Artists | MAKI Gallery | MAKI

Born in 1986 in Aichi, Japan, Keisuke Tada received both his BFA and MFA in oil painting from Aichi University of the Arts in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Fascinated by the sensory experiences offered by video games and other virtual worlds, Tada creates paintings that explore the blurry boundary separating reality and fiction. His trace / dimension series mimics assemblages of wooden boards, metal chains, and ceramic tiles; his Heaven’s Door series resembles antique doors that seem to have been attacked with an axe. Despite their convincing appearances, the works are crafted entirely out of paint. In Paintings of incomplete remains, the artist fabricates time by artificially aging the surface of each canvas, yielding them a likeness to classical European paintings. It could be said that Tada, who investigates the conflict between what exists and what doesn’t through his unconventional techniques, brings new dimension to the medium of painting.
Tada’s recent solo exhibitions include Phantom Emotion, MAKI Gallery (Tokyo, 2023); Rhizomed Material, Gallery COMMON (Tokyo, 2023); Traffic, MITSUKOSHI CONTEMPORARY GALLERY (Tokyo, 2022); Beautiful Dream, MAHO KUBOTA GALLERY (Tokyo, 2020); and CHANGELING, rin art association (Gunma, Japan, 2020). He also actively participates in group exhibitions throughout Asia.