Takako Azami

Azami is taken with the leaves and foliage of trees such as pines and plum, often of her own garden. She uses ink to draw oval dots, large and small, and lines on the backside of absorbent hemp paper. She allows the ink to bleed through to the front of the other side of the paper, generating a multi-layered effect and the depth to the plane. Born by chance, this method has been employed since 2000', and she has created many pieces slightly different from one another. Recently she introduces use of color mainly blue color. Her style can be read as the successor of Japanese ink painting Suibokuga, but at the same time she is surely one of the artists who belong to the development of Western abstraction.

Biography

- 1964 Born in Saitama, Japan

- 1988 BFA in Japanese Painting, Tama Art University

- 2004 Grant from Agency for Cultural Affairs for residency in USA

- 2009 Freeman Fellowship grant for Vermont Studio Center

- 2009 Grant from Pola Art Foundation for international exchange of the artists

Solo Exhibitions

- 2020 Takako Azami: Process of Transformation / Nakamuraya Salon Museum of Art/Tokyo

- 2018 Takako Azami: Garden with Strolling / Kawaguchi Art Gallery Atlia / Saitama

- 2017 Here/There, Art Front Gallery / Tokyo

- 2016 Shibata Etsuko Gallery（'03, '02, '00) / Tokyo

- 2015 Photosynthesis, Art Front Gallery / Tokyo

- 2012 Crazy for painting vol.4, gallery αM / Tokyo

- 2011 Photosynthesis, Art Front Gallery / Tokyo

- 2010 ARKO 2010, Ohara Museum of Art / Okayama

- 2009 Takako Azami “Viewing Light”, M.Y. Art Prospects / New York

- 2008 Individual Studio Visits, ISCP Gallery Space & Studio / New York

- 2007 Viewing Light, Art Front Gallery / Tokyo

- 2006 Viewing Light Art Interactive / Tokyo

- 2005 Gertsev Gallery / Moscow

Group Exhibitions

- 2020 Creative Women 1940s-2000s / Yoshizawa Memorial Museum of Art,SANO / Tochigi

- 2019 Observation:Artists Confronting the Wonder of Looking Intently / Gunma Museum of Art, Tatebayashi/Gunma

- 2019 The Power of Plants: Enlarging Japanese Painting / Kagawa Prefectural Higashiyama Kaii Setouchi Museum/Kagawa

- 2017 Framed Japanese-style Paintings, Tochigi Prefectural Museum / Tochigi

- 2016 The brilliance of Sumi: Expressions of black charcoal ink, Fudenosato Atelier / Hiroshima

- 2016 The Best Selection of The Ohara Museum of Art, The National Art Centre / Tokyo

- 2015 Present-Day Paintings: Two-Dimensional Works of Four Artists, Kawagoe City Art Museum / Saitama

- 2014 Sumi World Composed of Dots, The Suiboku Museum, Toyama / Toyama

- 2014 The Centennial of Tenshin Okakura’s death-Tenshin dreamed, The Museum of Modern Art / Ibaraki

- 2014 Quintet: Five- Star Artists, Seiji Togo Memorial Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Museum of Art / Tokyo

- 2013 Ohara Contemporary, The Ohara Museum of Art / Okayama

- 2013 [Villa Yurinso Special Autumn Exhibition 2013] Metamorphosis of Plants, Ohara Museum of Art / Okayama

- 2013 Ohara Contemporary, Ohara Museum of Art / Okayama

- 2012 18th MOA Mokichi Okada award ? have a view of Japanese Painting and craft tomorrow- MOA Museum of Art / Shizuoka

- 2012 5th Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Nikkei Japanese Painting Award Exhibition, The Ueno Royal Museum / Tokyo

- 2010 Memorial Exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the foundation - Ohara Best, Ohara Museum of Art / Okayama

- 2010 Art Omi Open Weekend, Omi International Arts Center / New York

- 2009 DOMANI : The Art of Tomorrow 2009 Exhibition, The National Art Center / Tokyo

- 2009 Suibokuga Today 2009, Suibokuga Museum / Toyama, Nerima Art Museum / Tokyo

- 2008 Kaleidoscope Abstraction in 10 ways New Jersey City University Gallery / New Jersey

- 2007 26th Outstanding Rising Artists Exhibition in 2007 Seiji Togo Memorial Museum of Art / Tokyo

- 2007 Purchase of Outstanding Works of art Exhibition The Japan Art Agency / Tokyo

- 2006 The Vision of Nihonga: between Inside and Outside Museum of Modern Art / Wakayama

- 2004 VOCA 2004 The Ueno Royal Museum / Tokyo

- 2003 Nihonga Today and and the Venturing Artists Okazaki Mindscape Museum / Aichi

- 2003 Twinkling Touch: Japanese Pointillism Shizuoka Prefctural Museum of art / Shizuoka

- 2002 “Bokugi” Charms of Suibokuga Okayama Prefectural Museum of art / Okayama

- 1998 The Natural History of Color : Black and White Meguro Museum of art / Tokyo

- 1998 Kanagawa Art Annual 98 Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery / Kanagawa

- 1997 The 15th Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition The Ueno Royal Museum

Awards

- 2018 Grand Prize for 7th Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Nikkei Japanese Painting Award

- 2012 Win a Jury's Special Award for 5th Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Nikkei Japanese Painting Award

Collection / Public Art

- The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Agency for Cultural Affairs, Okazaki Mindscape Museum, Tochigi Prefectrual Museum of art, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Ohara Museum of Art