Aya Takano

Untitled, 2000, watercolor on paper by Aya Takano

2000

Born in Japan in 1976, Aya Takano is a painter, illustrator, sci-fi writer and manga artist. Soon after obtaining her art bachelor degree, she became an assistant of Takashi Murakami and joined Kaikai Kiki, the artistic community and production studio created in 2001 by Takashi Murakami for like-minded artists that adhered to the the Superflat style. The Superflat movement, popularized by Murakami himself, emphasizes the two-dimensionality of figures, which is influenced by Japanese manga and anime, while dually exposing the fetishes of Japanese consumerism. In the 1980s, the look of pre-pubescent girls became the target of consumer culture in Japanese society. This infantilization and objectification of the female was seen most heavily in Japan's “otaku” culture. With this reference in mind - inspired by a wide range of influences ranging from erotic Edo prints to Gustav Klimt, from the manga of Osamu Tezuka to Claude Monet - Aya Takano describes naïve and androgynous teenager girls, creating her own mythology where the otaku culture is revisited in a feminine perspective. Her original style is highly acclaimed both in Japan and worldwide and led her to solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Holland, Hong Kong, Korea among others.