KOJI TAKEI
Mottosynthesis: Peaceful fusion of polar opposites

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Reception for the artist: Saturday, October 9 from 6 until 8pm

The Robert Berman Gallery is pleased to present new works by artist Koji Takei, entitled Mottosynthesis: Peaceful fusion of polar opposites.

Takei’s latest works draw inspiration from his dual identities. Spending half of his life in Japan and the other half in America, he considers himself an amalgamation of contrasting influences. Takei's work is a unique dichotomy of old and new, quiet and loud, order and chaos. By peacefully fusing juxtaposed ideas (mottoes), he expresses his unique point of view through his mixed medium work in this exhibition.

Takei’s inspiration for his latest works comes from a visit to the western deserts taken in his early twenties as a foreign student from Japan. “The work titled My Fault explains and symbolizes what I do, synthesizing Japan and America. This piece can be subtitled 'Kyoto comes to Death Valley.' He was fascinated by the intensity and surrealism of the desert. The climate and landscape were polar-opposite from that of Japan. “One of my favorite sites was in Death Valley where I came across these so-called ‘Mysterious Sliding Rocks’, found on a dry lakebed. This piece is an amalgamation of these sliding rocks and the rock gardens in Kyoto where I find similar peacefulness and eternity. The fault symbolizes spontaneity, or my attempt to break from conformity.”

”My arrow pieces are also in the same vein of synthesizing Japan and America. Breathing life into arrows, used in ancient time in both cultures, allows me to freely express my ideas based on the irony of life - its direction, purpose, and goal.”