R.I.P. On Kawara
Born in Japan and based in New York for the last 50 years, On Kawara died last Thursday. The passing of the 81-year-old artist was announced by the David Zwirner gallery, which represents him in New York.
Kawara investigated issues relating to the nature of time and toyed with the idea of identity in the face of death. His main series include Today, Title and postcards, One Million Years, One-Hundred-Year Calendars, Pure Consciousness.
The Today series was initiated in 1966 and continued throughout the artist’s career. Kawara painted on each of the canvasses, over a monochrome background, the date of a notation system. He did not employ any resource such as stencil or superimposed projection techniques. The reference to the symbols’ organization type was the timekeeping system used in each of the countries the artist was working in. In the series I Am Still Alive, Kawara would send telegrams to different friends and acquaintances with the inscription "I am still alive."
Videobrasil recognizes the importance of this artist not only for his extreme relevance within the arts system, but also for all the contributions of his conceptual thinking and production, which raise issues and prompt debate on contemporary issues until this day. His work will be featured in a retrospective at the Guggenheim, titled On Kawara-Silence, set to open on February 08, 2015.