HIROKO OTAKE PORTFOLIO
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BIOGRAPHY
Education
Tokyo University of the Arts
Major:Japanese Painting (Japanese-style Painting/Nihonga)
Graduation Date: March 2006
Master's course :2009
Doctor's degree :2011
Awards
- 2014、The Emerald Grant Award (Tokyo National University of the Arts)
- 2013,2012,2010,2009,2008 Soga win a prize
- 2009, The 19th scholarship Award (Sato International Cultural Scholarship Foundation)
Hiroko Otake : Contemporary Nihonga Artist
The theme of my artwork is “the constancy found within fluid moments.” I see myself as ever-changing, like a dynamic equilibrium – it is this constant flux that allows me to remain true to my current self.
The seasons — spring, summer, autumn, and winter — are consistent in their cycle, yet never identical to the year before. Through my work, I explore the idea that truth resides in the interplay where fluidity and constancy coexist, much like the relationship between Atman and Brahman.
My motifs of butterflies and flowers symbolize the fleeting nature of the present moment. A butterfly undergoes complete metamorphosis, transforming from a larva to a pupa, and finally emerging as a butterfly — each stage entirely different from the last. Similarly, I find a sense of transience, resilience, and beauty in nature’s processes, where buds blossom into flowers, eventually wither, and create seeds for the future.
I believe embracing the fluid and transient as they are, discovering their essence in nature, and striving to live in harmony with nature are integral aspects of the Japanese identity. My work aspires to reinterpret this aesthetic sensibility by transcending traditional categories like Nihonga (Japanese-style painting) and embracing the coexistence of diverse elements: cultures, parts and wholes, history and modernity. Through this, I aim to create art that reflects the beauty of coexistence within transformation.
- 2019
- Kimono:Obi Project, Collaboration with SILKLAB
- 2018
- Tobirae Project, Collaboration with Antbb Electronics & Hospitalities, Tokyo
- Renovation Industry Forum, collaboration with Art Life Association, Tokyo
- Adore Spring Summer Collection, Collaboration with Adore, Tokyo
- 2017
- Art Project Hiroko Otake with BoConcept Squilla Living Chair 150th Anniversary of Japan and Denmark Diplomatic establishment, Tokyo
- Hills Night 2017 with L’atelier do Joel Robuchon, Tokyo
- Mikimoto Pearl Necklace, collaboration with Mikimoto, Tokyo
- Book cover“Queen”Mikihiko Renjo
- 2016
- MoMA Design Store Tea ceremony, with Souryo Matsumura, Sony, NYC
- 2014
- Lawry’s Tokyo Entrance Art work, for Lawry’s Prime Rib Stake, Tokyo
- 2012
- Artist in Hotel -Cherry blossoms room-, for Park Hotel Tokyo
- 2009
- Book cover“今、ここからすべての場所へ”Kenichiro Mogi
- Book cover“化蝶散華”Genku Sokyu
- Book cover“For Life,”Clinician Medical Magazine, July Issue
Collaboration Project
- Solo Exhibitions
- 2024
- 「Flow and Movement /&T DESIGNART TOKYO 2024」Spiral, Tokyo
- 「Hiroko Otake Solo exhibition－Hideaway－」Ginza, Tokyo
- 「REFLECTION」Hiroko Otake Solo Exhibition Gallery10 ［TOH］
- 2022
- 「Invisible things」TSUTAYA GINZA, GNZA SIX, Tokyo
- 「Hiroko Otake Solo exhibition」Mitsukoshi Ginza, Tokyo
- 2020
- Victory Bouquet, Sato Museum, Tokyo
- 2019
- Metamorphosis, Courtyard Hiroo, Tokyo
- The passing, Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, Hankyu, Osaka, Tenmaya, Okayama
- 2018
- Secret Garden, Scéne, Tokyo
- Fleurs et Papillons, Shibuya SEIBU, Tokyo
- New Year Live Painting, Shibuya SEIBU, Tokyo
- 2017
- Psyche Butterfly - Symbol of Life Seibu Ikebukuro Art Gallery,Tokyo
- Feel of 4 Seasons, Mitsukoshi art gallery Nagoya, Osaka
- 2016
- Psyche Butterfly - Symbol of Life, Tenri Gallery, NYC
- 2015
- Psyche Butterfly - Symbol of Life, Seibu Ikebukuro Art Gallery, Tokyo
- 2014
- Floating Instant, Art Fair Tokyo 2014 Tokyo International Forum
- 2013
- Landscape where is not here, Art Gallery Minazuki, Gifu, Japan
- 2012
- 6 colors, Art Fair Tokyo 2012 Tokyo International Forum
- 2010
- Focus-Up Coming Artist- Solo exhibition L’Espoir 2010, Surugadai Gallery, Tokyo
- 2009
- bud, Art Gallery Minazuki, Gifu, Japan
- Exhibitions
- 2024
- 「WHAT CAFE EXHIBITION vol.38：Gigs and Hobbies: The Everyday in Art Practice」
- 2023
- 「Modern times scatology」ISETAN Shinjyuku, Tokyo
- 2022
- 「Invisible things」TSUTAYA GINZA, GINZA SIX, Tokyo
- 2021
- 「ART FAIR SELECTION」Shibuya SEIBU, Tokyo
- 「'ARTFUL LIVING PROJECT' BERGDORF GOODMAN × WATERFALL」BERGDORF GOODMAN, New York
- 「NOUVEL HORIZON JAPON」Paris, Galerie Tamenaga
- 2020
- 「Consider butterflies」Waterfall & Mansion Gallery, New York
- 2019
- Assorted Chocolate, ANA Intercontinental Hotel Tokyo
- 2018
- Art fair Tokyo 2018 Art meets Life by Sogo Seibu, Tokyo International Forum
- Unsound Presents Live painting, Super Deluxe, Tokyo
- Beta Night Live painting, 20 Alpha, Hong Kong
- Artful Living, Bergdorf Goodman, NYC
- Mediacosmos Spring Art Fair 2018, Gifu, Japan
- 2017
- A Sustaining Life, Bergdorf Goodman, NYC
- Hills Night 2017 with L’atelier do Joel Robution, Grand Hyatt Tokyo
- Mikimoto Pearl Necklace show, Mikimoto Ginza, Tokyo
- New Book, Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, NYC
- 2016
- Sado – The Art of Tea Ceremony, Makari NYC
- Summer Celebration, Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, NYC
- Sado – The Art of Tea Ceremony, Makari NYC
- 2015
- Hiroko Otake & Paola Masi Affinities, Ambit Gallery Barcelona, Spain
- 2014
- Japanese Flowers Iam Gallery, NYC
- 2013
- Megumi Ogita Gallery, Gallery Artist Group Show, Tokyo
- Zig Zag Harmonica Books, Stuttgart, Germany
- New City Art Fair 2013 Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
- Art Tea Ceremony, Park Hotel Tokyo
- 2012
- Hiroko Otake & Paola Masi Affinities, Megumi Ogita Gallery, Tokyo
- 2011
- Art Nagoya 2011, The Westin Nagoya Castle Hotel, Nagoya, Japan
- Art for Tomorrow East Japan earthquake charity exhibition Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo, Japan
- Mitsukoshi × Tokyo University of the Arts, Nihonbashi-Mitsukoshi, Tokyo
