Takuya Watanabe (Japan) is a visual artist. He makes video installations that unveil the intricate interplay of power and vulnerability woven into contemporary society. His work delves into a myriad of complex issues, spanning labour and violence to immigration and vulnerability. Through research and interviews within communities, he identifies subtle physical and linguistic gestures expressed in dialogues as a form of “representational object.” By doing so, he visualises the complexity of social structures and forces that underlie these communities’ experiences. Recently, he has been exploring social interactions beyond human society to include plants as other beings.
During his residency at Delfina Foundation, Takuya will focus on the plant known as Japanese knotweed, which was introduced from Japan to the UK in the 19th century as a garden plant but has since become established in the wild, significantly impacting human society to the extent that their presence has been responsible for a plummet in the value of real estate. Takuya views the physical body of individual knotweed plants and their movement as a species as their performativity and attempts to visualise human society from the perspective of these plants.
Recent activities include As Above, So Below – TOKAS Creator-in-Residence 2023 Exhibition, at Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo, 2023, Tokyo; Meet the Residents / Open School #5 at WIELS, 2022, Brussels; Exhibition of AAUK virtual Residency Project 2021, at Art Action UK, 2022, Online; Takuya Watanabe Solo Exhibition: Riding on the Shoulders of the Neighbor, at Hitachi Civic Center, 2020, Ibaraki. Awards include second prize in the 2023 CAF x FILM MOSAIC.
Takuya is born and based Japan.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Japan House London Trust
and with additional support from
Yukiko Pajot
RESIDENCY SEASON
ARTIST’S WEBSITE
TAGS
Please note all artist-in-residence biographies are accurate at the time of their residency. For up-to-date bios please visit the artist’s website.