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Artist Kei Ito
Kei Ito
Born20 February 1991
NationalityJapanese
Occupation(s)Visual artist, photographer, installation artist
Known forPhotography, installation art, conceptual art

Kei Ito (伊東 慧, Itō Kei, born 1991) is a Japanese visual artist working primarily with installation art and experimental photography currently based in the United States. He is most known for his Sungazing,[1] Afterimage Requiem,[2] and Burning Away series.

Themes and inspiration

Ito’s work addresses issues of deep intergenerational loss and connections as he explores the materiality and experimental processes of photography, visualizing the invisible: radiation, memory and life/death.

Ito’s work, fundamentally rooted in the trauma and legacy passed down from his late grandfather ( Takeshi Ito )—a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima—, meditates on the complexity of his identity and heritage through examining the past and current threats of nuclear disaster and his present status as a US immigrant.

Many of Ito’s artworks transformed both art and non-art spaces into temporal monuments that became platforms for the audience to explore social issues and the memorials dedicated to the losses suffered from the consequences of those issues.

Exhibitions

Ito has shown in over 60 exhibitions worldwide. Among those are solo exhibitions at prominent spaces such as the Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art Museum, Winston-Salem, NC; Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA; IA&A at Hillyer (Hillyer Art Space), DC; and Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH. Group exhibitions of note include: the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL; Ethan Cohen KuBe, NY; the Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL; California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA; and PH21 Gallery in Budapest, Hungary.

2024

2023

2022

2021

  • Aborning New Light, Center for Fine Art Photography, Denver, CO[11]
  • Recovery to Normal Existence, The Halide Project, PA[12]
  • Our Looming Ground Zero, Creative Alliance, MD[13]
  • OD Photo Prize 2021, Open Door Gallery, London, UK[14]
  • This Place is a Message, ArtYard Contemporary Art Center, NJ[15]
  • Unbound 10!, Candela Gallery, Richmond, VA[16]

2020

  • Atomic Sentence, Harmony Hall Regional Center, DC[17]
  • Darkest Before Dawn: Art in A Time of Uncertainty, Ethan Cohen KuBe, NY[18]
  • Elongated Shadows, Apexart, NY[19]
  • What Does Democracy Look Like? Museum of Contemporary Photography, IL[20]
  • New Talents: 2020, PEP(Photographic Exploration Project), Berlin[21]

2019

2018

  • InLight Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1708 Gallery, VA[26]
  • Fotofocus Biennial 2018: Nuclear Fallout, Antioch College, OH[27]
  • The Noorderlicht Summer: Opera Spanga Aida, Noorderlicht: House of Photography, Netherland[28]
  • What Keeps You Up at Night, Mendocino College Art Gallery, Ukiah, CA
  • Afterimage Requiem, Baltimore War Memorial, MD[29]
  • Only What We Can Carry, IA&A at Hillyer (Hillyer Art Space), DC[30]
  • Infertile American Dream, 14x48 Art Billboard, 215 Woodpoint Rd, Brooklyn[31]
  • Atomic Traces, Online sponsored by 14x48.org Art Billboard[32]

2017

  • Re:Collection, Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, Chicago, IL[33]
  • 3rd International Exhibition on Conceptual Art, CICA Museum, South Korea[34]
  • 54th Annual Group Exhibition, Masur Museum of Art, LA[35]
  • Wave Pool 44th Group Exhibition, Field Projects Chelsea Gallery, NY[36]

Residencies

2025

2024

2023

  • Santa Fe Art Institute, NM: Changing Climate Residency[39]

2022

2021

2020

2019

Awards

2023

2022

  • CPA Artist Grants, Center for Photographic Art, CA[47]
  • ACP Equity Scholarship, Atlanta Celebrates Photography, GA[48]
  • Baker Artist Award (Multi-disciplinary) Finalist, GCBA, MA[49]

2021

  • OD Photo Prize - Judges’ Picks Award, Open Door Gallery, UK[14]
  • The Candela Collection Acquisition Award, Candela Gallery, VA[50]
  • The Critical Mass 2021 TOP 50, PhotoLucida, OR[51]
  • Contemporary Art Purchasing Program, University of Maryland: Stamp Gallery, MD[52]
  • FCA Emergency Project Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, NY
  • Denis Roussel Fellowship, The Center for Fine Art Photography, CO[53]

2020

  • The Marva and John Warnock Biennial Award, University of Utah, UT

2019

2018

  • Individual Artist Award: Photography, Maryland Arts State Council, MD[57]
  • Artist in Residence at Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD[56]

2017

  • Working Artist Photography Award/Grant, Working Artist Org, WA[58]
  • Honorable Mention for INFOCUS Sidney Zuber Photography Award, Phoenix Art Museum, AZ
  • Maryland representative Artist for The States Project,[59] Lenscratch

2016

  • 7th Manifest One Award,[60] Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
  • Rubys Artist Project Grants:[61] Full grant recipient, GBCA
  • Honorable Mention for IPA: International Photography Awards
  • 4th Annual New York Times Portfolio Review recipient
  • Shortlisted for Royal Photography Society Annual print exhibition, UK
  • Snider Prize honorable mention
  • Awards for Innovations in Imaging[62] awarded by Society of Photographic Education
  • Shortlisted for Royal Photographic Society Annual print exhibition, UK
  • Shortlisted for Tokyo International Foto Awards
  • Honorable Mention Award at 53rd Annual Juried Exhibition at Masur Museum, Monroe, Louisiana

Publications

  • Washington Post, In the galleries: Multimedia show explores the nuances of Black life: A creative interpretation of Hiroshima by Mark Jenkins[63]
  • BmoreArt, Building Blocks of Narratives: New Solo Exhibits by Kei Ito and R.L. Tillman by Fanni Somogyi[64]
  • Hyperallergic, Kei Ito Traces Tragedy and Mourning by Dereck Stafford Mangus[65]
  • Strange Fire Collective, Q&A: THE HIGH WALL: KEI ITO By Jesse Egner and Kelly Lee Webeck[9]
  • Silver Eye Center for Photography, 2022 Silver List by The Black List[66]
  • PhotoLucida, 2022 Critical Mass Top 50 Photographers [67]
  • Catalyst Contemporary 2021 Catalog[68]
  • It’s Nice That, Kei Ito builds an exhibition space around his grandfather’s survival of Hiroshima by Dalia Al-Dujaili[69]
  • Postdigital Science and Education, Simple, Dark, and Deep: Photographic Theorizations of As-Yet Schools by Sarah Pfohl[70]
  • Denverite, On the anniversary of the first nuclear test, an artist and third-generation Hiroshima victim imagines a nuclear-free world by Maggie Donahue[71]
  • Candela Gallery, Photography is Dead, Long Live Photography Exhibition Catalog[72]
  • BmoreArt, Art and: Kei Ito - Ito’s work tells how people were affected by nuclear warfare, and how we could be affected again by Suzy Kopf[73]
  • e-flux, Elongated Shadows by apexart[74]
  • apexart - Elongated Shadows by Liz Faust [75]
  • Hyperallergic, Review: In the Shadow of the Atomic Bomb, Artists Respond by Ilana Novick[76]
  • Strange Fire Collective, In This Body of Mine at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design [77]
  • Studio Magazine (University of Utah), 2020 Warnock AIR Interview: All That Can Happen In a Single Breath by Marina Gomberg, 2020, printed[78]
  • Washington City Paper, The Best Photo Exhibits of 2018 by Louis Jacobson[79]
  • Exposure Magazine/Medium, Art of the Atomic Legacy: the Work of Kei Ito[80]
  • BBC World News and BBC Culture/Art interviewed about Afterimage Requiem exhibition.[81]
  • Washington Post Magazine published an article about the project Afterimage Requiem[82]
  • The Baltimore Sun Newspaper featured the project Afterimage Requiem on the front article[83]
  • Washington Post reviewed the solo exhibition at Hillyer Art Space in DC[84]
  • Strange Fire Collective Q&A: KEI ITO[85]
  • Velocity Magazine Making Meaning of the Atomic Bomb[86]
  • Art Maze Magazine International Issue 3: Summer, 2 page spread[87]
  • Featured on the Chicago Magazine The 5 Biggest Buys by Chicago Art Museum in 2016[88]

Collections

Art Fairs

  • 2023 Art on Paper[90]
  • 2021 Art Miami [91]

Education

  • Masters of Fine Arts in Photographic and Electronic Media from the Maryland Institute College of Art, 2016
  • Bachelors of Arts in Fine Art Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology, 2014

References

  1. ^ "Sungazing: Print". KEI ITO. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  2. ^ "Afterimage Requiem". Afterimage Requiem. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  3. ^ "Kei Ito: Staring at the Face of the Sun". georgiamuseum.org. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  4. ^ "Kei Ito: The Beginning, in the land around me - Gregory Allicar Museum of Art | Colorado State University". Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  5. ^ Oviedo de Valeria, Jenny (1994-08-02). "http://www.revista-educacion-matematica.org.mx/descargas/vol6/vol6-2/vol6-2-5.pdf". Educación matemática. 6 (2): 73–86. doi:10.24844/em0602.06. ISSN 2448-8089. {{cite journal}}: External link in |title= (help)
  6. ^ "Kei Ito: Each Tolling Sun". hilliardmuseum.org. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  7. ^ "Direct Contact: Cameraless Photography Now". Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  8. ^ "The Stamp Gallery presents Teach Me How to Love This World: Kei Ito". Adele H. Stamp Student Union. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  9. ^ a b "Q&A: The High Wall: Kei Ito". Strange Fire. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  10. ^ "The Heart Isn't Heart-Shaped". Longwood Center for the Visual Arts. 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  11. ^ "Kei Ito | Aborning New Light". Center for Fine Art Photography. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  12. ^ "Gallery 1". The Halide Project. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  13. ^ "Kei Ito: Our Looming Ground Zero Exhibition | Creative Alliance". www.creativealliance.org. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  14. ^ a b "Kei Ito Archives". Open Doors Gallery. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  15. ^ "This Place is a Message". ArtYard. Retrieved 2021-08-03. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  16. ^ "EXHIBITION: UnBound10!". Candela Books + Gallery. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  17. ^ "Atomic Sentence: Art exhibition by Kei Ito". Kuula. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  18. ^ "DARKEST BEFORE DAWN | Ethan Cohen Gallery | KuBe". Ethan Cohen Gallery. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  19. ^ "apexart Exhibition: ELONGATED SHADOWS". apexart.org. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  20. ^ "What Does Democracy Look Like? | Museum of Contemporary Photography". www.mocp.org. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  21. ^ "New Talents 2020". PEP. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  22. ^ "Archives Aflame". SECCA - Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  23. ^ OctoberCMS. "Out of the Box: Camera-less Photography". www.norton.org. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  24. ^ "Ghostly Traces: Memory and Mortality in Contemporary Photography". Vicki Myhren Gallery. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  25. ^ "Dear Leader". Candela Books + Gallery. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  26. ^ "Inlight Richmond - About". www.1708gallery.org. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  27. ^ "Nuclear Fallout: The Bomb in Three Archives with Kei Ito and Migiwa Orimo". FotoFocus Biennial 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  28. ^ "Aida, a mirror in photographs". www.noorderlicht.com. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  29. ^ "The artists healing the wounds of Hiroshima". 2 February 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  30. ^ "Kei Ito | IA&A at Hillyer". athillyer.org. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  31. ^ "Campaigns". 14x48 Public Art Projects. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  32. ^ "Atomic Traces". atomictraces.com. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  33. ^ "re:collection | Museum of Contemporary Photography". www.mocp.org. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  34. ^ "Concept 2017". CICA. 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  35. ^ "Reception: 54th Annual Juried Competition". www.masurmuseum.org. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  36. ^ "Current / Past". Field Projects. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  37. ^ "Light Work / Announcing Light Work's 2025 Artists-in-Residence". www.lightwork.org. 2024-09-18. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  38. ^ Burczyk, Monika (2024-04-08). "APRIL @ MILLAY ARTS". Millay Arts. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  39. ^ "Kei Ito". Santa Fe Art Institute. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  40. ^ comscfa (2022-01-27). "FAR & Away Virtual Artists in Residence: Kei Ito and Andrew Keiper". Facility for Arts Research (FAR). Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  41. ^ "The Studios Archive". Assets for Artists. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  42. ^ "Denis Roussel Fellowship". Center for Fine Art Photography. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  43. ^ "Marva and John Warnock Artist in Residence - Department of Art & Art History". www.art.utah.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  44. ^ "You are being redirected..." www.cpw.org. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  45. ^ "Winners 2023". Rotlicht Festival. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  46. ^ "National Endowment for the Arts Announces First Round of Fiscal Year 2023 Grants". www.arts.gov. 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  47. ^ "Grant Recipients". Center for Photographic Art. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  48. ^ atlantacelebratesphotography_ortrb8. "Portfolio Review Equity Scholarship: Call for Entry". Atlanta Celebrates Photography. Retrieved 2023-01-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  49. ^ "2022 Baker Artist Award Finalists". Baker Artist Portfolio. 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  50. ^ "UnBound10!". Candela Books + Gallery. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  51. ^ "Top 50 | Photolucida". www.photolucida.org. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  52. ^ a b "Under My Skin". The Stamp Gallery Blog. 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  53. ^ "Denis Roussel Fellowship". Center for Fine Art Photography. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  54. ^ "Artist Residencies". www.cpw.org. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  55. ^ "Artscape 2019 :: Visual Arts :: Semifinalists". artscape.org. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  56. ^ a b "Kei Ito | Creative Alliance". www.creativealliance.org. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  57. ^ "Kei Ito | Maryland State Arts Council". www.msac.org. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  58. ^ "Photography Award | Working Artist Org". www.workingartist.org. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  59. ^ Gould, Jay (March 29, 2017). "Kei Ito: The States Project: Maryland". lenscratch.com.
  60. ^ "Manifest One 7 Award".
  61. ^ "GCBA". 4 October 2016.
  62. ^ "SPE Award Winners".
  63. ^ "Review | In the galleries: Multimedia show explores the nuances of Black life". Washington Post. 2024-01-04. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  64. ^ "Building Blocks of Narratives: New Solo Exhibits by Kei Ito and R.L. Tillman". BmoreArt. 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  65. ^ Mangus, Dereck Stafford (2022-11-06). "Kei Ito Traces Tragedy and Mourning". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  66. ^ "Home". Silver Eye Center for Photography. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  67. ^ "Top 50 | Photolucida". www.photolucida.org. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  68. ^ "Catalyst Contemporary - Artist Roster". simplebooklet.com. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  69. ^ "Kei Ito builds an exhibition space around his grandfather's survival of Hiroshima". www.itsnicethat.com. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  70. ^ Pfohl, Sarah; Ayers, Bill; Turner, Aaron R.; Goodfreed, A.B.; Zecchin, Megan; Borowski, Michael; Ito, Kei; Efeoglou, Eleni; Moore, Robyn; Wittig, Mark D.; Young, Chris (2021-10-01). "Simple, Dark, and Deep: Photographic Theorizations of As-Yet Schools". Postdigital Science and Education. 3 (3): 793–830. doi:10.1007/s42438-021-00233-9. ISSN 2524-4868.
  71. ^ "On the anniversary of the first nuclear test, an artist and third-generation Hiroshima victim imagines a nuclear-free world". Denverite. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  72. ^ "Photography is Dead: Group Exhibition". Candela Books + Gallery. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  73. ^ "Art and: Kei Ito". BmoreArt. 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  74. ^ "Elongated Shadows - Announcements - e-flux". www.e-flux.com. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  75. ^ "apexart | Elongated Shadows Exhibition Essay". apexart.org. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  76. ^ Novick, Ilana (2020-10-20). "In the Shadow of the Atomic Bomb, Artists Respond". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  77. ^ "In this body of mine". Strange Fire. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  78. ^ "Studio '20 by UofU College of Fine Arts - Issuu". issuu.com. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  79. ^ "The Best Photo Exhibits of 2018". Washington City Paper. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  80. ^ "Art of Atomic Legacy: the Work of Kei Ito". Medium. Exposure Magazine. 2018-09-12. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  81. ^ "The artists healing the wounds of Hiroshima". www.bbc.com. February 2, 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  82. ^ Venema, Sheri (January 18, 2018). "One worked on the A-bomb. The other was a victim. How their grandsons now create art together". Washington Post Magazine. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
  83. ^ Pitts, Jonathan M. "'Requiem' for Hiroshima, a timely artistic warning, to go on display in Baltimore". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  84. ^ Jenkins, Mark (January 12, 2018). "In the galleries: Artists talk through their hats". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
  85. ^ "Q&A: Kei Ito". Strange Fire. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  86. ^ "Making Meaning of the Atomic Bomb". Velocity. Maryland Institute College of Art. 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  87. ^ "List of Finalists". Art Maze Magazine. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  88. ^ Foumberg, Jason. "The 5 Biggest Buys by Chicago Art Museums in 2016". Chicago magazine. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  89. ^ "MoCP".
  90. ^ "Catalyst Contemporary at Art on Paper 2023". Artsy. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  91. ^ "Catalyst Contemporary". www.artmiami.com. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
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