Akihiko Takeda's Erotic Plaster Sculptures

Japanese artist Akihiko Takeda (1930–2012) is compared to Bruno Munari for his multidisciplinary approach across painting, textiles, ceramics, photography, and sculpture. He began in advertising for Toyota in 1951, created art jewelry for Shiseido and Tiffany & Co., and spent time in Italy in the early 1990s where his daughter lived. In Italy, he focused on marble and bronze sculpture, later exploring terracotta and incised ceramics in Japan, and finally origami. A distinct body of work from his Italian years consists of plaster nudes, mostly female, inspired by the Carrara sculptural tradition and European modernists like Picasso and Matisse. Takeda modified the plaster mixture with minerals to eliminate internal armatures, achieving a smooth, lustrous, and soft surface that invites touch. This tactile quality enhances the eroticism of the works, and he never used the same technique elsewhere. The article argues that for Takeda, technique is content. Written by Ferruccio Giromini.