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Artwork Description

Naoki Takeyama (b. 1974 –) is a charismatic artist who wields the ancient technique of enamelling metal with an electric modernity, his highly distinctive creations calling to mind the avant-garde and asymmetrical designs of world-famous Japanese fashion designers of the 1980’s. Head of his class at the prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts, Takeyama has been recognised with a flurry of awards since his debut at the age of 24, while winning myriad awards since, with recent acquisitions by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2008, the Birmingham and Plymouth Museums of Art in 2011, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo in 2012, the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2014, the Yale University Museum of Art and the Grassi Museum in Leipzig, Germany in 2015. Takeyama’s metalwork is widely seen as a stunning reinterpretation of an age-old art, ultimately proposing to metal a wealth of new possibilities. Pushing the boundaries of enamelled metal is Takeyama’s raison d’ȇtre, and his new objects for TEFAF embody the many elements that have brought Takeyama critical acclaim. Incredibly, Takeyama first hand-pinches into shape riveting copper bodies that twist themselves into animation, using thin sheets of copper that are often pleated to absolute perfection. Further, rather than enamelling via the use of wires, the artist uses a small sieve and a bamboo paddle to apply a powder-base enamel glaze onto the body of the work that crystalizes after firing. After applying the dry glaze, Takeyama fires the work in a small electric kiln, re-applies enamel, dries, and fires again, with the process repeated more than 10 times. Then, the artist applies gold leaf to the entirety of the work, and after fusing the leaf onto the body in an electric kiln, coats the work with a transparent glaze to entrap the leaf within the body of the work. As if in a state of constant flux, Takeyama’s enamelled works are an exquisite collaboration between metal and maestro.