work

takashi suzuki ever started with creating installations composed of forged iron parts mostly in the geometric forms such such as rectangular cuboid, tube or bar.

thereafter, he passed through a period which he worked on wood blocks and canvases /  paper in parallel.

currently, he specializes in the latter style of works, the pictorial expression.

this course of change can be said a transition of interests, from an interest in spatial composition of materials to an interest in visual experiences mainly in colors.

the red color-field is, foremost, basic to his paintings.

since 2007 the blue color-field has also been introduced and later beige / brown color-fields.

this last color is inspired by the color impressions takashi suzuki got of the fronts at the amsterdam canals.

his brush strokes on canvases and papers are meticulous, and, at a glance, the painterly elements such as brush traces are difficult to recognize.

accordingly, his works might appear to be lifeless, non-emotional geometric abstract paintings, yet any picture he creates conveys precisely the painter’s breathing, and does not differ, as to expression of manual skill, from other exquisite paintings; for he gives prudent considerations to the effects brought about by combining elements, such as the weave (coarse or fine) of canvas with pigments, or the color / texture of paper with pigments.

the color tones - a range of red colors, from pale pink to deep red, a range of blue colors, from pale sky blue to blue - do not have any literary connotation, symbolic nature nor superior-subordinate roles.

they are all neutral and abstract.

thoroughly painted in layers, a color-field itself is, and color-fields harmonizing or interfering each other are, a very expressive, serene and tranquil yet emotional, and furthermore clean yet sensual.

as to takashi suzuki’s paintings, some are single pictures each consists of single color-field, and some are single pictures each consists ot two color-fields by using two colors to separate a canvas (or a paper) partially unpainted.

some are composed of several canvases hung together leaving no space or some space in between.

there are also paintings whose composition involves the wall surface on which canvases are hung wide apart.

such various attempts to put the color-fields side-by-side are all equivalent; being equivalent means that all of these attempts have functions to convey tension and joy of the artist at work completely, and give viewers welcome and entertain them.

needless to say, although the attempts are equivalent, pleasures vary, depending on the composition or arrangement.

takashi suzuki sometimes attempts combinations of the color-fields in odd numbers (for example, ‘text no. 753 - no. 757’).

among the compositions of several color-fields, those compositions in odd numbers are for us very natural in terms of japanese sense.

since, with regard to visual composition, we tend to avoid symmetry, and as to number of elements, we prefer odd numbers such as 3, 5, 7....

or, it can be said, that the composition which avoids the steadiness by the even-number-arrangement has a kind of suggestiveness just like haiku*

*haiku is a traditional form of japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras.

(by dick bouwma based on a text of yoshinobu  shimasaki from a catalogue of exhibition ‘takashi suzuki - red, blue and light‘ 2010 /  translated by asami fujimoto). 

takashi suzuki

born in 1957 in tokyo, japan (jp)

lives and works in tokyo (jp)

education

1984 institute course, tokyo university of the arts

1983 master program of the tokyo university of the arts

1981 tokyo university of the arts

1976 tokyo metropolitan senior high school for music and fine arts

exhibitions

solo exhibitions among others in:

france (fr):

bordeaux: concept space

germany (de):

grenzach-wyhien: institut für bildnerisches denken

st. wendel: museum st. wendel, mia-münsterhaus

japan (jp):

nagano: the utukushi-ga-hara open-air museum

osaka: 

gallery ad&a

gallery yamaguchi kunst-bau

shibukawa: concept space

tokyo:

gallery 21yo-j

gallery 360 degrees

gallery alpha m

gallery ando

gallery gen

gallery ghibli

gallery manin

gallery terashita

kamakura gallery

park hotel tokyo

the netherlands (nl):

gallery 9 contemporary art

art amsterdam 2009 with gallery terashita tokyo in rai, amsterdam

tsjech republic (cz):

budweis: house of art

south-korea (kr):

daegu: gallery shilla

seoul: gallery shilla

switzerland (ch):

basel: kunstraum hebel_121

bern: kunstraum oktogon

solothurn: galerie christoph abbühl

wolhusen: das gästezimmer

zug: galerie carmen weber

group exhibitions among others in:

belgium (be), germany (de), japan (jp), the netherlands (nl), south-korea (kr), switzerland (ch), taiwan (tw)

gallery 9 presents the works of takashi suzuki since 2012:

2024 solo exhibition ‘3 colors’ in the gallery

2024 summer exhibition in the gallery

2023 holidays exhibition in the gallery

2023 summer exhibition in the gallery

2022 solo presentation at kunstrai | art amsterdam in rai, amsterdam

2022 spring exhibition in the galerie

2021 presentation at kunstrai | art amsterdam in rai, amsterdam

2021 summer exhibition in the gallery

2021 spring exhibition in the gallery

2020 solo exhibition in the gallery

2020 summer exhibition in the gallery

2019 summer exhibition in the gallery

2019 presentation at kunstrai | art amsterdam in rai, amsterdam (nl)

2019 spring exhibition in the gallery

2019 winter exhibition in the gallery

2018 summer exhibition in the gallery

2018 duo exhibition in the galerie together with esther stasse

2018 solo exhibition in the gallery

2018 winter exhibition in the gallery

2017 presentation at art the hague in fokker terminal, the hague (nl)

2017 summer exhibition in the gallery

2017 spring exhibition in the gallery

2017 presentation at rotterdam contemporary art fair in world trade center,

          rotterdam (nl)

2017 winter exhibition in the gallery

2016 season’s holidays exhibition in the gallery

2016 presentation at art the hague in fokker terminal, the hague (nl)

2016 summer exhibition in the gallery

2016 presentation at kunstrai in rai, amsterdam(nl)

2016 spring exhibition in the gallery

2016 presentation at rotterdam contemporary art fair in cruise terminal, rotterdam (nl)

2015 summer exhibition in the gallery

2015 a-a-f (after art fairs) exhibition in the gallery

2015 spring exhibition in the gallery

2015 presentation at art breda, chasséveld, breda (nl)

2015 spring exhibition in the gallery

2014 summer exhibition in the gallery

2014 jubilee presentation 25 years gallery 9 on kunstrai, amsterdam (nl)

2014 duo exhibition 19-04 > 18-05-2014 together with maurice brams (be) in the gallery

2014 jubilee presentation 25 years gallery 9 at art breda, breda (nl)

2014 jubilee presentation 25 years gallery 9 at raw art fair, rotterdam

2014 jubilee exhibition 25 years gallery 9 in the gallery

2013 summer exhibition in the gallery

2013 presentation at kunstrai in rai, amsterdam (nl)

2013 presentation at raw art fair in warehouse santos, rotterdam (nl)

2013 reopening exhibition in the gallery at keizersgracht 548, nl-1017 amsterdam (nl)

2012 summer exhibition in the gallery

awards

2004 international exchange program pola art foundation

2000 tues prize: the utukusi-ga-hara open air museum

1983 price of excellence at the 3th henry moore grand grand prize exhibition,

          the utukusi-ga-hara open air museum

1981 grand prize of the 4th japan emba art competition: japan emba museum

          ohhasi prize, tokyo national university of fine art and music