Internationally renowned graphic designer, fine artist, and Graphis Master Takenobu Igarashi has received one of the highest honors possible in the arts: A museum of his life’s work is set to open next year, in Nonoichi, Japan. The museum, formally called the Igarashi Takenobu Archive at Kanazawa Institute of Technology, will contain the totality of his work over the course of his multi-decade career.
Igarashi is best known for his iconic, era-defining graphics using three dimensional type. In 1994, however, at the age of 50 and after a decade-spanning career in design, he made a courageous shift away from design to sculpture. Few creatives manage to make such a move with equal success in both endeavors, but the critical success of Igarashi’s sculptural artwork, which encompasses a dazzling array of styles, stands on equal footing with his design work.
Set to open in 2023, the museum will be situated at a university focused on engineering. This is a result of Igarashi’s profound belief in the ever-increasing importance of cultivating creative sensibility in the world’s next generation of scientists, a cause to which he remains dedicated.
The archive, which will include thousands of works of graphic design, sculpture, two-dimensional artwork, and a selection of books and works by other artists, all donated to the university by Igarashi, stands to be an invaluable resource for designers, artists, and educators worldwide.
