Motohide Takami: Gazing at the Burning House of the Three Worlds

The title of the exhibition is drawn from a well-known Buddhist parable that analogizes the inescapable confusion and pain of the world in which we live to a burning house. It is said that humans ignore the raging flames around them and continue to play, even as the house is consumed.

Just as the analogy suggests, in our daily lives, we isolate ourselves and avert our eyes from “death” and other negative factors.
Takami’s works are nothing less than an attempt to excavate these factors and place them under a renewed spotlight. The brushwork with which he does so is exceedingly dispassionate, and the results evoke his determined honesty as he attempts to plainly capture reality in a sincere way.