Shinkichi Tajiri

The themes that recurred throughout his work had their roots in his Japanese origins, the American culture in which he grew up, and his wartime experiences. He combined traditionally Japanese subjects such as guards, samurai and knots with the fast-paced modern world of technology and science fiction, as well as the primal drives of sexuality and eroticism. After receiving a GI Bill Scholarship, in 1948 he went to Paris, where he aligned himself with artists from the Cobra group and met the love of his life Ferdi Janssen (1927-1969). In 1956 they settled permanently in the Netherlands, where Tajiri was embraced as an innovative sculptor.