AKIHITO TAKUMA

In his own Words

His works – painted in oil on canvas – have a sense of tension. They depict landscapes with cities or horizons, Japanese Yoshino cherry trees, or more abstract subjects. They inspire feelings of order. Akihito Takuma's works illustrate opposing forces – black and white, east and west, vertical and horizontal, dryness and moisture. "I am eager to depict this delicate balance," says the artist in this RIZE portrait...

Since 2004, I have been creating oil paintings using a 2-metre-wide brush, completing each piece with a single downward stroke from top to bottom. Initially, my pieces featured vertical lines drawn across expansive landscapes with precise horizontal perspectives, blurring the alignment of vertical and horizontal elements and the overall sense of perspective. Over time, I ventured into abstract art, but at its core, my art always embodies the concept of escaping control and the contrast between black and white, constantly navigating through opposing forces.

The title of my work, "Lines of Flight", is taken from the writings of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, who refers to it as "the path of a movement that escapes from structured order and ideals."

In recent years, I have also started creating pieces in colour, featuring contrasts between chromatic and achromatic colours, inspired by landscapes reflected on water surfaces, and emphasising billboards as symbols of capitalism.

Each piece is completed by running my brush from top to bottom, aiming for a one-time, irreplicable beauty that can't be retouched. The line between failure and success is blurred; pieces that turn out exactly as planned often don't feel like successes and rarely get shown. I believe that success comes from having some irregularity, rather than everything turning out as planned.

As society becomes increasingly regulated, I want to show that real value is found in what escapes control...

Learn more about Akihito Takuma's art at Galerie Benjamin Eck here