Ryudai Takano

Ryudai Takano was born in 1963 in Fukui, Japan. He has been engaged in his artistic practice on the theme of sexuality since 1994, in 2005 winning the Kimura Ihei Award for In My Room, a collection of photographs that attempt to give visual expression to the ambiguities that lie in the space between the dichotomies of man or woman, homosexual or heterosexual. Since then he has produced a number of works viewing the "down there" matter of sexual desire in the context of its relationship to the likes of identity and social norms, including How to contact a man, which explores the theme of sexuality in pornographic format; and With me, whose unguarded expressions of sexuality led to trouble with the police.
In addition, Takano has produced series that question the notion of a hierarchy of value in visual representation, including the Reclining Woo-Man series of "unmarketable" body images; and Kasubaba, which captures very familiar yet neglected parts of the distinctively Japanese urban landscape.
Since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011, Takano has been engaged in various projects on the theme of shadows.