Bold and a bit unsettling – perhaps the best way to describe the work of Takeru Amano. That’s partly because he’s reflecting the world that we live in. "I often take inspiration from the things around me,” he says. “Like a sense of unease and distrust towards media, the Internet and TV." He mixes these real-life influences into his manga-esque painting and sculpture. The vibrant colour palette of Japanese neo-pop art is palpable. And there are nods to Western art history too. Realist painters like Gustave Courbet and Edgar Degas are inspirations for Amano. Back in the 19th century, they painte...
Bio
Takeru Amano (he/him) was born in 1977 in Tokyo, Japan. He currently lives and works in Tokyo.
Education
Despite drawing from a young age, Takeru Amano didn’t go to art school until 2000. In 1997 he moved to New York to study printmaking. But he never went, instead exploring the city and its culture – which was so different from Tokyo.
Gallery shows
Takeru Amano has had three solo shows. In 2021 he explored themes of gravity and weight in 2021: A Space Odyssey at SATO gallery in Paris. The paintings showed people and domestic objects floating in another galaxy.