KOKI TANAKA

Mobility And Extinction UCCA 27 September 2025–4 January 2026 UCCA Beijing

Press Release

In his diverse practice spanning video, photography, site-specific installations, and intervention projects, Koki Tanaka visualizes the multiple contexts embedded in the simplest of everyday acts, revealing their deeper meaning within. In early works centered on found objects, Tanaka employed quotidian items experimentally to explore ways to break free from the routines of daily life.

With A Haircut by 9 Hairdressers at Once (Second Attempt) (2010), the artist began a series of ‘collaborative’ projects that organised temporary groups for specific causes in order to uncover the dynamics within micro-societies and temporary communities.

Following the March 11 earthquake in Japan in 2011, Tanaka assumed a role akin to that of a film director to organise, produce, and direct a series of works centred on human relationships in Japan, which he refers to as ‘collective actions.’ This exhibition will showcase the artist’s decade-long creative practice, featuring over ten works, and including his early installations alongside new video works supported by UCCA. This exhibition is curated by UCCA Curator Neil Zhang.

About the Artist

The artist mainly produces video and installation, many of which are developed site-specifically. He often deals with everyday commodities and surroundings, and recently has put more focus on everyday people’s behavior with his conceptual approach and subtle control, in order to create a visual sphere that challenges the mundane and the rational embedded in the minds of the viewers. In doing so, he lets the work entice them into a spontaneous aesthetic experience.

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Also Exhibiting at UCCA

All Exhibitions

Carsten Höller UCCA 6 June–11 October 2026 UCCA Beijing

Duan Jianyu UCCA 1 May–30 August 2026 UCCA Beijing

John Baldessari UCCA 19 September 2026–3 January 2027 UCCA Beijing

About the Gallery

UCCA Center for Contemporary Art is China’s leading contemporary art institution. Committed to the belief that art can deepen lives and transcend boundaries, UCCA presents a wide range of exhibitions, public programs, and research initiatives to a public of more than one million visitors each year. UCCA Beijing sits at the heart of the 798 Art District, occupying 10,000 square meters of factory chambers built in 1957 and regenerated in 2019 by OMA. UCCA Dune, designed by Open Architecture, lies beneath the sand in the seaside enclave of Aranya in Beidaihe.

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Address

798 Art District
No 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu
Chaoyang District
Beijing
China

Opening Hours

Tuesday – Sunday
10am – 7pm

Closed Monday

UCCA

798 Art District, No 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China

+86 10 5780 0200
http://www.ucca.org.cn/en

Opening hours

Tuesday – Sunday
10am – 7pm

Closed Monday

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