Artists Space

A Conversation with Min Tanaka

January 19, 2022, 7pm

Artists Space is pleased to present a special virtual discussion with the renowned dancer Min Tanaka as the final event for Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency. Tanaka was one of Milford Graves' most cherished and longstanding collaborators and we are thrilled that he can join us to reflect on their first meeting and their decades-long artistic dialogue.

Very special thanks to Satoshi Kondo and Allyson Spellacy of Fergus McCaffery Gallery and Rin Ishihara for making this conversation possible.

Black and white photograph of a performance. In the foreground, a blurred barefoot person in a suit swiftly raises their arms and right leg, curving in a halfmoon shape. In the background a drummer sitting at a drumset is visible.
Aki Onda, Milford Graves and Min Tanaka, 1985. Courtesy of Aki Onda. [Black and white photograph of a performance. In the foreground, a blurred barefoot person in a suit swiftly raises their arms and right leg, curving in a halfmoon shape. In the background a drummer sitting at a drumset is visible.]

A Conversation with Min Tanaka. Event documentation, January 19, 2022, Artists Space. [A color video of a speaking figure dressed in a black sweater and hat sitting in front of a bookshelf.]

After training in classical ballet and modern dance, Min Tanaka began his solo activities in 1974, developing ‘hyper-dance,’ a new style of physical expression, which has led him to his international debut at the Louvre Museum in 1978. His performance—extremely gentle and infinitesimal movement to withdraw the potentiality of a body— impacted on the art world, far beyond the dance scene as a brand-new artistic expression. In 1985, he moved to a village in the mountainside where he still resides, in search for deeper physicality in his daily life based on farming. Since his first appearance in the film Twilight Samurai (Shochiku) in 2002, he has also actively performed in numerous films including Rurouni Kenshin (Warner Bros.) and a Netflix film The Outsider.

Lead Support for Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency is provided by the Robert D. Bielecki Foundation. Core Support is provided by Corbett vs. Dempsey, Martin & Rebecca Eisenberg, and Joe & Nancy Walker.

Program support for Artists Space is provided by The Friends of Artists Space, Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, The Cy Twombly Foundation, The David Teiger Foundation, The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Imperfect Family Foundation, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Stavros Niarchos Foundation, The Willem de Kooning Foundation, The Danielson Foundation, The Fox Aarons Foundation, Herman Goldman Foundation, The Destina Foundation, The Luce Foundation, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, VIA Art Fund, Arison Arts Foundation, The Chicago Community Fund, The David Rockefeller Fund, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, The Jill and Peter Kraus Foundation, The Richard Pousette-Dart Foundation.