Kyota Takahashi

1970 Born in Kyoto.
1993 BA(Sculpture), Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto.
1995 MA(Sculpture), Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto.
Live in and works in Kyoto.

about works

Born in Kyoto Prefecture in 1970, Kyota Takahashi attended Kyoto City University of Arts Graduate School and received a master’s degree in sculpture in 1995. Takahashi first engaged in light-based installation work while still in university, later winning the Grand Prize at the Kirin Contemporary Awards for Hikari no Ido – Suikomareru Kimochi (Light Well – Drawn-in Feeling), a sculptural work consisting of a colossal fabric object – 8 meters in diameter by 6 meters high – onto which images of spirals were projected.
Starting with his exhibition at Kyoto Art Center in 2001, where he projected dots of light that filled the entire space, Takahashi has realized a large number of beautifully space-transforming light projection pieces, employing a variety of methods of applying light and images onto exterior surfaces. His work has been enthusiastically received in the field of architecture since early on in his career, with his projections onto the creations of renowned architects. A small sampling of these works includes the illumination he carried out for the Kenzo Tange-designed Tokyo Headquarters of United Nations University (2003), a light installation at the former site of Kiyonori Kikutake’s Landmark Tower (2004), his lighting up of the City House Sengawa building created by Tadao Ando Architect and Associates (2004), as well as lighting performances at Shin Takamatsu’s Kirin Plaza Osaka (2004) and a commissioned permanent work for Ryue Nishizawa’s Towada Art Center in Aomori (2008).
Moreover, with his improvisational image production performances created using the real-time image projection device known as the Vision Scroller, which he invented himself, Takahashi has been actively developing collaborative work with musicians and performance artists worldwide.
In recent years, Takahashi has carried out a number of participatory art projects and workshops, including “Yume no Tane Project” (“Dream Seed Project”, 2005 – present), “Hikariba” (“Light Place”, 2010 – present), “Hikari no Mi” (“Shining Smile Fruit”, 2011 – present). With his ongoing development of open platforms that use “light” as the central theme, and the ensuing spread of independently performed actions by people who have come together on these platforms as truly involved parties, he is constantly pursuing new possibilities for bringing forth visions of overwhelming, dreamlike beauty that would not be possible for him to realize as a solitary artist.
Other major exhibitions and projects by Takahashi include “Illumination of Nijo Castle in Commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of its Construction” (2003, Kyoto), “Minatomachi Underground Project” (2003, Osaka), “Rapt!” (2006, Melbourne), “Art Rink in Yokohoma Red Brick Warehouse” (2007, Yokohoma), “Wake of Light – Kyota Takahashi” at Sendai Art Walk (2009, Sendai Mediatheque), Canon’s “Neoreal” at Milano Salone 2010 (2010, Milan Triennale Design Museum), “Smart Illumination Yokohoma” (2011 – present), “Summer, Light and You” (2013, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art), and Aichi Triennale 2013. Kyota Takahashi is the recipient of numerous awards, including Grand Prize at Kirin Contemporary Awards ’95 (1995), Grand Prize at the Kyoto Prefecture Art and Craft Selection Exhibition (2005), Most Promising Young Talent Prize in Fine Art Division at the Gotoh Memorial Cultural Awards (2005), Good Design Award (Environmental Design Section, 2005), Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Awards Encouragement Award (2008), and Kyoto City Newcomer Artist Award (2010).