Yuji Takeoka b. 1946
Overview
Yuji Takeoka (Born 1946 in Kyoto, Japan / Lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany)
Born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, Yuji Takeoka studied sculpture at Kyoto University of the Arts before relocating to Düsseldorf in 1972. He graduated from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1979 and continued to live and work in Germany. His first solo exhibition was held at Konrad Fischer Galerie in 1986, where his unique sculptural approach gained critical attention.
In 1992, Takeoka participated in Documenta IX in Kassel, Germany—an important milestone that brought him international recognition and acclaim from curators and critics. From 1995 to 2013, he served as a professor at the University of the Arts in Bremen.
Takeoka’s practice centers on a deep and sustained interest in the formal structures of exhibition. Shifting the focus from creating "objects" to exploring the "presentation of objects," he developed the concept of the pedestal as sculpture. His works eliminate superfluous elements to create reduced, spatial configurations that invite new ways of perceiving and interpreting space, display, and the act of seeing itself.
Recent major exhibitions include The Museum of Modern Art Saitama, National Museum of Art Osaka, Toyama Memorial Museum（Japan）in 2016, Gerhard Marcks Hause（Bremen, Germany）in 2012, Josef Albers Museum Quadrat (Bottrop, Germany) in 2011. Takeoka’s works are held in numerous international art collections, including Daimler AG (Stuttgart, Germany), Deutsche Bank (Frankfurt, Germany), Museum DKM, (Duisburg, Germany) S.M.A.K Gent (Gent, Belgium), Chiba City Museum (Japan), The Museum of Modern Art Saitama (Japan), National Museum of Art Osaka (Japan), Sammlung Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung (Hannover, Germany) and many more.