Taku Obata

Taku Obata was born in Saitama Prefecture in 1980. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts in 2006, and completed his master's degree in Sculpture at the same university's Graduate School of Fine Arts in 2008. He is also active as a breakdancer and calls himself a "B-BOY sculptor." Centered on wood carving, he develops a wide range of expression including drawing, painting, and photography, and presents his work both in Japan and abroad.

He is known for wood sculptures depicting "B-Boys" who perform breakdance, characterized by dynamic forms that capture the dancers' bodily movement, center of gravity, and limb balance. He also focuses on the relationship between the human body and clothing, and pursues a distinctive form of expression that conveys movement and gravity through free-standing sculptures that use no pedestal.

In 1999 he formed the hip-hop crew "UNITY SELECTIONS," and in 2007 formed "HIPHOP Sentai BBOYGER." His activity as a breakdancer himself, and the physical sensibility and interest in movement cultivated through dance, continue to inform his sculptural expression today.

Major Solo Exhibitions

2020
"Opposite Effects," AKIO NAGASAWA GALLERY AOYAMA, Tokyo
"TAKU OBATA SCULPTURE," Japan House London, London
Major Group Exhibitions

2018
"Kazuki Umezawa × Taku Obata: Landscapes Beyond" exhibition, Watari Museum of Contemporary Art (Watari-um), Tokyo
"Pⁿ — Powers of PLAY —," University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts (Chinretsukan Gallery)

2016
"NEW VISION SAITAMA 5: The Body That Advances," The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
Awards

2008 — Grand Prize, Three-Dimensional Art / Installation Category, Tokyo Wonder Wall Public Exhibition 2008