Mitsukuni Takimoto What you see there — when did it come from?

Tokyo Gallery + BTAP is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by Takimoto Mitsukuni entitled What you see there — when did it come from? This exhibition, the artist’s fifth at our gallery since his first one was held here in 2002, will showcase a group of works that demonstrate a new direction for Takimoto, who has been exploring the polymorphism of time and space through wood sculpture for many years.

Takimoto Mitsukuni (b. 1952) moved to Italy in 1977 to study under the sculptor Toyofuku Tomonori. Over a period of more than 45 years since then, he has pursued his own unique form of sculptural expression, with a focus on wood carving. With his background as a restorer specializing in Buddhist statues, and with a deep understanding of old wood and traditional techniques, Takimoto has consistently experimented with various approaches to expressing fluid and indeterminate objects, such as painterly images and afterimages of memories, in the form of three-dimensional landscapes in wood sculpture. His exhibition “Takimoto Mitsukuni: Water,” held at the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art last year, was critically acclaimed for its advanced woodcarving techniques and approach to sculpture.

This exhibition will feature a group of new works that take their point of departure from the Chōjū-giga (Scrolls of Frolicking Animals), a series of picture scrolls in monotone ink lines from the Heian and Kamakura periods, developing them into sculptures while incorporating various elements from both past and present, East and West. In these works, Takimoto takes up the challenge of incorporating the fluidity of monotone ink lines and the temporal transitions found in picture scrolls into the static format of sculpture. Some of these works make use of old wood from Horyu-ji Temple in Nara and the blue sea wave patterns that Takimoto first created in Milan, so that the historical nature of the material itself appears as part of the work. The artist will also present new works from his “Waterfall” and “Unen (Cloud Smoke)” series, which he has been working on for many years. Takimoto’s attempts to capture the ever-changing nature of water and clouds using the static material of wood carving promises viewers an opportunity to reconsider the relationship between material and body, and between time and memory.

This exhibition promises to be a keen exploration of the world of “phases” that emerge from the dialogue between past and present, and between material and artistic practice.