artupdate.com

For her third one-person exhibition at the Lara Vincy gallery (1989 and 2003), Takako Saito is showing an ensemble made up of two groups of interactive works in the form of games :- the first group, from December 4, 2009 through January 16, 2010, is based on the games from 1988 through 1994, made up of magnetized pieces in various shapes (uneven, broken cubes…) The visitor is invited to interact directly on the works’ composition by placing them at his whim on the backgrounds, whether they be totally abstract tri-dimensional mural surfaces or more figurative (characters’ silhouettes).
- the second group, from January 22 through February 27, 2010, will regroup the games from 2004 through 2009.  In these recent works, also interactive, the shapes are more colorful and provide the interactive viewer with a greater freedom of composition. 
We should point out that even as we write these lines, some  pieces are still in the throes of creation and will thus surprise us….
It’s up to you to play !

Born in Japan , she lived in New York between 1963 and 1968, where she encountered Fluxus thanks to Ay-O.  She took part in the George Maciunas’ Fluxus undertaking, particularly with bowl games and above all with chess games. 
Since 1979 she has been living and working in Düsseldorf.
« The most important thing about Fluxus is that no-one can define it in advance. 
There must be at least one thing that escapes specialists.  Wherever it is, I see Fluxus ».  Bob Watts’ words take on their full meaning with Takako’s unusual, poetical and disconcerting work.  Fantasy, charm and humor suffuse her works.
Her minute and fragile creations use wood, greaseproof paper, sticklets, marbles, stones, spice bottles, dice, cardboard, thread….Her objects send us mysterious messages ; they relate stories with neither beginnings nor endings, but positioned like a labyrinth with various interpretations, ready to welcome the «onlooker’s » imaginative power.   Obliging the other, in this case the viewer, to feel, to think about the real differently.

She is currently on view within the new hanging of the permanent collection of the Musée National d’Art Moderne : « elles-centrepompidou ».
She was awarded the Kunstpreis der Künstler in 2000 in Germany.