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Seikichi TakaraTaiko Odori, 19911991
1991
$2,475
£1,884.71
€2,152.22
CA$3,477.68
A$3,815.68
CHF 2,009.92
MX$45,391.52
NOK 25,746.78
SEK 23,510.33
DKK 16,079.15
About the Item
'Taiko Odori (Drum Dance)" is a serigraph by Seikichi Takara on paper, signed 'S Takara' lower right and numbered XXVIII/C lower left. The image size is 33 x 26 inches and the framed dimensions are 46.25 x 39 inches. From the total edition of 550 (there were also 295 Arabics, 75 APs, 75 HCs and 5 PPs). Framed in a contemporary black frame.
Seikichi Takara’s Taiko Odori (Drum Dance) is an electrifying abstraction of movement, rhythm, and cultural memory. A field of deep blues—shifting from velvety midnight tones to sharp indigo—creates a stage-like atmosphere from which vibrant strokes erupt. These gestures, executed with sweeping, calligraphic confidence, evoke the arcs of limbs in motion and the circular momentum produced by drum rhythms. Rather than presenting fully rendered bodies, Takara offers kinetic traces, as though he has captured the echo of performers rather than their physical boundaries.
Across this charged surface, accents of fiery red, warm ochre, and quick flashes of white suggest drumsticks cutting through air, fabric twisting with each motion, and the palpable energy that radiates from taiko performance. The composition itself feels almost musical: lines curve, collide, and counter-curve like overlapping beats, while patches of color surge forward or recede in a pattern reminiscent of rhythmic expansion and contraction. Through these interactions, Takara constructs a visual field that pulses with the dynamic interplay of sound and movement.
Yet Taiko Odori is less a depiction of drumming than a visualization of embodied rhythm—a moment in which sound, gesture, and identity merge. Taiko has long served as a communal and ritualistic practice, and Takara captures this not through literal figures or narrative staging but through intensity, vibration, and unity of motion. What he presents is the spirit of taiko rather than the scene: the collective energy generated by performers, the heartbeat-like force of the drums, and the deep connection between body, tradition, and cultural expression.
The abstraction invites viewers not to observe from a distance but to enter the experience. We find ourselves swept into the motion, carried along by its velocity and expressive power. In transforming taiko into a universal language of resonance and movement, Takara preserves its cultural roots while expanding its expressive possibilities. His strokes become both memory and event, echo and action.
Ultimately, Taiko Odori (Drum Dance) stands as a powerful fusion of movement, sound, and heritage. Through vibrant color interplay, dynamic linework, and calligraphic abstraction, Takara renders the taiko dance as an energetic visual symphony. In doing so, he reveals the essence of performance—the collective spirit, the bodily force, and the rhythmic pulse—captured in a moment of pure, expressive abstraction.
Seikichi Takara (b.1929) is a Hawaiian American painter and printmaker celebrated for his atmospheric blend of abstraction, gesture, and nature-inspired imagery. Born on Oʻahu to parents of Okinawan ancestry, he grew up within the culturally rich environment of mid-century Hawaiʻi, where his artistic talent emerged early. A supportive teacher helped arrange his first formal classes at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, complementing his largely self-directed development.
Takara’s parallel work as a graphic artist and screen printer shaped his refined technical approach, particularly his mastery of layered color and luminous tonal transitions. By the 1960s he was exhibiting in Hawaiʻi, gaining recognition for works that merged abstract expressionist sensibilities with the moods and atmospheres of the islands. An early milestone came in 1968 when he received a public prize at the Hanalei Art Festival for his painting Erosion.
His mature style is defined by translucent fields of blues, greens, and violets, animated by dynamic linear gestures that evoke natural forces—waves, mist, wind, or celestial movement—without depicting them literally. Whether in paintings or serigraph editions, Takara’s work offers a meditative vision of nature transformed through abstraction, making him a distinctive voice in Hawaiʻi’s post-war art landscape.
- Creator:Seikichi Takara
- Creation Year:1991
- Dimensions:Height: 46.25 in (117.48 cm)Width: 39 in (99.06 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Greenwich, CT
- Reference Number:Seller: GRTAK0656011stDibs: LU2664217354952
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