Ai Makita was born in 1985, in Chiba, Japan. Graduated from Tokyo University of Arts, M.F.A. in Art and Education in 2013. Makita is a Tokyo based visual artist who uses artificial objects such as machine, metallic objects and plastics as her motif. She has attempted to create organic images in her paintings by using inorganic motifs. Her main concern is to represent boundaries between artificial and natural, 2D and 3D in her work. She got an M.F.A. of Tokyo National University of the Arts in 2013, her painting was selected for a permanent collection at the Museum of Tokyo National University of the Arts. Recently, she participated in a residency program in New York, and during that period, was selected as an exhibitor at the Consulate General of Japan in New York, where her paintings were exhibited for two months.
Makita has received numerous awards, fellowships, and residency programs, including the Terrada Art Award(Tokyo), Taro Okamoto Award(Tokyo), POLA Art Foundation(Tokyo), ART CAKE (New York) and the Varda Artist in Residency(Sausalito).
https://www.ai-makita.com
PROFILE
| 1985 | Born in Chiba, Japan |
| 2008 | Graduated from Tsukuba University, B.F.A. in Art and Design |
| 2013 | Graduated from Tokyo University of Arts, M.F.A. in Art and Education |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2020 | “Artifact” Mitsukoshi Nihombashi, Tokyo |
| 2019 | Ai Makita exhibition “Forms” Chiba bank gallery, Tokyo |
| 2018 | “Reflect on 10 years- Ai Makita” Karuizawa New Art Museum, Nagano |
| 2017 | “Works in New York” Spiral, Tokyo “Moving” Gallery Inage, Chiba “Gradation” Gallery Vask, Manila |
| 2015 | “Behave As a Named Existence” Roentgenwerke AG, Tokyo |
| 2013 | “13・17” Ai Kowada Gallery, Tokyo “SIGNS OF LIFE” Isetan Shinjuku, Tokyo |
| 2012 | “Jewels” Gallery Kunimatsu, Tokyo |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2020 | “This is now” ANA Inter Continental Tokyo, Tokyo “Art Cake Online Group Presentation” Art Cake, New York |
| 2019 | “Assorted Chocolates” ANA Inter Continental Tokyo, Tokyo “Self-Portrait as Mirror-Mirror as Self-Portrait” Artinformal, Manila |
| 2019 | “Assorted chocolates, ANA Inter Continental Tokyo, Tokyo |
| 2018 | “Shuttlecock” ANA Inter Continental Tokyo, Tokyo “Ignorance and Visualization” Pola Museum Annex, Tokyo |
| 2017 | “Silos” ART3 Gallery, New York “In Organic: Emerging Japanese Artist in New York” Residence of Japanese Ambassador, New York |
| 2016 | “Chronicle,Chronicle!” Creative Center Osaka, Osaka |
| 2015 | “Speak Soft, Listen Hard” Gallery Underground, Manila “RAN-SHO KOH-JUTSU chapterⅥ” Gallery Ten, Kanazawa “Sou-zou Kaigan INAGE” Gallery Inage, Chiba “18th. Taro Okamoto Award” Okamoto Taro Museum, Kanagawa |
| 2014 | “HYOH-BYOH KOH-JUTSU chapterⅤ”Spiral Garden, Tokyo “Future Exhibition – Collaboration of art universities” Nichido Garo, Tokyo “1st. Terrada Art Award” T-Art Gallery, Tokyo |
| 2013 | “TOH-KAI KOH-JUTSU chapterⅣ” Spiral Garden, Tokyo “Graduation Show” Museum of Tokyo National University of The Arts, Tokyo |
| 2012 | “Art Award Next 2012” Tokyo Art Club, Tokyo “C-DEPOT 2012 Tokyo-Yokohama” Red Brick Warehouse, Kanagawa |
| 2011 | “Nine Colors” Seibu Shibuya, Tokyo |
ART FAIRS
| 2019 | Taipei Dangdai, Taipei Nangang District, Taipei |
| 2018 | Art Miami, One Herald Plaza, Miami Art Fair TOKYO2018, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo |
| 2017 | Art Taipei 2017, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei |
| 2016 | Art Taipei 2016, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei |
| 2015 | Infinity Japan Contemporary Art Show, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, Taichu |
| 2014 | Art Nagoya 2014, Westin Nagoya Hotel, Aichi |
| 2013 | Art Fair TOKYO2013, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo |
| 2012 | Art Fair TOKYO2012, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo Art Taipei 2012, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei |
| 2011 | Art Kyoto 2011, Hotel Monterey Kyoto, Kyoto |
RESIDENCIES
| 2020 | Art Cake, New York |
| 2019 | Shortlisted for Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam Varda Artist in Residency, Sausalito |
| 2018 | Varda Artist in Residency, Sausalito |
| 2017 | Residency Unlimited, New York |
ACCOLADES
| 2017 | Fellowship grant from Pola Art Foundation |
| 2015 | Prize at the 18th. Taro Okamoto Award, Taro Okamoto Museum Artistic Cultural Award in Chiba city, Chiba city foundation |
| 2014 | Prize at the 1st. Terrada Art Award, Warehouse Terrada |
| 2013 | Selected for Collection Prize at Graduation Show, Tokyo National University of The Arts |
COLLECTIONS
Museum of Tokyo National University of Arts
Takahashi Collections
PRESS AND INTERVIEWS
| 2019 | Toru Kitahara ”Drawing A Wonderful Light” PLEASE12 Robert Anton Patterson ”Interview: Ai Makita” Leafbox http://leafbox.com/post/182585461040/interview-ai-makita |
| 2017 | Ronald Mabanag, Christopher Juan “Sublime rage against the machines: Ai Makita” Handpicked by Ron and Chris: https://handpickedbyronandchris.blogspot.com/2017/01/sublime-rage-against-machines-ai-makita.html |
| 2013 | Taisuke Shimanuki “Contemporary Sublime” ART NAVI |
