Artist Statement
«For a Swiss, I am a Japanese and for a Japanese I am a Swiss or rather a gaijin.»

My name is David «Takashi» Favrod. I was born on the 2nd of July 1982 in Kobe, Japan, of a Japanese mother and a Swiss father. When I was 6 months old, my parents decided to come and live in Switzerland, more precisely in Vionnaz, a little village in lower Valais. As my father had to travel for his work a lot, I was mainly brought up by my mother who taught me her principles and her culture.

When I was 18, I asked for double nationality at the Japanese embassy, but they refused, because it is only given to Japanese women who wish to obtain their husband’s nationality.

It is from this feeling of rejection and also from a desire to prove that I am as Japanese as I am Swiss that this work was created. “Gaijin” is a fictional narrative, a tool for my quest for identity, where self-portraits imply an intimate and solitary relationship that I have with myself. The mirror image is frozen in a figurative alter ego that serves as an anchor point.

The aim of this work is to create “my own Japan”, in Switzerland, from memories of my journeys when I was small, my mother’s stories, popular and traditional culture and my grandparents war narratives.

 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2013
«Gaijin» La Petite Poule Noire Gallery, Paris, France
«Gaijin»Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, United States
«Gaijin» Stephan Witschi Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland

2012
«Gaijin» John Schmid Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
«Gaijin» Crochetan Gallery, Monthey, Switzerland

2011
«Gaijin» Aperture Foundation, New-York, USA
«Gaijin» Athens Photo Festival 2011 the Hellenic Centre for Photography, Athens, Greece (with catalogue)
«Gaijin» Fotografia Festival 2011: Motherland the Pastificio Cerere Foundation, Roma, Italy (with catalogue)
«Gaijin» Stimultania Gallery, Strasbourg, France


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2013
«Swiss Design Awards 2013» Art Basel / Design Miami, Basel, Switzerland
«Gaijin» 28e Festival International de mode et de photographie , Villa Noailles, Hyères, France
«ReGeneration2 : Tomorrow's Photographers Today» Rosphoto, Saint-Petersburg, Russia (with catalogue)
«Modified Landscapes», Zur Matze Gallery, Brig, Switzerland
«There are more things» Exp/Exposure 12 Gallery, Berlin, Germany
«Hey, Hot Shot 2012» Jen Bekman Gallery, New-York, USA
«ReGeneration2» Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, USA (with catalogue) «ReGeneration2» Devos Art Museum, Marquette, Michigan, USA (with catalogue)

2012
«Open Call 2012» GuatePhoto Festival 2012, Guatemala City, Guatemala
«THE YOUTH CODE! : Juvenilia Photogaphica» curated by Nathalie Herschdorfer, Daegu Photo Biennale 2012, Daegu, South Korea (with catalogue)
«Made in...» Musée d’art du Valais, Sion, Switzerland
«The Flood Wall» Exp12/Exposure 12 Gallery, slide show, Berlin, Germany
«Obsessions» curated by Nathalie Herschdorfer, La Filature, Mulhouse, France

2011
«Regards Contemporains» curated by Aperture Foundation, at MontBlanc, Paris, France
«TET A TET 2» EX-EPA, Vevey, Switzerland (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Azzedine Alaïa Gallery, Paris, France (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Caochangdi PhotoSpring Festival, Beijin, China (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Aperture Foundation, New-York, USA (with catalogue)

2010
«Eden Roc» Museum of Bagnes, Bagnes, Switzerland (with catalogue)
«Swiss Design Award 2010» Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich, Switzerland (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Centre Gallery, Miami Dade College, Miami, USA (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, Italia (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Flash Forward Festival, Toronto, Canada (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Michaelis Galleries, Cap Town, South Africa (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Les Rencontres d’Arles, France (with catalogue)
«ReGeneration2» Elysée Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland (with catalogue)
«JungKunst 2010» City Halle, Winterthur, Switzerland (with catalogue)
«International Photography Award - Best Of Show» curated by Adriana Teresa, SplashLight Studios, New-York, USA «La Montagne de Verre» Mauvoisin, Switzerland
«C/D/DC» 22bis Gallery, Vevey, Switzerland

2009
«Viewbook photostory winners» at the Kahmann Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
«Work in Progress 2009» «les rencontres internationales de la photographie», Arles, France
«Gaijin» for the «Kantonale Schaffensbeiträge im Bereich visuelle Kunst un Design», Zur Matze Gallery, Brig, Switzerland
«International Talent Support, ITS8», Trieste, Italy


AWARDS

Winner of the «Project Launch Award 2013», Santa Fee, USA
Hyères photography selection 2013, Hyères, France
Winner of the «Aperture Portfolio Prize 2010», New-York, USA
Winner of the «Swiss Design Award 2010», Bern, Switzerland
Winner of the «International Viewbook PhotoStory 2009», Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Winner of the «Prix de Soutien à la Création 2009», Sion, Switzerland
Winner of the «Work in Progress 2009», Les rencontres de la photographie Arles, France
Shortlisted fot the «FOAM Paul Huf Award 2012», Amsterdam, the Netherlands

 

Cross-Reference