Iizawa Kotaro: Decoding PROVOKE

Art critic and photography historian, IIZAWA Kotaro was born in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, in 1954 and holds a Doctorate in Fine Arts from Tsukuba University. Iizawa was editor-in-chief of the quarterly photography magazine déjà-vu from 1990 to 1994 and has authored a number of books, including Touring into the History of Japanese Photography (Shincho-sha, 1992), Araki! (Hakusui-sha, 1994), Welcome to the Photography Museum (Kodan-sha, 1996), On I-Photography (Chikuma-shobo, 2000), Photographers and Their Words (Shuei-sha, 2003), Digigraphy: Does Digital Kill Photography? (Tyuokoron-shinsha, 2004), Japanese Photographers (Hakusui-sha, 2005), Araki Books! 1970-2005 (Bijutushuppan-sha, 2006), Pleasure of Photography (Iwanami-shoten, 2007), Thinking into Photography (Kawade-shobo-shinsha, 2009), The Age of Girls Photography (On-nanoko-shashin-no-jidai, 2010), Read deeply! 100 Super-masterpieces of Japanese Photography (Fuka-yomi! Nihon-shashin-no-cho-meisaku 100, 2012), Contemporary Japan Photo Archive: Photo Expression after the Earthquake 2011-2013 (Gendainihon-shashin-akaibu: shinsai-igo-no shashin hyogen 2011 - 2013, 2015), and Keywords in Contemporary Japanese Photography (Kiwado-de-yomu-gendainihon-shashin, 2017).

Isabella Tam is Associate Curator for Visual Art at M+, where she conducts research for the M+ Sigg Collection of Chinese contemporary art, a core collection of the museum; she also focuses on photography in East Asia and beyond. As a curator, she has co-curated “Canton Express” (2017) and “M+ Sigg Collection: Four Decades of Chinese Contemporary Art” (2016), and also contributed to several other M+ exhibitions, including “Mobile M+: Inflation!” (2013) and “Song Dong: 36 Calendars” (2012). Prior to joining M+, Tam was Assistant Curator of the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre. A recipient of the 2011 Whitechapel Gallery Curatorial Fellowship in London, Tam has two master’s degrees from the University of Essex, in Art History and Curatorial Studies.