Amidst the all the clamour and fluster of Frieze week, London’s Stephen Friedman Gallery opened a quietly wonderful show dedicated to Japanese artist Jiro Takamatsu.
Takamatsu died in 1998, aged just 62. He had been a key figure in the Japanese art world since the early 1960s when he co-founded the Hi Red Center with Genpei Akasegawa and Natsuyuki Nakanishi. The trio made a name for themselves cleaning the Tokyo streets with toothbrushes, an absurdist dig at the city’s clean up operation in preparation for the 1964 Olympics. Four years later he represented Japan at the Venice Biennale and hooked up with the Mono-ha group who were a little bit op art and a little bit minimalist but not truly either (Takamatsu doesn’t colour between the lines for one thing).
Most of the works at the Friedman show are from the decade between 1973 and 1983, mostly on paper and in pencil, gouache and pastel. Explorations of form, colour and spatial relations, they have a sketchy energy and internal tension. Also included are a series of sculptures and maquettes in iron and wood, of similar intent.
The exhibition also gives over a second gallery entirely to one of Takamatsu’s shadow paintings, set against the furniture and design objects of Shiro Kuramata, including his 'Glass Chair' and 'Cabinet de Curiositè'. Almost exact contemporaries, the pair collaborated on the Cazador Supper Club in Tokyo in 1967 and the room tries to capture something of that space, sadly long gone.
Takamatsu died in 1998, aged just 62; he had been a key figure in the Japanese art world since the early 1960s. Pictured: 'Jiro Takamatsu' (installation view)
He mastered many mediums, including drawing, painting, photography and sculpture – all of which are represented in this eclectic show. Pictured: 'Jiro Takamatsu' (installation view)
Although each series is distinct in theme, they are all imbued with a sketchy energy and internal tension. Pictured: Frame, 1982
Takamatsu also worked with pastel and gauche, exploring routes of enquiry into colour, line, space and form. Pictured left: Frame, 1982. Right: Space No.975, 1981
Simple, starkly coloured images belying a highly conceptual undercurrent
Takamatsu's practice touched upon various movements, including arte povera, post-minimalism and the Japanese Mona-ha group
Natural materials appear torn and reconstituted in the vibrant, minimalist Line and Surface, 1983 (foreground)
The exhibition also gives over a second gallery to one of Takamatsu’s shadow paintings. Pictured back: Three Shadows of a Man, 1997
This is set against the furniture and design objects of Shiro Kuramata, including his 'Glass Chair' and 'Cabinet de Curiositè' (designed 1989, pictured). Pictured: 'Jiro Takamatsu / Shiro Kuramata' (installation view)
Information
’Jiro Takamatsu’ is on view until 14 November
Photography: Mark Blower and Stephen White. Courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
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25-28 Old Burlington Street
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