Taka Ishii Gallery Tokyo
Since its opening in 1994, Taka Ishii Gallery has continued to maintain and develop an exhibition program based on the goals of introducing international contemporary artists within Japan and acting as an international platform for emerging Japanese artists as well as contemporary masters.
While the gallery aesthetic is rooted in the photographic, the program is contemporary and represented artists work in a variety of media. A yearly exhibition program of eight solo and/or group exhibitions is supplemented by the publication of catalogs and artists’ books, with an emphasis on the promotion of emerging Japanese artists.
In addition to the primary exhibition space at complex665 in Roppongi, opened in 2011 Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film focuses on historical exhibitions of pre and postwar Japanese photography and film work. In 2023, branches in Kyoto and Maebashi have opened, developing collaborative projects with artists based in and outside of Japan. In November 2024 the gallery opened a new exhibition space in Kyobashi, Tokyo.
ARTISTS REPRESENTED BY TAKA ISHII GALLERY
Some of the most prominent Japanese contemporary photographers are on the Taka Ishii Gallery roster. These include Daido Moriyama, whose experimental and uncompromising images of the 1960s examine the dissolution of traditional values in post-War Japan; Nobuyoshi Araki, whose diverse content ranges from loving pictures of his cat and Tokyo street scenes to sexually explicit photographs; Naoya Hatakeyama, who explores the tension between human intervention and nature in images revolving around the limestone in Japan that was made into cities; and Noguchi Rika, known for capturing moments of small beauty from everyday life in her poetic photographs.
Taka Ishii Gallery also represents international artists working across diverse media, including Dan Graham, a pioneer of Conceptual art in the 1960s; Elmgreen & Dragset, known for employing subversive humour to challenge the construction of social spaces in installation, performance, and sculpture; Sterling Ruby, who addresses the topics of violence and social pressures in his ceramics, videos, textiles, photographs, and sculptures; and Ei Arakawa-Nash, a performance artist whose collaborators include other artists, art historians, and members of the audience.
EXHIBITIONS & FAIRS
Founded at a time when there were few international art galleries in Tokyo, Taka Ishii Gallery gained acclaim for its inaugural exhibition Tulsa, Teenage Lust, Photo Collage, and Video, which featured American photographer Larry Clark’s works about the violence and sexual activities of American teenagers. The gallery was also the first to show the works of several international artists—like Jack Pierson and Christopher Wool—in Japan. The gallery has also organized surveys of Japanese photography such as Japanese Surrealist Photography (2017).
Demonstrating its dedication to photography, Taka Ishii Gallery regularly participates in international photo fairs, including Paris Photo. It is also a regular presence at international art fairs such as Art Basel and Frieze.
