"I don’t want to be a painter, nor an illustrator, nor a cartoonist.
What I want is ceaseless anarchy."
Tiger Tateishi
Tiger Tateishi (1941-1998) was a Japanese artist who lived and worked in Milan between 1969 and 1981. A painter, mangaka, illustrator and ceramist, Tateishi stood out for his eclecticism in the artistic scene of the second half of the last century, beloved by gallerists such as Alexander Iolasand appreciated by companies such as Alessi and Olivetti.
"Tiger Tateishi" marks the artist's first solo show in Italy and coincides with the opening of Tommaso Calabro’s new space in Milan.
Impossible to pigeonhole into a specific artistic style or movement, Tiger Tateishi was a versatileand imaginative artist. He had the ability to rework and converge the symbols of Asian culture, both Japanese and Chinese, into a syncretic universe, incorporating Western artistic influences that deeply fascinated him, such as Pop Art, Anti-Art, Cubism, Surrealism and Metaphysical art.
Undoubtedly, the Italian years were the most prolific for Tateishi in terms of pictorial production. In the decade marked by significant political upheavals across the peninsula, Tateishi carved out a space of his own in Milan's vibrant cultural scene. He became a highly sought-after collaborator with some of the most important artistic figures of the time, notably Ettore Sottsass, in whose studio he worked from 1971 to 1974.
This exhibition pays tribute to Tiger Tateishi with a selection of works on paper and paintings created between the late 1960s and the 1970s. It includes drawings signed "Tiger Pinxit," early and rare lithographs, as well as examples of his famous "cartoon" paintings, true kaleidoscopes of contemporary images and icons, where the artist's greatest passions converge: surrealism, science fiction and comics.
