CARLOS RUNCIE TANAKA
1958 - 2025
Peruvian artist of Japanese and British descent whose work explored memory, migration, ritual, fragmentation, and material transformation through ceramics, installation, and spatial practice.
The Artist
Carlos Runcie Tanaka was one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Peruvian art and in the broader field of ceramics and installation internationally. His practice moved between object and atmosphere, always rooted in Lima, always reaching further.
Themes and motifs
Throughout his life, he worked under these main categories to help give his work meaning.
Territory
Origin, sea, desert, earth and rock, fire. Clay as geological history, volcanic stone as active presence.
Migration
Cultural crossing, ancestry, movement, translation. Identity built deliberately, not inherited passively.
Fragmentation
Break, continuity, repair, reconstruction. The broken object as material that has acquired history.
Trascendence
Life and death, thresholds, Into White. Fire as irreversible agent. Ritual as the gesture that attempts an answer.
Practice by Period
A career spanning nearly five decades, from first experiments with clay to final meditations on fire and light.
Early Work (1978-1985)
First material explorations and formation of a sculptural language, shaped by time in Japan and early engagement with clay as geological matter.
Developing Practice (1986-1995)
Technical consolidation and the emergence of forms and motifs that would structure his later work — the sphere, fragmentation, the ritual object.
Mature Work (1996-2010)
Full development of his formal vocabulary. Recurring sculptural series, larger conceptual scale, and growing international presence including major installations in the United States and participation in biennials across Latin America and Europe.
Late Work (2011-2025)
Formal refinement and greater freedom. More distilled, organic pieces that synthesize his sculptural language. The Into White cycle as a sustained inquiry into threshold, fire, and what lies beyond.
Exhibitions
A record of exhibitions held during the artist's lifetime, and beyond.
Solo Exhibitions
Major individual exhibitions tracing the evolution of Carlos Runcie Tanaka’s practice from 1985 to 2025.
Group Exhibitions
Cultural crossing, ancestry, movement, translation. Identity built deliberately, not inherited passively.
Biennials, Art Fairs and Symposia
International biennials, fairs, ceramic symposia, and institutional gatherings across multiple regions.
Legacy Exhibitions and Activations
Exhibitions, research projects, and public activations developed by CRT Legacy after 2025.