Kanako Hayashi 林加奈子, was born in 1981 in Osaka, Japan. Kanako received her Master of Fine Arts from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2013, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kyoto Seika University in 2004. She currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
In her performative driven work, Kanako Hayashi gathers historical traces and fragments of memory in urban space by intervening directly with architecture and space through actions and setups in an attempt to render visible the invisible. Kanako’s practice is marked by intense training experience in competitive swimming and synchronized swimming during her teenage years. The experience underwater has led her to observe the world from a singular perspective, to develop a physical sense of being within restricted conditions and to nurture creativity that enables me to go freely back and forth between the boundaries of buoyancy (underwater) and gravity (on land).
EDUCATION
2014 Researcher, Tokyo University of the Arts, Inter Media Arts, Tokyo, Japan
2013 Master, Tokyo University of the Arts, Inter Media Arts, Tokyo, Japan
2011 Exchange Program, London University of the Arts/ Chelsea College of Arts and Design, London, UK
2004 Bachelor, Kyoto Seika University, Oil painting, Kyoto, Japan
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 Water Negotiation, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
2013 Between you, me and the Lamppost, Arts Initiative Tokyo (AIT), Tokyo, Japan
2013 PORTFOLIO 2013, Island Medium, Tokyo, Japan
2012 aM project 2011, Stratosphere, Gallery aM, Tokyo, Japan
2009 continue#6 STREET PRACTICE, Otto Mainzheim Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
GROUP EXHIBITIONS - Selected
2020 Tokyo Biennale 2020, Tokyo, Japan (Upcoming)
2019 7 days 7 performances, Der Riss, Berlin, Germany
2018 50 Jahre Künsthalle Bielefeld, Künsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
2017 ON DRAWING - Performing Arts Festival 2017, Berlin, Germany
2016 Sneak a Peek – a semi-open-air exhibition, West 22nd street, between 8th and 10th Avenue, New York, USA
2016 Afterimage, InCube Arts Gallery, New York, USA
2014 Alterspace, Asahi Art Square, Tokyo, Japan
2013 Kanda Community Center Art Project TRANS ARTS TOKYO, Aoyama Gohan-tei Building, Tokyo, Japan
2012 Kanda Community Center Art Project TRANS ARTS TOKYO, Former Tokyo Denki University 11, Tokyo, Japan
2011 Social Dive, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
2010 Skin & Map: the study of body and sense by four artists, Competition of Aichi Triennale 2010, Aichi Arts Center, Aichi, Japan
2010 Open Think Tank, Ino Artist Village, Ibaraki, Japan
2009 MEMENTO VIVERE/ MEMENTO PHANTASMA – No Mans Land, Former French Embassy, Tokyo, Japan
2009 HIROSHIMA ART PROJECT 2009, Yoshijima, Hiroshima, Japan
2009 Beppu Contemporary Art Festival 2009, Mixed Bathing World Relevant Program, Kiyoshima Apartment, Oita, Japan
2008 FREE MEDIA FREE ART, ZAIM, Kanagawa, Japan
2007 INDEX #3 - The Effect of Experience - Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo, Tokyo, Japan
PROJECTS
2020 63 Swimming pools, Berlin, Germany (Upcoming)
2006 La! Alegria de Mexico, Mexico-city, Mexico
2006 Sarajevo International Culture Exchange 2006 - Transition Compound, Asahi Art Square, Tokyo, Japan
2006 Sarajevo International Culture Exchange 2006 - Transition Compound, Gallery Nord, Berlin, Germany
2005 Sarajevo International Culture Exchange 2005 - Re-CultivatioN, Skenderija, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2004 Sarajevo International Culture Exchange 2004 - Living room, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
PERFORMANCE
2020 Performing Arts: “Mythology Upon the Table” by Baboo Liao, Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group, Wellspring Theatre, Taipei, Taiwan (Upcoming)
2019 Performing Arts: “Mythology Upon the Table” by Baboo Liao, Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group, Taiwan International Festival of Arts (TIFA) National Theatre & Concert Hall, Experimental Theatre, Taipei, Taiwan
2010 Performance, model: “Mermaid - Project for Aichi Triennale 2010” by Cai Guo Qiang, Aichi Triennale 2010, Aichi Arts Center, Aichi, Japan
GRANTS
2017 Bunkacho – Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, Japan
2015 POLA Art Foundation, Japan
2013 Asian Cultural Council, USA
RESIDENCIES
2017 Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
2016 Residency Unlimited, New York, USA
2014 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, USA
WORKSHOP
2015 How close or how far are you from your self image? - Workshop for Mythology Upon the Table, Taipei, Taiwan
DANCE, PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCES
2015 Participates in Winter Intensive Class: Trisha Brown Dance Company’s workshop, at Gibney Dance, New York, USA
2014 “Choreography = Possibility/ Dance = Potentiality.” Mårten Spångberg’s workshop, at Edens Expressway, New York, USA
2014 Participates in Summer Intensive Class: Trisha Brown Dance Company’s workshop, at Gibney Dance, New York, USA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2018 Between Gravity and Buoyancy Text by Karin Schulze
2017 Water Negotiation Text by Vera Feder
2013 Between you, me and the Lamppost, Text by Keisuke Ozawa
2012 The Daughter of Time Text by Roger McDonald
2012 Retrospection of Existence Text by Katsuo Suzuki
2008 Tactics: Kanako Hayashi Text by Yoshitaka Mori
REVIEWS
2019 (Mythology Upon the Table) L’odyssée asiatique, I/O Gazette, Text by Marie Sorbier
2017 Swimming As Dance, Dance As Movement, Movement As Drawing, Akademie Schloss Solitude: Schlosspost Text by Ana Mendes
2016 In Chelsea, Staring Through People’s Windows To Look at Art ARTSLANT NEW YORK Text by Olivia B. Murphy
2013 TRANS ARTS TOKYO, Artscape Japan Text by Ren Fukuzumi
2012 KANAKO HAYASHI, Artscape Japan Text by Ren Fukuzumi
2012 Stratosphere VOL 7 KANAKO HAYASHI, Art it Asia Text by Pw Davidson
2009 Satoshi Hashimoto & Kanako Hayashi at CAMP/ Otto Mainzheim Gallery, Artscape International Text by Roger McDonald
PUBLICATIONS - Selected
2018 Bilder einer Sammlung, 50 Jahre Künsthalle Bielefeld Jutta H lsewig-Johnen, Friedrich Meschede (Hrsg.) Published: WIENAND, Köln, Germany
2018 BE magazine #25, Published: Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
2017 Zine: Water Dance, Design: OK design. inc., Self Published, Tokyo, Japan
2014 Kanako Hayashi/ Between you, me and the Lamppost, Published: Arts Initiative Tokyo (AIT), Tokyo, Japan
2012 aM project 2011 Stratosphere, Published: Gallery aM, Tokyo, Japan
2012 Zine: The Daughter of Time, Design: OK design. inc., Self Published, Tokyo, Japan
2011 Living Art Room Magazine 005, Published: Living Art Room, Mexico-city, Mexico
2007 La! Alegria de Mexico, (zine) Self Published, Tokyo, Japan
2006 Re-Cultivation, Published: Sarajevo International Culture Exchange, Tokyo
2005 Living Room, Published: Sarajevo International Culture Exchange, Tokyo
2005 PLACTICA – The Battlefield of Arts: an Introduction to Social Arts(Cover photo),Published: Film Art Inc. Tokyo, Japan
COLLECTION
Künsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany