In mid-May, Guardian Garden will host the 29th exhibition in its series titled “The Second Stage at GG.” The series originally showcased finalists in the gallery’s “Hitotsubo” open competitions launched in 1992 to promote young creative artists. In 2008 the “Hitotsubo” series came to a close after 30 events encompassing a total of 566 finalists, to be superseded by the “1_WALL” competitions introduced in 2009. “The Second Stage at GG” features finalists from both the “Hitotsubo” and “1_WALL” series who are active in various fields, with a focus on their subsequent creative activities.

The 29th exhibition in “The Second Stage at GG” series will place the spotlight on Atsushi Takeda, who was a finalist in the 4th “Hitotsubo” competition in 1994. Takeda is an art director who works mainly in the area of editorial design. This will be his first solo outing in his career as a designer stretching back more than 10 years since his participation in the “Hitotsubo” competition.

Takeda says the appeal of book design, in contrast to advertising, rests in the reader’s ability to take a work directly in hand, the lengthy contact between the reader and the book being read, and the integral role of design as part of the finished product. He also points to the visibility of the results of the designer’s effort reflected in a book’s sales figures. While the book designs created by Takeda are simple and understated, they securely convey their message and engage the interest of the viewer.

The exhibition title, “Nombre,” is befitting Takeda’s relationship with numbers, especially page numbers. The exhibition will feature books and magazines he has worked on, including “PHaT PHOTO,” his graphics for INAX Gallery and epSITE, and new calendars of highly original design. Visitors are sure to enjoy viewing Takeda’s prolific creations.

Message from the Artist

“Nombre” is the French word for “number.” Numbers express such things as amounts and time, and also serve as codes for distinguishing one thing from another. For this exhibition, I focused on the aspect of time. Besides my works created to date, I wanted to show calendars I designed based on use of numbers.

Atsushi Takeda