Items Similar to One Way
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5
Koji TakeiOne Way2015
2015
About the Item
Creating sculptures of exquisite peculiarity is an art in which Takei excels. His elegantly crafted works embody the notion of the whimsical, contradictory and idiosyncratic. There is an immediately detectable sense of humor and quick wit about the sculptures in this exhibition. Beyond playfulness, however, Takei’s aim is to challenge the viewer to alter the way in which they look at reality.
Taking cues from the Surrealists of the early 20th century, Takei transforms the mundane into the fantastic - and sometimes absurd. His work is a constant inquiry into the meaning of functionality and the perception of purpose. Much like Man Ray’s iconic readymade sculpture, The Gift (1921), and Meret Oppenheim’s infamous fur-covered teacup (Object, 1936), Takei recontextualizes those pragmatic objects that we immediately recognize. With his piece Soft Shoulders (2011), Takei deconstructs a wooden clothes hanger into small pieces that are linked together like a necklace. He has obliterated its essential utility and in the process has created an entirely new object with new meaning and ultimately a new purpose.
In Takei’s hands, seemingly utilitarian objects are rendered useless, but are arguably made more beautiful - transformed from the quotidian to the extraordinary. For instance, inspired by watching the dramatic motions of a violinist playing in concert, Takei has taken a vine and twisted it into a delicate spiral, adding the frog, end cap and horsehair from a traditional bow to create A Thousand Strokes, (2015). The title itself is a double entendre - at once referring to the motion of playing an instrument and also to a cheeky Japanese slang. By altering the forms of these familiar objects, Takei imbues them with new meaning. Using clever, tongue-in-cheek titles, Takei in many instances personifies them, projecting our own attributes onto those ordinary, inanimate things that we utilize every day.
Koji Takei was born in Japan and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his BFA from CalArts and has taught at Otis College of Art and Design, California Institute of the Arts and currently, Art Center College of Design. His works have been exhibited in a number of museums including the Laguna Art Museum and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. This marks his sixth solo exhibition at William Turner Gallery.
Medium: sinew, wood & feathers
- Creator:Koji Takei (1955, Japanese)
- Creation Year:2015
- Dimensions:Height: 5 in (12.7 cm)Width: 23 in (58.42 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Santa Monica, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4781167863
About the Seller
5.0
Vetted Seller
These experienced sellers undergo a comprehensive evaluation by our team of in-house experts.
Established in 1991
1stDibs seller since 2014
10 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: A week
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Santa Monica, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- ReachBy Koji TakeiLocated in Santa Monica, CAKoji Takei works reference synthetic cubism in the most literal of senses. In cubist artworks, the objects are broken up, analyzed and re-assembled in abstracted form. These pieces...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsWood
- Windsor IBy Koji TakeiLocated in Santa Monica, CAAs much as Takei’s pieces are Cubist in nature there is also an unmistakable Asian influence in the working method of the Japanese native. A quiet solidarity and respect for the individual parts set the pieces apart from the noisy commentary that Cubism often invokes. Takei’s pieces are minimal in nature, but powerful in presence and seem to reference the interlocking sculptures...Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsMetal, Enamel
- Snake CarrierBy Koji TakeiLocated in Santa Monica, CAKoji Takei works reference synthetic cubism in the most literal of senses. In cubist artworks, the objects are broken up, analyzed and re-assembled in abstracted form. These pieces...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsWood, Mixed Media
- Two in HandBy Koji TakeiLocated in Santa Monica, CAKoji Takei works reference synthetic cubism in the most literal of senses. In cubist artworks, the objects are broken up, analyzed and re-assembled in abstracted form. These pieces...Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsMetal
- UntitledBy Koji TakeiLocated in Santa Monica, CAKoji Takei works reference synthetic cubism in the most literal of senses. In cubist artworks, the objects are broken up, analyzed and re-assembled in abstracted form. These pieces...Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsWood
- UntitledBy Koji TakeiLocated in Santa Monica, CAKoji Takei works reference synthetic cubism in the most literal of senses. In cubist artworks, the objects are broken up, analyzed and re-assembled in abstracted form. These pieces...Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsWood, Varnish
You May Also Like
- Barca Pez (Fish Boat) - wood sculpture by Chilean artist Pilar OvalleBy Pilar OvalleLocated in Glen Ellen, CAChilean artist Pilar Ovalle's sculpture "Barca Pez," or "Fish Boat," is crafted with driftwood collected from lake shores in Chile combined with dimensional Alerce, a native Chilean wood. It can be suspended as shown or a custom bracket (not included) can be designed based on the site to make it into an exciting wall sculpture. In Ovalle’s imagination, boats embody animal forms, reinforcing the imaginative versus physical nature of the boat as a representation of travel. Ovalle says of her work, "As I work directly with Nature, combining wood already ‘worked’ by wind, water and time, with ‘elaborated’ - sawn - wood, I do this with a critical scope, dealing with ecology and progress, with emotion and poetry somehow set against rationality and technology, or setting ‘wisdom’ against mere information." This sculpture is suspended from two wires, but could also be wall hung with a custom bracket (not included). We would be happy to assist with the design of this custom bracket. Ovalle traveled to Southern Chile to study with boat builders and learn the traditional skills of the trade, which is evident in the graceful curve of the hulls she has built with traditional joinery and wood "stitches" and without the use of nails. Born in Santiago, Chile, Pilar Ovalle began her studies in 1989 at the Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo de Santiago. She studied with the Instituto through the early '90s, during which time she also won Third Prize at the XV Concurso de Arte Joven (Young Art Contest) and received grants from Fondart (National Fund for the Arts) for her projects “Sculpture with Shattered Wood” and “Curved Wood Sculpture...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsWood, Driftwood
- "Droplet 1916", Contemporary, Ceramic, Wood Fired, Porcelain, Glaze, Wood StandBy Perry HaasLocated in St. Louis, MOPerry Haas is a ceramic artist making functional pottery and focusing on wood-firing techniques. Drawing from a love for the wood-fired ceramic surface, Perry looks to anticipate the...Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsIron
- STELLAR DIASPORA - Light Emitting Sculpture w/ Carved Walnut and LED TubesLocated in Signal Mountain, TNAndy Harding is a sculptor living and working in Nashville, TN. A range of interests from Eastern philosophy to contemporary science inspire and influence his work, but the practical...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsWood, Walnut, LED Light, Acrylic
- Chronicles - Haude Bernabé, 21st Century, Contemporary metal sculpture, vanityBy Haude BernabéLocated in Paris, FRBorn in Brest and with a scientific background, Haude Bernabé has devoted herself to art since the early 1990s. Her first passion was art, the second one...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsMetal
- Curve Composition: GyrateBy Stephanie MetzLocated in Santa Monica, CAIndustrial felt and woodCategory
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsFelt, Wood
- Curve Composition: LevelerBy Stephanie MetzLocated in Santa Monica, CAIndustrial felt and woodCategory
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsFelt, Wood