It all began in 1987 when on arriving in Europe. The Japanese artist (who lives in Tokyo and Berlin) was struck by the abundance of public monuments and our incapacity to really see them. Attracted to a notion of art that both plays with and explores tangible space and forms, Tatzu Nishi profoundly alters the perception we have of monuments and the space that surrounds them. He brings them closer and makes them more accessible in a new, intimate and domestic dimension.
His artistic operations add a private viewpoint—individual and collective—to monuments, to statues and details of larger works of architecture such as churches and stations. Removing monuments from their everyday context, his works enable an intimate and surprising encounter with familiar urban elements, made accessible in a way that is new and engaging.
His latest work is Discovering Columbus, a living room constructed around a statue of Christopher Columbus that stands over 20 metres high in Manhattan's Columbus Circle.
Tatzu Nishi, visiting New York many years ago, remained fascinated by it and saw it as a solitary and unknown figure, almost neglected by its fellow citizens. As Nicholas Baume, director and curator of Public Art Fund explains, "Tatzu felt it was time to give to Columbus his own apartment with a view of Central Park".
Despite its very central position, the statue is little known as it is surrounded by traffic and therefore only really visible silhouetted against the sky or at a distance from surrounding buildings
