The Burnaby Art Gallery is presenting Chronicles of Form and Space: Works on Paper by Takao Tanabe until January 22, 2012. The exhibit features 60 of the artist’s drawings and watercolours from 1945 to the present day. It will examine how his work has changed over the years and his “sense of place.”
Takao Tanabe was born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia in 1926. Along with many Japanese-Canadians, he was interred during World War II. He studied art at the Winnipeg School of Art, the Brooklyn Museum School of Art and the Central School of Arts in England. He also studied sumi-e and calligraphy in Japan while on a Canada Council Scholarship. Tanabe was also the head of the art program and artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre. He has received many honours including the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia and the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. His artworks are held by various galleries such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Tate Museum and the Art Gallery of Vancouver.
Takao Tanabe is also the subject of a book by the Alcuin Society entitled Takao Tanabe: Sometime Printer. It examines his experiences with letterpress printing. With what he learned in Japan, Tanabe was a one man printing company during the 1950s and ‘60s; he produced Invitations, birth announcements, Christmas card and other paper products. Visitors to the Burnaby Art Gallery will not see any of those products but they will see the development of one of Canada’s greatest artists.
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