Keiichi Tanaami

The late Fujio Akatsuka is revered by many Japanese artists and scholars for his developments to early comedy manga, but his contributions aren't just limited to the world of print media. Featuring commentary from family, friends, colleagues, and celebrity fans, Fujio Akatsuka's story is told with archival footage and animation, showcasing the life of the man who went beyond manga.

Animation by japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami for John Lennon's song "Oh Yoko!" -- the song was released in 1971, and the animation made in 1973. Keiichi Tanaami (田名網 敬一, Tanaami Keiichi, born in 1936 in Tokyo) was one of the leading pop artists of postwar Japan, and was active as multi-genre artist since the 1960s as a graphic designer, illustrator, video artist and fine artist until his death in 2024.

A trippy pop-art collage of phallic objects, naked women and American icons, most notably Elvis Presley.

Based on a major exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford, Tokyo Stories spans 400 years of incredibly dynamic art – ranging from the delicate woodblock prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige, to Pop Art posters, contemporary photography, Manga, film, and brand-new artworks that were created on the streets. The exhibition was a smash-hit five-star success and brought a younger and more diverse audience to the museum. The film uses the exhibition as a launchpad to travel to Tokyo itself, and explore the art and artists of the city more fully. A beautifully illustrated and richly detailed film, looking at a city which has undergone constant destruction and renewal over its 400-year history, resulting in one of the most vibrant and interesting cities on the planet…

A series of 16 "short stories" created by the creator's group Images Forum.

By the maker of Yellow Night. Also an exercise in the storyless and meaningless description of a drawn journey through the subconscious. Hallucination as a cheerful firework display. Made with style and skill, because nonchalance obviously has to be conquered. (IFFR)

The human eye, a well-known psychedelic motif, is multiplied and sharpened in Keiichi Tanaami's film trip 4 Eyes. Using his experience designing nightclubs, Tanaami projects two copies of the same film with a slight delay, so that it appears as if the ghost is losing consciousness. (IFFR)

A kaleidoscope of painted cartoonish images including an obscene mouse. Born in 1936 in Tokyo, Keiichi Tanaami is one of the leading pop artists of postwar Japan, and has been active as multi-genre artist since the 1960s as a graphic designer, illustrator, video artist and fine artist.

A joyfully psychedelic animation inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

The experimental animated short is a collaborative work between Keiichi Tanaami and Nobuhiro Aihara.

'There is a fusuma (paper sliding door) work based on the Hannya Shingyo (Prajna-paramita Hrdaya Sutram) by woodblock print artist Shikou Munakata. He wrote the sutra in one go without any rough drafts or scketches and the result is a very powerful and compelling work. Ever since I first saw this fusuma I have had a special interest in the Hannya Shingyo... ' (extract of the commentary by Keiichi Tanaami)

A short film by Keiichi Tanaami.

A compendium of independent Japanese animation, featuring a wide range of experimental techniques from drawn animation to pixilation.

No description available.

Keichi Tanaamis new animation work Red Shade (2021) is based on paintings that he had produced on the premise that they will be set in motion. Each of the 80 selected scenes was given a distinct movement of its own, and the edited version of the completed work became the first film. The 80 scenes are each independently complete, and can be freely rearranged. For example, you can start from scent 80 and end in scene one, or arrange them irregularly like 1, 4, 8, 7, and so on. In other words, the essence of the work does not change no matter how the scenes are arranged. Even so, it is possible to produce a strong impact by exchanging the images for each frame, and one can also for instance, create an impression of a refreshing breeze sweeping through the green meadows.

An animation mixing hand-drawn and cut-out techniques depicting the daily rituals of weekday morning that is occasionally interrupted by flights of fantasy delivered in stroboscopic flashes. Showing scenes of brushing teeth and face washing, Tanaami describes the film to be like a self-portrait on his favorite day of the week.

The experimental animated short is a collaborative work between Keiichi Tanaami and Nobuhiro Aihara.

A boxing ring turns into a stage for abstract animation where the punches thrown in the match and the halftone dots in reprographics gradually become indistinguishable. Tanaami shot a boxing match on a Motordrive camera, made two thousand offset prints, and rephotographed each of them. He explains his inspiration for the work being the experience of watching a boxing match on television but finding the newspaper print the next morning better capturing the exhilaration of the sport.

The bridge as the channel between worlds: between the living and the dead, between male and female, between sacred and profane.

A wordless short homage to the maestro of pittura metafisica.