Professional Biography

Garrick Imatani is an artist and educator living in Portland, Oregon. His research interests include the physical use and organization of public space, social rituals, agency, performative history and monuments. His work draws upon multiple media, collaborations and publics.

Imatani has exhibited his work at venues such as Art in General (NYC), Asian American Arts Centre (NYC), Contemporary Artists Centre (North Adams, MA), University of Oregon’s White Box, and the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art. He is the recipient of several grants and awards, including from the Oregon Arts Commission, Maine Arts Commission and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Imatani regularly lectures about art and pedagogy, and has served as a critic and organizer of exhibitions, symposia and conferences. 

Prior to coming to Lewis & Clark College, Professor Imatani held positions at Ursinus College, Maine College of Art and Columbia University. 

Teaching Philosophy 

The term ‘Foundations’ comes from the Bauhaus, a famous and deeply influential arts school in Germany that in the 1930s developed a program of study that has come to dominate studio-based arts curriculum ever since. The Bauhaus model of Foundations is characterized by exercises that focus on ‘pure form’ and universal principles of design. I believe it is essential to explore and instill understanding of these fundamental skill sets in developing artists for their historical and practical significance. However, I am also committed to exposing students to multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary practices that prioritize the visual communication of content, concepts, and technical adaptability.

I feel compelled to inform my students of the critical landscape which they inherit, therefore, influential texts and exposure to professional art practices becomes an essential component of my classes, especially at the advanced level. I want my students to understand that the practice of art is a discipline shaped as much by intellectual curiosity, art historical precedent and the socio-political reality in which it is produced as by formal design principles, media, and technique. I always try to instill that art practice is a fundamental response to broader cultural experiences, and I encourage students to make work that speaks to their own ethics and understanding of visual culture.

Course Content

My current course load consists of 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimensional Foundations, Senior Seminar: Studio, as well as Special Topics courses such as Alternative Distribution - a multidisciplinary studio course that explores geo-mapping technologies in digital photography and video, site-based sculptural and performative interventions, web-based collaboration, and the book as exhibition site.

In Fall 2011, Alternative Distribution will be conducting a collaboration with Greg Scranton, a collaborating member of basekamp. Basekamp recently presented Plausible Artworlds at the annual Creative Time Summit: Revolutions in Public Practice in New York City, curated by Nato Thompson. In addition, students will meet with artists Anna Gray & Ryan Wilson Paulsen at the site of their upcoming project for the Time-Based Arts Festival, sponsored by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, to discuss how they implement text and the book into their working process.

*Please check back as we are in the process of updating our website, including images of our current Foundations curriculum which includes silkscreen printing, stop motion animation video, and cross-disciplinary collaborations with students in Nanomaterials Chemistry and Intro to Poetry.

Last updated: Fall 2011

Recent News

Please see “News” section of Professor Imatani’s website. 

               

 

 

                                                  

Garrick Imatani & Isami Ching,Song of the Willamette River, 2010. 

Academic Credentials

M.F.A.   (2000)     Columbia University

B.A.       (1996)     University of California, Santa Barbara 

Courses Taught

Art 102        2D Foundations

Art 103        3D Foundations

Art 411        Senior Seminar-Studio

Art 227        Special Topics: Alternative Distribution