Yohei Yashima has spent the majority of his career crafting works that embody human loneliness and anxiety through paintings of anonymous, mass-produced dolls. Referring to his dolls as relatable items that every viewer can project themselves onto, Yashima uses the figures as empty vessels to fill with the traumas and emotions human beings are usually too scared to confront face-to-face.

Profile
Born in Shimane, Japan in 1985 Lives and works in Shimane |
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【Education】 | |
2013 | Completed doctor’s degree at Hiroshima City University graduate school of Arts |
2008 | Graduated from Kyoto Saga University of Arts (former Kyoto Saga Junior College of Arts) |
【Selected Solo Exhibitions】 | |
2020 | The 36th Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition Grand Prize Winner Solo Exhibition YASHIMA Yohei (The Ueno Royal Museum Gallery, Tokyo) |
2017 | Hiroshima City University ”Senbatsu Yoga-ten” (Akitakata Municipal Yachiyonooka Museum of Art, Hiroshima) |
2016 | STAY GOLD (NSA, Hiroshima) |
2012 | G selection GUNZO: Tadanakani iru (gallery G, Hiroshima) |
【Selected Group Exhibitions】 | |
2020 | Odes to the Everyday: Works from the Ueno Royal Museum Collection (The Ueno Royal Museum Gallery, Tokyo) |
2019 | The 36th Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition (Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo) Spuren des Wandels (Lortzing ART, Germany) |
2018 | Imago Mundi project “Hiroshima / Nagasaki” (Luciano Benetton Collection, Italy) |
2017 | Something precious (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo, continued in 2018) |
2012 | Sato International Cultural Scholarship Foundation 21st Scholar Art Exhibition (Sato museum, Tokyo) |
【Awards】 | |
2018 | The 30th Exhibition of paintings by general public, IZUBI (Ikeda Museum of Art in 20th Century, Shizuoka) The 36th Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition (Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo) |
2016 | Award for The 2nd Exhibition GEIBUNKYO 2016 (Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto) SHELL ART AWARD EXHIBITION 2016 (The National Art Center, Tokyo), Grand prize |