Clint Takeda

February 24 - April 22, 2001


Clint Takeda, Trance Chimp [detail], 2000. Clay, polyurethane, latex rubber. 24 x 12 x 12 inches. Lent by the artist.
An exhibition of new work by Clint Takeda (b. 1962) was installed in ICA's Project Space Gallery. Of Japanese-American descent, Takeda creates sculptures, drawings, and paintings of imaginary creatures in a style reminiscent of Surrealism. He created three large, life-size figures -- a monk, a monkey, and a scientist -- in various states of trance, as well as smaller hallucinated sculptures. The works relate to images and ideas of sensory deprivation, evolution, and science from popular culture and film, especially science fiction films.

Takeda's drawings have been featured as cover art for the neo-psychedelic musical group, Bardo Pond, in which he plays bass guitar. In 1998, his work was seen at ICA in "The Optimists' Society Presents: New Nihilism Now." He is a member of the co-operative, Vox Populi, where he has had solo exhibitions, and was included in "Fabulists: Fictions in Word and Image by Philadelphia Artists" (1999) at the Levy Gallery, Moore College of Art. In response to this exhibition, Robin Rice of the Philadelphia City Paper wrote that Takeda's sculptures "arouse our curiosity and compassion -- they are deliberate mysteries."

Support for "Clint Takeda" has generously been provided by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Advisory Board, friends, members of the Institute of Contemporary Art and the University of Pennsylvania. (Information complete as of January 12, 2001.)


Institute of Contemporary Art | University of Pennsylvania
118 S. 36th St. Philadelphia, PA 19104-3289 | T 215.898.7108 | F 215.898.5050

Copyright © 2004-2008, Institute of Contemporary Art. All rights reserved.
Website developed by Zero Defect Design LLC.