Tetsumi Kudo

This exhibition at the Fridericianum in Kassel offered an in-depth, comprehensive view of works by the Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo. With the retrospective, the Fridericianum wished to build on its past exhibitions, e.g. "Inhuman" and continue the discussion on human restructuring in times of technological transformation.
Inherent to Kudo’s artworks is the call for a "new ecology", for which the atomic bombing of Hiroshima represents the seminal event. He interweaves nature, culture and technology so closely that the viewer constantly wonders where one sphere ends and the next begins. The human component in Kudo’s works is always depicted as wired, circuited, crammed or mutilated. In his machine gardens, incubators, cages and greenhouses – all of which seem to have come from an eerie world of science fiction – toxins, poisons and nuclear catastrophe not only cause destruction, but also serve as catalysts for creative processes. Biological processes, organic physicality and technoid apparatuses are closely interconnected. This may be the reason why his works are an important point of reference for criticism of the Western, Eurocentric concept of humanism.
The educational concept focused on how the human image and physicality were changing with respect to advances in technology. The relationship between nature, humanity and technology served as the subject of discussions with scholars and artists, as well as that of long-term cooperative projects with schools and other institutions of learning.

Artistic director: Susanne Pfeffer
Artist: Tetsumi Kudo (JP)