Akio Takamori (1950, Japan) 

Adolescent
1998
Stoneware; tall figure ht. 33, wd. 13; small figure ht. 25.5, wd. 10. in.

This large work by Akio Takamori explores his long fascination with perspective and scale in Old Master paintings. Some figures would be disproportionately large and others strangely small to give greater attention to one or the other. This interest also comes from seeing photographs at the signing of Japan's surrender and the disparity in size between Emperor Hirohito and General MacArthur.

Takamori became interested in art early, spending hours while still a child in his father's extensive library delving into both art and medical texts, and his art remains a cross-pollination of both subjects. (Takamori's father was a dermatologist who ran a clinic near the red light district of Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan.)

After graduation from the Musashino Art Institute in Tokyo, he apprenticed to a master folk potter at Koishiwara, Kyushu. In 1974 Takamori made the move to the United States, receiving his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and later attending Alfred University in New York for his MFA. He worked as a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, then moved to Seattle, Washington in 1993 where he is professor of ceramics at the University of Washington.

Reference: For a comparison with the first figures in this series see: Garth Clark, Akio Takamori: Ceramic Sculpture. New York: Garth Clark Gallery, 2000.

Held, Pete (ed.). Between Clouds of Memory: Akio Takamori, A Mid -Career Survey. Tempe Arizona State University, 2005, illus p77.

Excellent original condition.