringing together works by seven contemporary artists from around the world to explore the conventions, possibilities, and limits of portraiture. The...
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    • A Cure for Everything

      A Cure for Everything

      January 5 - March 23, 2019
      Haines Gallery is pleased to present A Cure for Everything , a group exhibition bringing together works by nine artists working in photography, print, and video. Employing alternative or experimental...
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    • Quintessence: 6 Perspectives on Abstraction

      Quintessence: 6 Perspectives on Abstraction

      June 7 - September 1, 2018
      This summer, Haines Gallery is pleased to present Quintessence: 6 Perspectives on Abstraction , a group exhibition bringing together works by six contemporary artists to consider a range of approaches...
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    • The Stand-ins

      The Stand-ins

      July 7 - September 3, 2016
      This summer, Haines Gallery is pleased to present a group exhibition entitled The Stand-ins , featuring new and recent works by Maurizio Anzeri, Kota Ezawa, Chris McCaw, and Sunny A....
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    • Political Fictions

      Political Fictions

      September 4 - November 1, 2014
      Bringing together an international group of artists whose diverse practices question the reportage and representation of current events, Political Fictions starts from the position that both artists and audiences can...
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    • Fundamental Abstraction III

      Fundamental Abstraction III

      January 9 - March 1, 2014
      Haines Gallery is pleased to present Fundamental Abstraction III , a group exhibition featuring an international selection of artists concerned with the formal aspects of line, color, shape and composition...
      Read more
    • Kota Ezawa: The Curse of Dimensionality

      Kota Ezawa: The Curse of Dimensionality

      January 5 - February 18, 2012
      In works produced during the last three years, Kota Ezawa addresses dimensionality and perception using a variety of media including animation, lightboxes, paper cutouts and stereoscopic images. Physical and illusionary...
      Read more
  • Press
  • Sharon Anderson, "Bay Area artists in ‘Crafting Radicality’," Marina Times, August 2023

    Jaimie Baron, "The Art of Resistance @ Manetti Shrem," Squarecylinder.com, March 3, 2022

    Rahel Aima, "Kota Ezawa's Flat, Stylized Paintings and Animations Shed New Light on Historic Events," Artsy, January 18, 2022

    Adron McCann, "'The Crime of Art' Exhibiti Reimagines One Of The Most Notorious Art Heists in American History," WABE Atlanta, July 23, 2021

    Lou Fancher, "Oakland artist Ezawa's work shown in S.F.'s Haines Gallery," East Bay Times, February 23, 2021

    Chloe Wyma, "Whitney Biennial," Artforum, September 2019

    Sarah Hotchkiss, "Kota Ezawa Talks Protest and Pressure Ahead of 2019 Whitney Biennial," KQED Arts, May 2, 2019

    Sarah Cascone, “Can’t Make It to Randall’s Island? Take aa Virtual Tour of the Best Art at Frieze New York 2019 in These Photos,” Artnet News, May 2, 2019

    Charles Desmarais, “‘A Cure for Everything’ offered at Haines Gallery,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 23, 2019

    David M. Roth, “A Cure for Everything @ Haines,” Squarecylinder.com, January 11, 2019

    Debra Herrick, "Kota Ezawa: The Crime of Art, Interview," LUM Art Zine, December 14, 2018

    Charles Donelan, "Kota Ezawa at MCASB," Santa Barbara Independent, November 13, 2018

    David M. Roth, “ Quintessence @ Haines,” Squarecylinder.com, July 28, 2018

    Litta Barrie, “Recreating Some of Hollywood’s Most Infamous Art Crimes,” Hyperallergic, February 28, 2018

    Chelsea Weathers, "Kota Ezawa: The Crime of Art," The Magazine, November 1, 2017

    Michael Abatemarco, "Stealing the show: Kota Ezawa," Pasatiempo, October 6, 2017

    Sarah Cascone, "Artist Recreates 13 Stolen Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Masterpieces in New Show," Artnet News, February 16, 2017

    Sharon Mizota, "The Scenes of a Crime: Kota Ezawa Revisits the Gardner Museum Theft," Los Angeles Times, March 1, 2016

    Travis Diehl, "Kota Ezawa: Christopher Grimes Gallery," Artforum, January 2016

    "Goings On About Town: Art," The New Yorker, December 7, 2015

    Sam Whiting, "New Mural Snakes Along Fence of Central Subway," SFGate, June 10, 2014

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