Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Jiro Takamatsu

たかまつ じろう

Takamatsu Jiro

Aliases: 新八郎

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1936-02-20 （Tokyo, Japan）
Died
1998-06-25 age 62
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Tokyo, Japan → Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan

Career

Occupations
artist, avant-garde artist, painter, sculptor, photographer, filmmaker, art educator
Active Years
1958-1998
Affiliations
Hi-Red Center, Tama Art University (faculty), Tokyo University of the Arts (part-time lecturer), Juudai no Kai (founder/co-founder)
Memberships
Hi-Red Center, Juudai no Kai
Influenced By
Ryohei Koiso
Influenced
Japanese conceptual artists from the 1960s onward

Education

Tokyo University of the Arts
Painting Department (Oil Painting) / Oil Painting
Period: 1954-1958
Year of Graduation: 1958
Country: Japan
Studied under Ryohei Koiso while enrolled

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Perspective: Sunday Plaza

1970 installation

Large-scale installation presented at Expo '70 in Osaka in the 'Sunday Plaza'. It reverses perspective to challenge viewers' spatial perception.

perspectivevisual illusionreconfiguration of spaceaudience participation

Table of Perspective

1967 installation/object

A table-form work themed on perspective. Uses visual dislocation to question the relationship between object and representation.

perspectiveobject vs. representationvisual experiment

Glass Unit

1971 sculpture/installation

A standalone work using glass. Exemplifies a series that re-presents an object's existence through minimal intervention of natural material.

materialityminimal interventionre-presentation of existence

Japanese Characters (These Seven Characters)

1970 text art/installation

Part of a body of work using Japanese characters as material. Treats characters as visual elements and questions the boundary between language and image.

language and imagevisualization of charactersconceptual art

Shadow series (mural)

1967 mural/installation

A series that depicts only the 'shadows' of objects, bringing into relief the relationship between reality and image. Noted for its abstract and anti-art tendencies.

shadowreality vs. representationanti-art

Shadow Reception Room

1974 mural/installation

A mural created for a bank reception room, turning the entire space into an artwork using the motif of shadow.

shadowsite-specific workintervention in public space

Shadow of a Baby NO.387

painting/drawing

A work from the 'Shadow' series. Known as one of the pieces held in the collection of the Chiba City Museum.

shadowfragmentation of the human formsymbolization

Shape series

1980 painting

Series developed from the 1980s onward, marking a shift to planar expressions overflowing with lines, planes and color.

lines and planesabstractioncolor

Bibliography

  • Peter Pan (illustrated by Jiro Takamatsu) — Lab Education Center, 1974
  • Tom Sawyer (illustrated by Jiro Takamatsu) — Lab Education Center, 1977
  • The Birth of Land (illustrated by Jiro Takamatsu) — 1979
  • The Origin of the Deer Dance (illustrated by Jiro Takamatsu) — 2003
  • Question to Absence — Suiseisha, 2003
  • World Expansion Project — Suiseisha, 2003
  • The Fourth of the Narcissus Month (illustrated by Jiro Takamatsu) — 2007
  • PHOTOGRAPH — Asahisha, 2008
  • The Trajectory of Jiro Takamatsu's Production — Suiseisha, 2015

Style & Themes

Literary Style
conceptual artavant-gardeanti-art approachesabstract
Recurring Motifs
shadowreversal of perspectiveminimal intervention on natural objectslines and planes

Health

  • illness
    1990年代後半
    He continued working while ill and pursued his series until shortly before his death.

Legacy

He had a major influence on Japanese conceptual art from the 1960s onward. His works are held in major museums domestically and internationally and are highly regarded in exhibitions and art-historical contexts.

Museums

  • The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Tokyo, Japan
  • Chiba City Museum of Art Chiba, Japan
  • Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York New York, USA

Academic Societies

  • Juudai no Kai

Archives

  • Holdings of The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
  • Holdings of Chiba City Museum of Art
  • Holdings of MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York)

In Popular Culture

  • Performance events such as the Yamanote Line incident are cited as notable episodes in art history

Trivia

  • Active as a member of the Hi-Red Center.
  • Known for involvement in the 'Yamanote Line incident' performance.
  • Worked at Toei Animation between 1959 and 1960.
  • Worked at Silver Seiko between 1960 and 1964.
  • Birth name recorded as 'Shinb' (presented in Japanese as 新八郎).