Taku Obata

Taku Obata was born in 1980 in Saitama, Japan. During his art studies in the 90s he was part of the hip-hop and break dance scene as part of the Unity Selection Crew. In 2008 he graduated from the Tokyo University of Arts and achieved the prestigious Tokyo Wonder Wall Grand Prix. He is constantly exposing in Japan where the Nakamura Keith Haring Museum dedicated him a solo show in 2012. In 2014 his career gained an international span as the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York held a solo show for him.

The work of Taku Obata revolves around the body in movement, notably in breakdance. Inspired by the traditional Japanese artistic expressions such as the dance of Buto or the Noh Theater. The body in movement becomes static through life-size wood sculpture. A samurai of modern times, Taku Obata establishes an artistic path between the Japanese traditional technique on wood sculpture and the modernity of his subject, emanating from the vibrant hip-hop culture and showing a dynamic decomposition of movement.