Exhibitions | MAKI Gallery | MAKI

MAKI Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Takahiro Yamamoto, an artist who paints meticulous reproductions of old postcards and portraits. By engaging with motifs whose raison d'etre is replication, Yamamoto inquires into the nature of uniqueness and originality. On first seeing his work, it is the artist’s breathtaking, photorealistic technique that intrigues the viewer. But what is the unique concept hidden in the depths of this technique?
Behind the artist’s choices lies his desire to investigate the relationship between an original and its reproduction. In general, the original is considered to have value, while reproductions are deemed lesser. However, if a reproduction (printed material or photographs) suffers fading or damage, and there is another reproduction which has survived through the same amount of time, the ways in which they deteriorate are not the same. They fade or become damaged, each in their own time. Thus, time bestows uniqueness on those reproductions. It is here that the artist finds time itself, faithfully replicating it. By depicting time’ in this way, Yamamoto endows reproductions with the value of an original.
It can be said that the artist’s astounding technique is a necessary means to execute this concept. We hope that through the artist’s work, you will discover for yourselves the artist’s true intentions: to express the significance and value of time.