Takeshi Matsugami Look up, Keep Walking , 上を向いて歩こう
Look Up, Keep Walking
In Look Up, Keep Walking, Takeshi Matsugami (1980, Nagoya, Japan) continues his attentive observation of everyday life while gradually shifting his focus toward landscapes and open spaces.
The paintings originate from the artist’s surroundings and personal photo archive—images often taken during walks near his home or small outings with his children and family. These quiet excursions become the starting point for paintings that transform ordinary views into calm, distilled compositions.
Many works are titled after the locations where the photographs were taken—Ikuta, Fuchu, Odawara, Tachikawa, and Enoshima—anchoring the exhibition in specific yet familiar places. Rather than depicting these sites with documentary precision, Matsugami isolates simple elements—trees, paths, birds, fragments of sky—within restrained compositions that leave space for stillness and contemplation.
The title Look Up, Keep Walking emerged while the artist was working on a painting of a swallow in flight. It reflects his interest in compositions that guide the viewer’s gaze upward, while also referring to the simple act central to his practice: walking, observing, and gathering images along the way.
Matsugami’s visual language remains deliberately straightforward. Simplified forms and clear contours echo his background in graphic design and his affinity with illustration and manga. Visible brushstrokes and slightly uneven surfaces emphasize the act of painting itself, creating images that feel immediate and unpolished.
Seasonal changes quietly permeate the works as light, colour, and atmosphere shift from painting to painting, reflecting the rhythm of daily walks. The lyrical tone of songs by Kyu Sakamoto served as an early source of inspiration during the development of the exhibition.
Pine trees, a recurring motif in Matsugami’s work, also appear here. The artist’s surname, Matsugami (松上), contains the character for “pine” (松), a coincidence that has gradually turned the tree into a personal symbol. Two paintings from his Bonsai series reflect this connection.
With Look Up, Keep Walking, Matsugami invites viewers to slow down and notice the subtle moments encountered while walking, looking up, and continuing forward.
- Location
- Brussels
- Date
- Now open: —
“Noticing the subtle moments of daily life”
Takeshi Matsugami Bonsai, 2025
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Oil on canvas glued to plywood
46 x 40 cm
Framed
46 x 40 cm
Framed
Takeshi Matsugami Gyoza, 2025
Inquire40 x 46 cm
Framed
Takeshi Matsugami Pacific Saury, 2025
Inquire35 x 46 cm
Framed