Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect with Everything

Overview

2016 has been a great year for art in Australia. Melbourne's NGV hosted the epic Andy Warhol | Ai Wei Wei exhibition, a tight collection of Degas and Whistler's Mother, and Sydney has been graced by The Greats, Grayson Perry, Frida Kahlo and now a contemporary exhibition by Tatsuo Miyajima.

Known for his immersive and dramatic tech-inspired pieces, the Japanese installation artist will bring his work to the Museum of Contemporary Art from Thursday, November 3 as part of the 2016-17 Sydney International Art Series. Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect with Everything is his first solo exhibition in Australia, and it will include all of his significant pieces as well as some video and performance works.

Miyajima frequently uses LED lights in his art — often as numerical counters that count repeatedly from one to nine before going dark, to represent the importance of time. His use of it in his featured work Mega Death becomes a memorial to the deaths of WW2. Often interacting with the exploration of morality and the self, this will be demonstrated in other parts of the exhibition too. His installations often fill entire rooms — they are captivating, visceral experiences, as philosophically rich as they are visually breathtaking.

There are also accompanying paintings and works on paper, as well as video art. The exhibition will be curated by MCA's chief curator Rachel Kent, and looks set to immerse us in reflections on time, and ourselves. Plus, the MCA will set up a pop-up Cherry Blossom Bar out the front for a post-exhibition cocktail too.

Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect with Everything is part of the Sydney International Art Series and is showing at the same time as Art Gallery of NSW's Nude: Art from the Tate Collection. If you're planning on seeing the two exhibitions, you can purchase an Art Pass and get 20 percent off both.

By Kat Hayes and Imogen Baker.