Continuing through March 26, 2016
The influential Japanese artist and teacher Jiro Takamatsu (1936-1998) is here represented with examples from different bodies of work. Highlighting the exhibition is the monumental sculpture "Rusty Ground," which was exhibited in Documenta 6 in 1977. Moving from the geometric line drawings of the 1970s and 80s to the photographs of sculptural interventions from the same decade, to the shadow paintings of the 90s it becomes evident that while Takamatsu changed mediums he never abandoned his conceptual roots.
While works like "In the Form of Square” (1972) explore geometric relationships between three black forms situated on a white (paper) ground, works like “Shadow” (1997) are about the relationship between positive and negative space. Even the more humorous “Compound" pieces (both sculptures and photographs) are about the influence one object has on another and what it takes to render a utilitarian object — like a chair or a ladder — useless. Takamatsu's contemplative works are rooted in philosophical and spacial investigations.
Published Courtesy of ArtSceneCal ©2016
