Kyoko Takemura (Japan,1992, lives and works in Berlin) is a conceptual artist working primarily with photography, text and video. Her projects aim to address the invisible mirrored in the objects made for consumption, be they food or religious products, or to explore themes around consciousness and physical existence. She graduated from Central Saint Martins, London. She lives and works in Berlin.
Takemura is a winner of the Japan Photo Award 2018 (selected by Emilia Van Lynden /UNSEEN Amsterdam), a recipient of the Sony World Photography Awards 2018, and shortlisted for the Kassel Dummy Award 2020. Her work has been exhibited at Somerset House (UK), Museum Brot und Kunst (Germany) and Kyotography International Photography Festival (Japan), among others.
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”, amana virtual museum, JP
2021 “Honey Rules the World”, Gallery Cube +, Kiel, DE
2019 “STYLED IN PHOTOGRAPHY”, IMA Gallery, Tokyo, JP
2019 “JAPAN PHOTO AWARD EXHIBITION”, Hotel Anteroom Kyoto, 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 Shortlisted, 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
Libération
Die Tageszeitung
GINZA
i-D Magazine (Interview)
VICE (Interview)
IMA
iGNANT
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)
Food&
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