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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

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Fluid Places
Ya-Chin Chang | Yen Yen-Jui Lai
Homer Shew | Motohide Takami

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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

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Painting Disaster From a Distance, Hyperallergic, October 26, 2019

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