Sculptor, painter and printmaker Takeshi Kawashima was born Takamatsu City, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, in 1930. He attended the School of Fine Art in Musashino, where he graduated in 1956. It was in Japan that he developed the gridded abstracts that he would become known for. In 1963, he relocated to New York and had already garnered enough attention to be invited to participate in 1965's major exhibit "The New Japanese Painting and Sculpture" at the Museum of Modern Art. Solo and group exhibitions quickly followed, including a show at the Waddell Gallery and the MoMA's "1960s Selection from Museum Collection." 

After fifty-three years in the U.S., Kawashima returned to Takamatsu, where he opened the Takeshi Kawashima Art Factory on Naoshima, known as "art island." He has helped to establish the Setouchi Triennale arts festival for the Seto Inland Sea.

Kawashima's work can be found in the permenent collections of the Norton Simon Museum; the Museum of Modern Art, NY; among others. He was the recipient of the Daniel Schnakenberg scholarship 91965) and the Silvermine Award (1967).

Selected solo exhibitions:
Hannah-Kent Gallery, NY, 1995
Walter Wickiser Gallery, NY, 1998
Yamaso Art Gallery, Kyoto, Japan, 1999
The 2nd Retrospective Exhibition, Kagawa Prefectural Culture Museum, 2002
Mitchell Algus Gallery, NY, 2006
Art Now Fair NY/Artspace Company Y, NY 2008