Dates: Mar 22 – Apr 19, 2014
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery (Kiyosumi, Tokyo)
Opening reception: Saturday, Mar 22, 18:00 – 20:00

Taka Ishii Gallery is pleased to present “Stay Gold,” a solo exhibition of Yosuke Takeda’s photographs from March 22^nd to April 19^th, 2014. This exhibition, Takeda’s first with Taka Ishii Gallery, will include approximately fourteen of his most representative photographic works made between 2006 and 2014.

To “Stay Gold” is a type of resistance.

To say that “Nothing Gold Can Stay” means that unchanging things do not exist. Still, there is a resistance in taking the side of the stasis of things. For me, this resistance is “photography.”

Yosuke Takeda

Yosuke Takeda was born in 1982 in Aichi Prefecture, and graduated with a degree in Philosophy from Doshisha University in 2005. While at university, Takeda absorbed himself in darkroom work. However, given the stoppage of photographic paper production and other factors, the conditions for making gelatin silver photographs were becoming more difficult. Takeda realized that it would be impossible to ignore this situation, and this realization was a turning point for him as an artist working with photography. Even while the act of looking at images remains the same, the materials for fixing images are undergoing great changes. In the middle of such changes, what does it mean to work with photography? Takeda has come to face up to this large question, which requires a careful answer.

After moving to digital photography, Takeda produced various works overflowing with a penetrating degree of consciousness towards photography as a medium. These works were well-received, as much for their unique composition as for their flat image surface. We invite you to take this opportunity to observe the development of this artist—who, standing between the fixing of images on paper and the manipulation of digital data on a monitor, is exploring the possibilities of photography.

In conjunction with this exhibit, Super Labo will publish Yosuke Takeda’s first artist book, Stay Gold. We will provide further information on our website and through our mailing list.

From March 26, Yosuke Takeda’s “Stay Gold” will also be exhibited at Kurenboh (Kuramae, Tokyo), TRAUMARIS│SPACE (Ebisu, Tokyo) and Taka Ishii Gallery Modern (Roppongi, Tokyo). We invite you to take in this artist’s ambitious attempt to present the full range of his work through four exhibitions—each with a different concept—and the publication of his first artist book.

 “Stay Gold: Digital Flare”
Dates: Mar 26 – Apr 25, 2014
Location: Kurenboh (Kuramae, Tokyo)

Note: The space is open from 10:00 – 15:00, Wednesday – Friday. Reservations for 1-hour viewing appointments must be made by email to the address listed below (English OK); up to two people can enter with the same reservation.

Kurenboh is located within the Chohouin Buddhist temple, in Tokyo’s Kuramae district. The gently curved walls of this quiet space make for an environment in which viewers can gaze sincerely at the work on the wall. Here, Takeda will exhibit five works from his series “Digital Flare,” in which he directs the lens of his camera towards the original source of light, the sun, taking the resulting highlights (areas beyond the range the camera can grasp) as his subject.

Kurenboh Chohouin Buddhist Temple Gallery (4-17-14 Kuramae, Taito-ku Tokyo)
e-mail: kurenboh@nifty.com   website: www.kurenboh.com

 “Stay Gold: Two Walls”
Dates: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 2014
Location: TRAUMARIS│SPACE (Ebisu, Tokyo)
Opening reception: Wednesday, March 26, 19:00 – 22:00

In this exhibition, one image will be printed out on two different materials: wallpaper and photographic paper. Takeda says: “A photograph is an image, but an image cannot stand alone; an image is produced through its combination with material.” By showing these two works in the same space, Takeda shows the degree to which photography varies through its material—that is, he shows photography as a “vessel”.

TRAUMARIS｜SPACE
(NADiff A/P/A/R/T 3F, 1-18-4 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku Tokyo, TEL 03-6408-5522）
Gallery hours: 16:00-24:00（14:00-22:00 on Sundays）   Closed on Mondays
e-mail：info@traumaris.jp   website: http://www.traumaris.jp

 “Stay Gold: Color Proof”
Dates: March 26 — April 19, 2014
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery Modern (Roppongi, Tokyo)

This exhibit consists of color proof sheets that were generated during the production of Takeda’s book, Stay Gold. During the process of making the book, each work had a specific order assigned to it, but these color proofs lack any such order. This installation shows the manifold possibilities afforded by separating the work from the artist’s intention.

Taka Ishii Gallery Modern (Piramide Building 2F, 6-6-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Gallery hours: 12:00-19:00   Closed on Sun, Mon and National holiday
e-mail：tig@takaishiigallery.com   website: http://www.takaishiigallery.com

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