“IKIRO – Be Alive – Returning to the Source” by Takahiro Suzuki

“IKIRO” is a Japanese word that can be translated into English as “Be alive”.

“IKIRO” was the word that the artist Takahiro Suzuki, born 1967 in Osaka, started writing in his diary when he was about 20 years old. It was the word that gave him courage and gave his life meaning to this day. His artistic career began in Tokyo and he created paintings, sculptures, installations and performances. But he never really stopped writing “IKIRO” because he realized how much energy there was in the word and the simple act of writing it. 1996 his first encounter with New York to test his possibilities as an artist there. The first “IKIRO” performance took place in New York. Since then, the artist has written “IKIRO” in very different places all over the world. He met many people of countless ethnicities, not only in the big cities, but also in the most remote areas of the world and this was an incredible enrichment for the artist. In a world that is increasingly coming apart at the seams and the latest technologies, such as AI, will fundamentally change human coexistence, the artist wants to return to the feelings he had as a young man and to the word “IKIRO”, which gave him so much strength and is just as important to the artist today as it was then.

Takahiro Suzuki – IKIRO Man CV

2023 “Memory of this planet” Contemporary Art Factory, Kyoto Japan

2022 “Sunday Painting” Contemporary Art Factory, Kyoto Japan / Solo

2019 “Noise of Silence: Japanese Art Now” Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast UK

2016 “IKIRO – Be Alive” Gallery Gen, Tokyo Japan / Solo

2014 “IKIRO Museum” Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka Japan / Solo

2007 “IKIRO” Künstlerhaus Bethanien / Berlin Germany / Solo

2001 “IKIRO” Kröller-Müller Museum / Otterlo Holland

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