EI ARAKAWA-NASH
b. 1977, JapanEi Arakawa Nash is a performance artist who frequently collaborates with artists (and sometimes their artworks). They encourage viewers to become collaborators, too, blurring the lines between consumer and creator while always considering the specific contexts of the people for which the artwork is created.
Early Years
Ei Arakawa-Nash was born in 1977 in Iwaki City, Fukushima, but left Japan aged 20 in 1998 to move to New York City, where they enrolled at the School of Visual Arts and took classes with Peter Heinemann and Jutta Koether. They gained their BFA in Fine Arts from SVA in 2004 and their MFA in film and video from Bard College in 2006.
Ei Arakawa Nash: Artworks
Arakawa Nash’s performance art takes established cultural forms (from art to architecture to systems of organisation) and re-imagines them, sometimes ironically and often in collaboration with artists, artworks and viewers. Creating this collaborative intersection between the artist and others removes their works from the traditional, subjective idea of the “self” and also creates space where the social issues at the heart of their artwork are examined from a distance. Speaking to Vogue Japan in 2026, they said: “I find it exhausting to present my own subjectivity as something original. From the beginning, I wanted to make it clear that my perspective is not entirely original, but shaped by the things I’ve loved and been influenced by, although it may sound light-hearted, as a fan.”
The concept of performance art itself is also crucial to Arakawa Nash’s practice: they have been inspired by historical forms of the genre—including Japanese Gutai, Viennese Actionism and Happenings in New York City—as well as modern ways of moving and improvising. Installations utilise both technology and artisan craft—for example, wall pieces featuring LEDs and hand-dyed fabric.
- Collective improvisation and an examination of how art is created lie at the heart of Mega Please Draw Freely (Munich, 2025–2026 and London, 2021). Arakawa Nash was inspired by Gutai to encourage visitors to draw on the floor, so that their artworks mingle with those of others and create an evolving piece.
- Non-Gestational Co-Nursing (2023) was informed by Arakawa Nash and their partner becoming parents to twins. At the centre of the exhibition was a film showing the couple nursing their infants with a device designed for non-gestational parents, asking viewers to consider conventional concepts of bonding and nurturing. The Berlin show also included LED paintings referencing work by German artist Jurgen Klauke.
- For the 2026 Venice Biennale, Arakawa Nash represented Japan with the installation Grass Babies, Moon Babies, featuring 200 realistic baby dolls, which visitors were invited to care for, holding them and changing their nappies. The babies’ “birthdays” were chosen from significant dates from the history of women’s reproductive rights, labour politics and queer history.
Ei Arakawa Nash: Select Exhibitions
Select Solo Exhibitions
- Japan Pavilion, 61st Venice Biennale (2026)
- Mega Please Draw Freely, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2025)
- Paintings are Popstars, National Art Centre, Tokyo (2024)
- Plush–Subjectivity, Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textiles, Hong Kong (2024)
- Non-Gestational Co-Nursing, Galerie Max Mayer, Dusseldorf (2024)
- Here Comes a Cohort, Through the Wind Tunnel, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo (2023)
- Don’t Give Up, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg (2023)
- Social Muscle Rehab Artists Space, New York City (2021)
- Mega Please Draw Freely, Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, London (2021)
- Moon Rehearsals, CC Foundation, Shanghai (2019)
Select Group Exhibitions
- Factory of Tomorrow, Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textiles (CHAT), Hong Kong (2024)
- The Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo (2024)
- The Cosmo Within, ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus (2023)
- Hope, Museion Bozen, Bolzano (2023)
- A Maze Zanine, Amaze Zaning, A-Mezzanning, Meza-9, David Zwirner, New York City (2022)
- Post-Capital: Art and the Economics of the Digital Age, Mudam, Luxembourg (2021)
- MaytoDay, Asia Cultural Center, Gwangju (2020)
- En Plein Air, High Line Art, New York City (2019)
- Honolulu Biennial: To Make Wrong/Right/Now (2019)
Further Reading
- Ei Arakawa Nash’s Instagram
- Artist page at Taka Ishii Gallery
- Ei Arakawa Nash’s website
Ei Arakawa-Nash FAQs
Did Ei Arakawa Nash serve “radioactive soup” at Frieze London?
During Frieze London 2014, for the project Does This Soup Taste Ambivalent? Ei Arakawa-Nash and their brother created Green Tea Gallery and served soup cooked by their mother every day. The soup contained vegetables from Fukushima (Frieze 2014 being only three years after the Fukushima nuclear accident) which were uncontaminated by radiation but Arakawa-Nash wanted to spark debate and discussion around power and trust.
What are the main themes in Ei Arakawa Nash’s work?
In their practice, Ei Arakawa Nash explores how performance can be a vessel for critical inquiry and social commentary, inviting the audience to participate, therefore becoming co-creators and subverting the art world’s traditional frameworks. After becoming a parent in 2024, Arakawa Nash has also centred the concept of caregiving (and the stereotypes, heteronormative structures and division of labour associated with it) in their work.
What are Ei Arakawa Nash’s influences?
The performance artist references earlier performance art styles and movements, including the Happenings in 1960s New York City and the boundary-blurring work of the post-war Japanese avant-garde group Gutai. Conceptual artist Dan Graham, whose work considered the psychology of viewing, is another influence.
Ocula
Explore Ei Arakawa-Nash's Exhibitions
Explore and Follow Artists Shaping Contemporary Art
A respected voice in contemporary art discourse.
Focusing on ambitious storytelling and insightful art-world commentary. Ocula Magazine publishes in-depth interviews, critical essays and timely analysis on the artists, exhibitions and ideas driving the global art world.
Learn more about Ocula Magazine
Showcasing the best of the art world.
Ocula partners with galleries from around the world to highlight their artists, artworks and exhibitions. Gallery membership is by application and invitation, with each member vetted by an independent panel.
Learn more about Ocula Membership
Specialises in the sale of major artworks.
Led by a team with deep ties to the world’s leading auction houses, galleries and collectors. Ocula’s advisory team offers bespoke services to high-net-worth clients from around the world who are looking to acquire the best of contemporary and modern art.
Learn more about our team and services