Koichiro Takagi
Born in Tokyo in 1974, Koichiro Takagi moved to the US after graduating from university in Japan and studied silkscreen printing at the Academy of Art College (now the Academy of Art University) in San Francisco. He then relocated to New York to start his career as a painter and returned to Tokyo in 2005, where he now lives and works. Takagi’s work depicts a peculiar, almost eerily utopian world populated by animals and anthropomorphic creatures, where conflicting ideas like familiarity and discomfort or anonymity and ethereality converge. Influenced by punk rock and street art, the artist continues to broaden the scope of his creative output by incorporating a wide range of materials and techniques, such as painting, embroidery, silkscreen, collage, and stencil.
Takagi’s recent solo exhibitions include Is This My God?, Gallery TARGET (Tokyo, 2021); Infinite Light, MAKI Gallery (Tokyo, 2020); This is the secret everyone knows, Gallery TARGET (Tokyo, 2018); and KEMONO, Clear Edition Gallery (Tokyo, 2016). He has also participated in numerous group shows worldwide, such as in the US, France, and Singapore.
Artworks
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Koichiro Takagi, I thought it was ugly, instead it was beautiful, 2019, embroidery, acrylic and lacquer on linen, 94.0 x 119.7 cm -
Koichiro Takagi, See You In My Black Magic, 2019, embroidery, painting, lacquer ink stain and coffee stain on linen, 112.0 x 162.0 cm -
Koichiro Takagi, It Was Cold Rain, 2015, acrylic, lacquer and embroidery on canvas, 94.0 x 68.0 cm -
Koichiro Takagi, I Heal Your Thirst, 2015, acrylic and embroidery on canvas, 63.1 x 53.0 cm -
Koichiro Takagi, Immuable Dusk, 2014, embroidery and lacquer on canvas, 91.0 x 117.0 cm -
Koichiro Takagi, Ear on The Fool, 2015, embroidery and lacquer on canvas, 60.0 x 60.0 cm -
Koichiro Takagi, Blessed by your hope, 2020, embroidery, acrylic and lacquer on linen, 42.0 x 33.0 cm -
Koichiro Takagi, We believe your dream, 2020, embroidery, acrylic and lacquer on linen, 42.0 x 33.0 cm
