Biography

Taku Hisamura (Artist / Sculptor)

Born in Tokyo, 1977.

In 2003, inspired by a lecture at Todo School, which I happened to listen to, he began presenting his work. From handmade to DIY craft, I actively choose techniques and materials that are considered to be on the periphery of art, and produces works that are barely viable through the art system, while changing them with a reductive ways.

Recent major solo exhibitions include: “Homemade Sculpture” (AI KOWADA GALLERY, Tokyo, 2016), “Repeat Play”(NADiff Window Gallery, Tokyo, 2020), “One Point Sculptures”(GALLERY ROOM•A, Tokyo, 2021), “Handy-craft Art Center”(GALLERY KAWAMATSU, Tokyo, 2024), “Tama Art University Handy-craft Art Center”(TAU Sculpture Gallery, Tokyo, 2025). Recent maijor exhibitions includes: “26th UBE Biennale”(Tokiwa Park, Ube, 2015),  “Contemporary Sculptor from JAPAN” (Open House at Central Embassy, Bangkok, 2017), “Dogo Onsenart 2018” (Dogo Onsen and its surroundings, Ehime, 2018), “On the Verge of Fiction” (Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, 2019), “Tokyo Biennale 2020/2021″(Across the 4 wards – Chiyoda City, Chuo City, Bunkyo City, and Taito City – of the Northeastern area of central Tokyo, 2021), “Renew-LAB to begin in the future”(Art-lab Sagamihara, 2021), “Organizing Daily Life”(Hajimari art center, Fukushima, 2022)  “ART CENTRAL HONG KONG” (Sansiao Gallry booth, HKCEC, 2023), “ART OSAKA” (GALLERY KAWAMATSU booth, KAGOO, 2023), “ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO 2024” (KYOTO NATIONAL MUSEUM, 2024) “ART BASEL HONG KONG 2025” (HKAGA Booth, HKCEC, 2025),and more.

Statement

In contemporary art, there are cases like Duchamp’s Fountain, where something that does not appear to be art is nonetheless sustained by institutional elements and thus comes to exist as “art.” This fact continues to drive me to make works, since I have never been able to create something that convincingly resembles art.

What I emphasize in my practice is the use of the art institution from its physical side. For example, I try to establish as art things that would not normally be regarded as such, by sewing exhibition spaces or pedestals onto stains on clothing or onto brand logos, or by placing them inside frames.

In other words, my practice is a method of “making without making art”—a way of allowing art to emerge through institutional elements rather than through the difficult task of producing art itself.

The art institution, after all, is the act of dividing what is considered art from what is not. Such a division did not exist in Japan before the Meiji era. In Japan, people painted on folding screens, fans, and kimonos, and lived within these works. Without holding exhibitions, they could appreciate art as part of their everyday surroundings—meaning that art and daily life remained undivided.

The kind of art I aim for is precisely this state where art and daily life are not separated, or where they interact with one another. To highlight this, I deliberately adopt techniques associated not with professional artistry—like the painter’s brush or the sculptor’s chisel—but with handcraft and DIY. At times, I even wear or use the works themselves, in order to sustain their criticality.