Artists | MAKI Gallery | MAKI

Born in 1989 in Osaka, Japan, Takuro Tamura graduated from Kyoto University of the Arts in 2016, after which he worked as an assistant at SANDWICH, the artist collective led by Kohei Nawa. Now based in Tokyo, Tamura draws inspiration from his everyday surroundings and frequently incorporates motifs related to transportation into his work, such as asphalt, road signs, and traffic mirrors. With his keen observational skills, technical mastery, and playful sense of humor, the artist recontextualizes quotidian objects and materials, stripping them of their original functions and imbuing them with new meaning. Tamura taps into the minute, often overlooked details of daily life, taking fleeting realizations and expanding upon them to an almost absurd scale. Keeping his sharp critical eye squarely pointed toward contemporary society, the artist encourages us to find wonder and fascination in the most mundane of moments.
A substantial number of Tamura’s recent works combine asphalt with nature imagery, such as sculpted flowers or public domain landscape paintings. By starkly juxtaposing the organic and the artificial, the artist exposes the contradictory behavior of human beings—tearing down forests for convenience and material gain, while decorating their homes with houseplants and wistfully painting romanticized scenery. However, Tamura does not portray nature as a completely helpless entity; he celebrates its perseverance and tenacity despite continued exploitation, wishing for one day when humans can peacefully coexist with their environment.
The artist’s solo exhibitions include 5W＜1H, MAKI Gallery (Tokyo, 2021) and OUT SIDE, y gion (Kyoto, 2018), as well as group shows and public art projects in major cities throughout Japan.