Kyoko Takemura is a Berlin-based Japanese conceptual artist working primarily with photography, video and found objects. Her projects aim to address the invisible mirrored in objects made for consumption, be they food or religious products. In recent years she has been particularly fascinated by objects that reflect the circumstances and human activities of a consumer society. Central to her practice is the re-examination of everyday life, which also leads her to explore themes of life and death, the finiteness of existence and our own mortality.
Takemura is the winner of the Japan Photo Award 2018 (selected by Emilia Van Lynden - UNSEEN Amsterdam), received the Sony World Photography Awards 2018 and was shortlisted for the Kassel Dummy Award 2020. Her work has been shown at festivals and venues including Somerset House (UK), Museum Brot und Kunst (Germany), New Japan Photo 7 (Dubai), Asama International Photo Festival and Kyotography International Photography Festival (Japan). Her projects have been featured in magazines and newspapers such as Libération France, Die Tageszeitung, IMA Magazine, The Red Book by Universal Music Germany, VICE, and iD-Magazine. Takemura received her BA with honours from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2016.
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On Luxury beyond Death series
Takemura gives us a simple yet insightful look into a prominent ritual surrounding death in Vietnam. A compelling reflection upon modern day consumerism, Luxury Beyond Death highlights how relatives burn paper offerings at the graves of the deceased with the belief that they will need the same luxury items that they had when they were still living. The project highlights our obsession with consumerism whilst simultaneously raising questions about what awaits us in the afterlife.
Emilia van Lynden (Unseen Artistic Director)
Selected Exhibition
2022 “60 x 60 – Food = Politics + Pleasure”, Museum Brot und Kunst, Ulm, DE
2022 “Asama International Photo Festival 2022 PHOTO ALT”, Miyota, JP
2021 “Honey Rules the World”, Gallery Cube +, Kiel, DE
2019 “STYLED IN PHOTOGRAPHY”, IMA Gallery, Tokyo, JP
2019 “JAPAN PHOTO AWARD EXHIBITION”, KG+ Kyotography, JP
2019 “New Japan Photo 7”, CHI-KA, Dubai, UAE
2018 “Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition”, Somerset House, London, UK
2018 “LUXUS PhilosophyUnbound Berlin”, Berliner Ringtheater, Berlin, DE
2016 “GCD Show”, Hoxton Gallery, London, UKAward & Residency
2020 Kassel Dummy Award, Odd Recipes Shortlist, DE
2019 Artist in Residence Program, The Swatch Art Peace Hotel, CN
2018 JAPAN PHOTO AWARD, Winner (Selecting judge: Emilia Van Lynden), JP
2018 Sony World Photography Awards, Commended, UK
2018 FAPA Fine Art Photography Awards, Nominee
Education
2016 BA Hons Graphic Design&Communication, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
2012 French Literature in Faculty of Letters, Keio University, JP
Books
PHOTOPAPER vol.68 - featuring Odd Recipes
Canned, self-published
Odd Recipes, self-published
Published work
2023
WePresent, Feature & Interview
IMA online, Feature
2022
Libération
Die Tageszeitung
GINZA
2016-2021
Libération France online
The Red Book, published by Universal Music Germany
i-D Magazine, Interview
VICE, Interview
IMA Magazine vol.35
iGNANT
Food& Magazine
foam Design Magazine
FUET Magazine, Interview
L’Œil de la Photographie
PERDIZ Magazine, Interview
KALTBLUT Magazine
Plain Magazine
I/O Gazette
Food To Meet You
Musée Magazine
KONBINI UK
Good2b
Club Sandwich
1 Granary, Interview
For prints or inquiries:
︎ takemurakyoko(at)gmail
︎ You can buy my books here