This publication is produced on the occasion of the exhibition held at Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 26 February - 8 May 2011.

'This is the first major solo exhibition to be held in Tokyo featuring the work of Kyoji Takubo (1949 - ), who is famous for ‘The Chapel of the Apple Trees’ restoration project in Normandy, France, and is currently involved in the regeneration project of the Mt. Kotohira-yama, Shikoku.

'Entering from Tama Art University in 1968, Takubo’s activities in the early seventies initially pivoted around performance art, then up until the mid-eighties he focused on the creation of objets d’art, in which he applied gold leaf to scrap wood, etc., that he then used to construct forms in the shape of window frames or doorways, these being shown at numerous galleries and exhibitions (including the 1984 Venice Biennale).

'During the eighties the center of Tokyo was undergoing major redevelopment and in 1987 he, together with an architect named Ryoji Suzuki and a photographer named Shigeo Anzaï, produced the ‘Absolute Scene’ project. This consisted of taking ordinary, two-story wooden houses in the center of town, removing the walls and floors to leave only a framework, then fitting glass floors and inviting people to walk over them, recording the whole process. After this he turned his back on Tokyo and its bubble economy, moving to Normandy in 1989, where he devoted himself to the restoration and decoration of a derelict, 16th century chapel in a tiny village named St. Vigor de Mieux. This project, in which he highlighted the original structure of the building while decorating the walls with a mural depicting the apple trees that form a major feature of the local landscape. This project took more than ten years to complete and was achieved through the cooperation of the local people, and the patronage of both corporations and individuals, representing a new direction for art, combining the work itself, the recipients, the investors and the issue of ownership. Since his return to Japan in 1999 he has involved himself in a restoration project covering the entire area surrounding the Kotohira-gu Shrine in Shikoku, a venture that has received attention for the way in which it combines traditional cultural heritage with the long-term activities of a contemporary artist.

'Having been involved in these restoration activities for 20 years, Takubo describes ‘the act of expressing landscape of a particular place that will live for a much long time than myself as “scenic art” and the actual scenery, that will exist in the future after the artist has left, as “art of landscape” and he aims to develop these spatial and temporal activities in the future.

'This exhibition will present these two projects with which he has been involved in recent years, not through the work he produced at these locations but through a Tokyo version that takes the form of another restoration. In addition to introducing his current activities it will also show work from his early and transition periods, tracing a career in which he has questioned the relationship that exists between artist and society.

'Takubo’s work has developed through a desire to surpass the boundaries of genre and location while remaining confined within a certain regional or cultural complex, demonstrating an earnest desire to come to grips with contemporary themes. We hope that this exhibition will provide an opportunity for people to come into contact with this form of contemporary creativity that spans a variety of locations and forms.' (from website of Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo)

Including artist biography.