Site Sketches n°1-500

Site Sketches n°1-500 is the first volume of the catalogue raisonné devoted to the Site Sketches series, works on paper made from recycled scrap wood by Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata. This publication presents over 300 small conceptual “drawings” produced by Tadashi Kawamata over a decade. These mixed media collages transmit a quintessence of the artist’s thinking on place—space marked by the human presence. Published following the exhibition “Tadashi Kawamata. Site Sketches” at Mennour gallery, Paris, from November 28th, 2019 to January 18th, 2020.Tadashi Kawamata (born 1953 in Japan, lives and works in Tokyo and Paris) has made in situ art throughout the world and was artistic director of the Yokohama Triennale in 2005. His work concerns itself with architectural space as an urban or designed social context or product. A careful study of the human relations that define it and the way of life which results from it allows him each time to determine progressively the nature of his project. His pieces, for the most part temporary, are generally made from timber sometimes from salvage material from the immediate vicinity. Tadashi Kawamata’s pieces recreate connections between the past and the present, between outside and inside, between the actual and the potential: they reveal another identity to the spaces, highlighting the invisible but quite real aspect of their cultural and social dimension. The creation of a community with which he shares the research and physical work is the drive and basis for each of his projects, as we can see with the experience of Saint-Thélo.