A SOLO EXHIBITION
LOS ANGELES
July11 –August1,2020
Avenue des Arts is proud to present Suzuki Takako’s first solo exhibition, “Ambiguous Us.” The show will consist of 33 paintings that depict Takako’s own scenery where humans and animals don’t have gender or a specific language. Her pieces are ethereal and atmospheric to show that there are many uncertainties about the past, the present, and the future.
The childlike characters in Suzuki Takako’s paintings are all under 7 years old. In Japan there is a traditional rite of passage called “Shichigosan” literally translating to “seven-five-three”. In the past, families have lost children due to poverty and health issues, so once a child reached three, five, and seven years old there was a celebration. It was also believed that the children belonged to God until the age of 7, and customary to shave the children’s hair until the age of 3. Once Takako learned of this mythology and tradition, the characters in her head stopped aging past 7 and she was able to understand them better.
The animals in her pieces were actually once human children. Once the children reached 7 years old, they were given a choice to remain a human and grow up or become an animal. If they chose to remain a human, they would be deprived of memory, emotion, and intelligence and merely drift through space in their human form. However, if they chose to morph into an animal, they are only deprived of language and cannot communicate. All of these events and characters are fluid and gender nonconforming.
Takako uses delicate brush strokes to create vibrating and shimmering backgrounds that could only exist in a dream sequence. “Ambiguous Us” is an introduction and invitation into the effervescent world that exists solely in Suzuki Takako’s mind and heart.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Suzuki Takako is an emerging Japanese artist that has not received an art education. She is a self-taught artist and has been painting on her own.
In her head, Takako sees a grassland where people and animals are free. Her works consist of the combination of individuals from the grassland in her head and all the experiences she has had that have influenced her life.
Suzuki Takako’s paintings have distinctive elements: the behaviors of each individual in the grassland, the strength of wind, the temperature of the location, various feelings about some problems, joy or anxiety. Her painting is also expresses sensitive emotions by using various delicate color and a high level of detailed expressions.
As more people see her artwork and as the characters live in the viewer’s hearts, she hopes the world inside her will expand and lead to new expressions.
