Yuji Takeoka: Selected Works 1986 – 2016

Born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, Yuji Takeoka studied in the 1970’s at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Here he had unique access to contemporary sculpture and started combining its tradition with his native Japan’s.

From the 1980’s on, Takeoka has maintained an interest in forms relating to contemporary ways of exhibiting art. Pedestals, vitrines, and frames are repeatedly present in the oeuvre of Takeoka. They are relieved from their usual function and appear highly aestheticized in his work.

Flawless and oftentimes with glossy, polished surfaces, Takeoka’s objects explore the borders between art, architecture and design. But they don’t just repeat the gesture of Duchamp’s readymades as the complex references in his works are always bound to aesthetics.