Urban Venus No. 3, 2019

Takeru Amano   Emerging artists

Takeru Amano is a Japanese contemporary artist, painter and sculptor, born in 1977 in Tokyo. Recognized on the international scene, he develops a unique universe where contemporary painting, sculpture, Pop Art, Japanese art, surrealism, classical mythology, and contemporary visual culture meet. After studying communication design at Tokyo Designer Gakuin College, he began his career as a graphic designer before fully dedicating himself to artistic creation. His path is marked by several stays in New York, where he discovered the effervescence of the international art scene and deepened his reflection on the links between tradition and modernity.

At the heart of his work is immediately recognizable iconography, dominated by mysterious female faces with closed eyes, inspired by Greek statues, Japanese prints, bijin-ga, Italian Renaissance, manga, pop culture, and Western art history. His characters embody a timeless beauty that transcends cultural and temporal boundaries. Through this fusion of classical heritage and contemporary aesthetic, Takeru Amano develops a personal plastic language where elegance, sensuality, and minimalism meet.

The artist works with oil painting, acrylics, drawing, mixed media, and sculpture in bronze, resin, and marble. His formal vocabulary is characterized by clean lines, harmonious volumes, and a delicate palette that highlights the purity of forms. His work questions the notions of ideal beauty, femininity, spirituality, and cultural memory, while establishing a dialogue between oriental and Western artistic traditions. Themes of nature, mythology, and the human body also occupy a central place in his work.

Takeru Amano's creations have been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States, France, and several European countries. His work is represented by international galleries such as Kaikai Kiki Gallery, NANZUKA, Gallery Common, and Whitestone Gallery, and is featured in important private collections around the world. He has also collaborated with international brands such as Nike, adidas, Converse, Mercedes-Benz, Shiseido, and Bulgari, demonstrating his reach beyond the art world. Through a work where painting, sculpture, Japanese contemporary art, Pop Art, mythology, female portraiture, and visual culture combine with remarkable coherence, Takeru Amano establishes himself today as one of the major figures of the new Japanese art scene.