One of Japan's most distinguished artists, Tadashi Kawamata is known for projects that radically redefine individual relations to built space. Sometimes taking the form of walkways or raised concourses that alter the circulation or scale of public space, and at other times possessed of more sculptural dynamics, his interventions constructed from materials like scrap lumber and old chairs often develop with the involvement of the local community, and Kawamata is also active as a teacher and frequent participant in public workshops. Without necessarily being about anything, then, Kawamata's practice embodies the discursive potential of art - its ability to set bodies and ideas in motion.
Born in Hokkaido, Japan in 1953, He has had many one-man exhibitions and projects throughout Europe, the United States and Japan including the Serpentine Gallery, London, the Kunsthalle, Recklinghausen and the Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo. Tadashi Kawamata exhibited at the 40th Venice Biennale in 1982, and later was invited to Documenta VIII and Documenta IX.