My position is not that art stands above everything else, rather art, and sculpture in particular, is one manifestation of our gaze upon the human world we inhabit.
Shigeo Toya
Shigeo Toya b. 1947
Born in Nagano, Japan, in 1947, Shigeo Toya is a Saitama-based sculptor known for using a chainsaw to carve sculpture from wood. His works have been likened to a Japanese variation on Western Minimalism, and he often takes an archaeological, excavation-style approach to creation. Toya graduated from Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music in 1975, when the conceptual Mono-ha (“School of Things”) movement was in full-swing in Japan—Toya has stated that he does not consider his work a part of the prevalent movement, but was influenced by several of its key proponents, namely Lee Ufan and Jiro Takamatsu.
In the course of his career, Toya’s work has centered around several key themes and inspirations, coalescing into abstractions that meditate on the interaction between humans and nature—nature being for Toya both “a source of material and a site of hope,” according to Sculpture Magazine. From France’s Lascaux caves and the remains of Pompeii to trees and forest formations to European Baroque aesthetics, Toya distills vastly disparate elements of art and cultural history into evocative forms. “Sculpture cannot serve as a substitute for nature, but it can support nature and be supported by it,” Jonathan Goodman observed. “Toya knows this deeply.”
Toya’s work has been shown widely in Japan and internationally. He participated in both the Venice Biennale National Pavilion and Venice Biennale International Exhibition, as well as the Yokohama Triennale, and has shown in exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, ShugoArts, Tokyo, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, among others.
