Artwork photographs by Adam Reich
MOTOHIDE TAKAMI
Born in 1986 in Ishikawa, Japan
Lives and works in Chiba
Compelling and dreamy images bring the viewer deeper into these works: a house on a riverbank on fire, the portrait of the Japanese royal family juxtaposed with a Buddhist pagoda. In his own unique way, Motohide Takami explores the limitations of the idea of the individual, of compassion and of what it means to be human in today’s society.
After studying art and design at University of Toyama, Takami continued on to graduate school at Tohoku University of Art in Yamagata. The Great Earthquake of 2011 occurred while he was there, and the disaster and its aftermath had a definite impact on his choice of subject matter. One of his signature images, a house or car in flames by the riverside, refers to the Japanese expression, "fire on the other side of the river," meaning somebody else's business. It is Takami's ironic examination of human disinterest in tragic events.
Takami also makes more direct references to historical events and social issues on canvas. One painting shows the rocket Soyuz 1, whose 1967 crash resulted in space flight's first in-flight fatality. Another features the image of a German boom concrete pump used to cool nuclear reactors in Fukushima after 3/11. Such complex stories are narrated in ominous, yet captivating works. Takami's works remind us that tragic events have always been a part of history and keep challenging us to consider our place within it.
EDUCATION
2012
Received master’s degree at Tohoku University of Art and Design, Yamagata; specialized in culture and the arts with a major in Western paintings
2010
Graduated from University of Toyama, Faculty of Art and Design, Fine Art and Craft
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
Motohide Takami: Grazing at the Burning House of the Three Worlds, SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2020
Motohide Takami: Pay No Attention To The Rot, SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2019
Motohide Takami: Fires On Another Shore, SEIZAN Gallery, New York, NY
2018
Motohide Takami: Taigan kara mieru Fūkei (Scenery seen from the opposite shore) JINEN GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
2016
Motohide Takami: Ishiki no Tozama (Outside of consciousness), JINEN GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
2015
Motohide Takami: Tsugou no ii Fūkeitachi (Convenient Sceneries) JINEN GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
2014
Motohide Takami: Mitai monoshika Mienai (Only get to see what you want to see), NICHE GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
2013
Motohide Takami: Usushimoyou (Tran-scripted pattern), SAN-AI GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
2012
Motohide Takami-ten, Gallery b. Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
Yairo no Mori no Art: Spin Off-ten, Ningyōchō Vision’s Tokyo, Japan
Catenations, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, New York
ON THIS SHORE, SEIZAN Gallery, New York, NY
A Single Ant Bite, SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2019
LANDSCAPE, GALLERY TSUBAKI, Tokyo, Japan
Face 2019: Sompo Japan Nipponkōa Art Award Exhibition, Seiji Togo Memorial Sompo Japan Nipponkōa Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
The 3rd Yairo no Mori Bijutsu-ten, Ikeda Art Museum, Niigata, Japan
Watashi no naka no Murakami Haruki, Gallery Echo-ann, Tokyo, Japan
2017
ACT Art Award Exhibition 2017, The Artcomplex Center of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
ACT Art Award Exhibition 2017: Winner’s Exhibition, The Artcomplex Center of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
2016
KOWAII-ten V, Gallery 151A, Tokyo, Japan
GALLERY SELECTION-ten, Gallery b. Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
2015
Gashou-ten, Gallery Kingyo, Tokyo, Japan
Engimono-ten, Gallery 151A, Tokyo, Japan
2014
Tanzaku-ten, Arai Gallery, Art Data Bank, (Continued in 2015)
2013
Gallery b. Tokyo Gallery Selection, Gallery b. Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Kūsou Bijitsu Taishō-ten 2013, Itochū Aoyama Aret Square, Tokyo and Kyoto Zokyoudo Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
New City Art Fair Taipei, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Taiwan (ROC)
2012
KOWAII-ten II, Art Data Bank, Tokyo, Japan
Derby-ten, Gallery n O, Tokyo, Japan
Gallery SORA: Four Person’s Exhibition, Gallery SORA, Tokyo, Japan
2011
Aozora De Art, Gallery two-plus, Gallery two-plus, Tokyo, Japan
The 29th Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2010
Graduate Exhibition at University of Toyama: GEIBUNI, Takaoka Art Museum, Toyama, Japan
University of Toyama, Faculty of Art and Design Gakusei sakuhin sougo kouryu-ten, Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts, Finland
The 8th Thumb Hole Awards Exhibition, Nishiwaki, Okanoyama Museum of Art, Nishiwaki, Hyogo, Japan
Via art 2010, Shinwa Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
PABLICATIONS
2021
Front page design of the book King of the Animals: Stories by Russell, Josh (2021) published by LSU Press
AWARDS
2020
Honorable Mention for the FACE2021: Sompo Japan Nipponkōa Art Award
2017
Honorable Mention for the ACT Art Award Exhibition 2017, The Artcomplex Center of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
2010
Tatehata Award at the 1st graduate exhibition of the University of Toyama: GEIBUNI, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan
EXHIBITIONS
Fluid Places
Ya-Chin Chang | Yen Yen-Jui Lai
Homer Shew | Motohide Takami
Motohide Takami: Fires on Another Shore
PRESS
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Motohide Takami Explores Human Empathy with Paintings of Historic Disasters, Hypebeast, Sept. 5, 2019
Painting Disaster From a Distance, Hyperallergic, October 26, 2019