TAKASHI SUZUKI
Takashi Suzuki, born in Kyoto, Japan in 1971, is a Japanese artist.
He graduated from the Photography Department of The Art Institute of Boston. He was a guest student in the photography class of Thomas Ruff at Kunst Akademie Düsseldorf and also worked as the assistant for Thomas Struth during his years in Germany.
Takashi Suzuki 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 of the canals of Amsterdam.
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.
In his latest BAU series, he attempts to find how many sculptural forms one can create by using assemblages of particular mundane items. It promotes a differentiation of context, instilling potentially unexpected propositions. Rather than 'what' the actual photographic subject is, his interest is towards 'how' the photographic subject is perceived. Suzuki’s core motivation towards creation is to explore new definitions of seeing photography.
‘‘Even if photographic images exist as a method for interpreting the world, I believe those images are different from what we see. I am interested in how the photographic image is perceived, then what the photographic subject actually is, and also in what changes the photographed information.’’ – Takashi Suzuki
