Tadasu Takamine’s Sculptural Rebirth debuts in Canada at the Vancouver Art Gallery, March 2
Japanese artist’s experimental work features 14 performers, including students from Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Tadasu Takamine’s Sculptural Rebirth 脱皮的彫刻 in 2023 at the Former Daiichi Bank in Yokohama, Japan. Photo courtesy of the artist
Vancouver Art Gallery presents Tadasu Takamine’s Sculptural Rebirth 脱皮的彫刻 with Emily Carr University of Art + Design on March 2 at 2 pm
SCULPTURE AND PERFORMANCE cross paths in truly experimental ways in Japanese artist Tadasu Takamine’s Sculptural Rebirth 脱皮的彫刻.
Working symbolically with plaster, 14 performers embody the process of shedding an ill-fitting skin and discovering what it means to move on. Themes of transformation and reemergence are at the forefront of the 70-minute piece; journeying through different states of being, the performers engage with the public through dialogue, then reflect on their thoughts in solitude, and finally experience rebirth.
Directed by Takamine and presented by the Vancouver Art Gallery as part of its Centre for Global Asias platform, this edition of Sculptural Rebirth will feature a group of art students from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. It is organized by VAG curator-in-residence Makiko Hara in collaboration with ECUAD associate professor Emily Hermant.
Sculptural Rebirth will take place on March 2 at 2 pm, on the Vancouver Art Gallery’s 3rd Floor Rotunda. Capacity is limited to just 40 seats directly in the performance area, and the remaining attendees will be in an overflow space with a partial view of the show and livestream footage.
The intimate nature of the performance sets the stage for powerful connection among viewers. This type of deeply personal art—a piece that delves full-force into emotions and social issues, no matter how uncomfortable—is Takamine’s specialty.
Born in 1968 in Kagoshima, Japan and now based in Tokyo, Takamine has a practice that spans multiple disciplines, including video, installation, and stage performance. He works with the human body and universal experiences to engage the public in meaningful reflection.
His art often addresses thought-provoking, sensitive, or controversial topics from a personal angle. Some of his past projects over the past three decades include the video piece Kimura-san, which centres his communication with, and sexual care for, a disabled man; A Lover from Korea, which draws on one of his own relationships to address the discrimination experienced by Korean residents of Japan; and God Bless America, a clay-animation video that unpacks the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following 9/11.
The upcoming presentation of Sculptural Rebirth at the Vancouver Art Gallery marks the piece’s Canadian debut. 
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