Kinji Akagawa (born 1940,

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) is an American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

, and arts educator best known for sculptural constructions that also serve a practical function. A pioneer in the public art movement, Akagawa has throughout his career examined the relationship between art and community, most notably the concept of art as a process of inquiry. His sculpture and public artworks are noted for their refined elegance and use of natural materials, such as granite, basalt, field stone, cedar, and ipe wood. Akagawa trained at the

Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Academy of Art, a graduate school for architecture, art, and design, was founded by George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth in 1932. It is the art school of the Cranbrook Educational Community. Located in Bloomfield Hills, Mi ...

, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles; the

Minneapolis College of Art and Design The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) is a private college specializing in the visual arts and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MCAD currently enrolls approximately 800 students. MCAD is one of just a few major art schools to offer ...

; and the

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the flagship institution of th ...

, where he earned an MFA degree in 1969. From 1973 to 2009, Akagawa was a professor at the

(MCAD), where he taught

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

, installation and conceptual art. Akagawa's work is exhibited nationally and internationally and is found in numerous public and private collections, including the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, Washington, D.C.; the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, Washington, D.C.; the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

;

Norton Simon Museum The Norton Simon Museum is an art museum located in Pasadena, California. It was previously known as the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum and displays numerous sculptures on its grounds. Overview The Norton Simon collections ...

, Pasadena, California;

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the List of largest art museums, largest ar ...

; the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

, Minneapolis; the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City; and the

Ackland Art Museum The Ackland Art Museum is a museum and academic unit of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was founded through the bequest of William Hayes Ackland (1855–1940) to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is locat ...

, Chapel Hill, N.C. Notable public artworks include "Peace Garden Bridge" (2009), a collaboration with American architect Jerry Allan, in the Lyndale Park Peace Garden, Minneapolis; "Garden Seating, Thinking, Reading" (1987), in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden; "Bayou Sculpture" (1985),

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

; and "Four Seasons with a Sundial" (1984), Tettegouche State Park, near Silver Bay, Minnesota. Akagawa's awards and recognitions include the

McKnight Foundation The McKnight Foundation is an American Minnesota-based family foundation. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation maintains a $2.5 billion endowment, which it distributes in grants. In 2022, the foundation issued $120 million, supporting Min ...

Distinguished Artist Award (2007);"Sculptor Kinji Akagawa Receives 10th Annual McKnight Distinguished Artist Award"
McKnight Foundation website
Minnesota State Arts Board cultural collaborations grant (1995); Carnegie Mellon Foundation faculty enrichment grant (1984);

Artist Fellowship (1983); Bush Foundation Fellowship (1982); and a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

Fellowship (1965). Akagawa lives and maintains a studio in Afton, Minnesota. He is married to fiber artist Nancy Gipple.

Notes

References

* Abbe, Mary
"Artful Legacy."
''Star Tribune'', January 22, 2009. * Byrne, J. Kevin
"Kinji 101: A philosophically-minded primer-cum-tribute to acclaimed artist and educator Kinji Akagawa."
''MN ARTISTS'' (February 18, 2011). * Combs, Marianne
"Professor Teaches Students the Art of Living,"
''MPR NewsQ'', Minnesota Public Radio, February 5, 2009. * Higgens, Hannah. "Kinji Akagawa--Artistic Journey from the Egotistical Self to the Eco-tistical Self: Shifting the Focus from Maker to Relationship" ''Art Journal'' (April 2006). * Makholm, Kristin, ''Paradigm Shift''. Exh. cat. Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 2009. * Randall, Cynde. "Rivers Merging: Ten Cross-cultural Teams of Minnesota Artists Investigate the Meanings of Representation and Identity." ''Arts'' 18, no. 5 (May 1995): 6-7. * Riddle, Mason. "Platform." ''Architecture Minnesota Magazine'' 34, no.2 (March–April 2008): 17-20. * Schmelzer, Paul
"A Meadering Walk with Kinji Akagawa."
Interview. ''Walker'' (April 2006). * _____

''Eyeteeth'', October 31, 2007.
"What Art Can Be - A Restful 'Front Porch' on Campus."
''Pieces of Eight'' (Greenville, N.C.), September 1, 1986.

External links

2007 McKnight Distinguished Artist catalogue (PDF)

Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Kinji Akagawa at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Kinji Akagawa at Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis

* Featured on the "MN Original" artist profile series produced by TPT (Twin Cities Public Television)
MN Original Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akagawa, Kinji 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors American male sculptors Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni Minneapolis College of Art and Design alumni University of Minnesota alumni American artists of Japanese descent Artists from Tokyo Japanese emigrants to the United States Living people 1940 births 20th-century American printmakers Sculptors from Minnesota 20th-century American male artists