Kawada Kikuji

Born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1933. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Rikkyo University in 1955 and joined Shinchosha Publishing. Became a freelancer in 1959. Founded the photo agency “VIVO” (1959-61) with Akira Sato, Akira Tanno, Shomei Tomatsu, Ikko Narahara, Eikoh Hosoe and others. In 1965, he released The Map, a collection of works filled with abstraction and metaphor that symbolize the historical memory of Japan’s defeat in the war, and has continued to release works full of premonitions ever since. He says of his own work, “By capturing the demons lurking in the times as surprising shadows, memories may also become a mirror that reflects the artist’s style”. In recent years, he has been uploading his works daily on Instagram while pondering on photography.

Reference Works : Kikuji Kawada, The Map, 1965, Reprint edition (Akio Nagasawa Publishing, 2014). Image courtesy of PGI