Exhibition on view:
December 10 – January 8, 2011

Opening Reception for the artist:
Friday, December 10, 7-9pm

Artist Talk:
Saturday, January 8, 2011, 4pm

Civilian Art Projects and Apartment Zero excitedly join forces to present an exhibition by Jonah Takagi, a new American designer with an over-active imagination and a flare for the simple mechanics of good ideas. The exhibition opens to the public on December 10, 2010 and will be on view through January 8, 2011 at Civilian Art Projects in downtown Washington, DC.

Takagi creates objects and furntiture that inspire, inform and re-contextualize our surroundings into new design ideas impeccably articulated. In his solo debut, Takagi has created limited edition lamps, one-off shelving, prototypes of new work, drawing and a site-specific table installation created uniquely for the Civilian Art Project's gallery.

Since graduating from RISD in 2002, the Japanese-born, New England–raised, Washington D.C.–based designer has worked as a cabinetmaker, a full-time musician, a set builder, and a producer for an indie-rock kids' show called Pancake Mountain. In the past few years, Atelier Takagi has turned out a growing collection of tables, chairs, lamps, and shelves, many of which are currently in production at Matter, a design store in New York. In January, Takagi was picked to show as part of an emerging designers' showcase at the furniture trade fair IMM Cologne, and his American Gothic table was selected for a design show at Paris's Gallery Triode. He was recently awarded the 2010 Bernhardt Design American Design Honor as the Emerging Designer of the Year. Additionally, in the past year, he has exhibited at Dwell on Design, ICFF- New York, the IMM Cologne Furniture Fair, and the American Design in Paris.

His work has recently been featured in The New York Times, Interior Design, Details, Surface, DC Modern Luxury, Numero (France), Pasajes Diseno (Spain), Form (Germany), Elle Decoration (Norway), Attitude (Portugal), Monocle (UK), Intramuros (France), and Belle (Australia).

APARTMENT ZERO

Over the past 11 years, Apartment Zero has presented the Washington DC market with the very best in emerging and established industrial design talents, as well as produced design symposiums, traveling exhibits and embassy and museum collaborations. They have partnered with the Smithsonian Associates, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Phillips Collection, Hillwood Museum, The National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Hirshhorn Museum as well as the Embassies of the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Australia. Apartment Zero has joined forces with the AIA and the IDSA and well as Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and the Cooper-Hewitt. Some of the designers presented have been Marcel Wanders, Karim Rashid, James Dyson, Martin Azua and Constantin and Laurene Boym, to name a few. Apartment Zero has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Elle Decor, Surface, Wallpaper, Dwell, Details, Metropolis, Interior Design, Food&Wine, GQ, Azure, Abitare, Home and Design, DC Modern Luxury, The Chicago Tribune, InStyle, House Beautiful, Lucky, USA Today and Washingtonian, among others.

December 10 - January 8, 2011

Opening Reception: Friday, December 10, 7-9pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, January 8, 2011, 4pm

Civilian Art Projects and Apartment Zero excitedly join forces to present a site-specific display featuring limited edition pieces, one-offs and prototypes from Jonah Takagi, a new American designer with an over-active imagination and a flare for the simple mechanics of good ideas.