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.
Yashima had earlier developed an interest in confronting present-day society after spending a year in Germany in 2018. His artworks approach human despair with compassion, warmth and a unique sense of humor, all while presenting a cross-section of the present for all to see.
In 2021 he was selected as a member of overseas trainee from the Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation which was established in 2008 to support artists and researchers.

Profile
Born in Shimane, Japan in 1985 Lives and works in Hiroshima, Japan |
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【Education】 | |
2013 | Finished Doctorate 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】 | |
2024 | Yohei Yashima: INNER CHILD (gallery G, Hiroshima) Yohei Yashima-ten (Gallery Ohi, Osaka) |
2023 | Yohei Yashima: FICTION×NON-FICTION (Fukuya Hatchobori, Hiroshima) |
2022 | Yohei Yashima: FIND LOVE (K gallery, Shimane) |
2021 | Yohei Yashima: Touch (SEIZAN Gallery, New York) |
2020 | Yohei Yashima: Wave Hands (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo) 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) A SINGLE ANT BITE (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo; SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO 凸, Tokyo) KIRINJI 2X2X (gallery UG Tennoz, 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, 2023) |
2016 | Two persons exhibition “Yuki Teshima and Yohei Yashima” (Tenmaya Hiroshima Hatchobori Art Gallery, Hiroshima, continued in 2018) |
2012 | Sato International Cultural Scholarship Foundation 21st Scholar Art Exhibition (Sato museum, Tokyo) Chaos: Asu eno Toikake-ten (Gallery hibiya, Tokyo, continued in 2014, 2016) |
【Awards】 | |
2021 | The 27th Energia Award (Energia Culture and Sports Foundation, Hiroshima) |
2018 | Honorable mention for the 30th National Painting Competition Exhibition IZUBI. (Ikeda Museum of Art in 20th Century, Shizuoka) Grand Prized at the 36th Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition (Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo) |
2016 | Honorable mention for the 2nd Exhibition GEIBUNKYO 2016 (Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto) |
Exhibitions
Something Precious: Pandas – That’s Not All
06/12/2024(fri) - 20/12/2024(fri)
Ruiji Aiba, Hiroyuki Aoyama, Toshiro Baba, Cougar, Yukiko Hata, Hirokazu Ichii, Ichizo Ino, Eri Iwasaki, Haruomi Izumi, Tetsuro Kadonaga, Yasushi Kanzaki, Emi Katsuta, Yashinoko Kawakami, Ryu Kitazawa, Yoshinori Kobayashi, Yuki Koyano, Yoji Kumagai, Akiyoshi Nakamura, Kumiko Negami, Makoto Nitahara, Shunsuke Ochi, Akifumi Okumura, Toru Otsuki, Ken Shiozaki, Kei Sugiyama, Asako Tabata, Shinya Tamai, TOKIN, Koki Tsujimoto, Takako Yabuki, Yohei Yashima, Yuki Yatsu, Kaz Watabe
SEIZAN GALLERY & SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO凸 A SINGLE ANT BITE
11/12/2020(fri) - 22/12/2020(tue)
Hiroyuki Aoyama, Yasushi Ikejiri, Sayaka Imai, Haruomi Yukiko Hata, Izumi, Emi Katsuta, Mao Kawasaki, Yoji Kumagai, Shunsuke Ochi, Akifumi Okuyama, Tomoaki Shimohira, Asako Tabata, Motohide Takami, Keitoku Toizumi, Koki Tsujimoto, Kaz Watabe, Yohei Yashima, Yuki Yatsu
Yohei Yashima: Wave hands
13/02/2020(thu) - 26/02/2020(wed)
Something Precious Exhibition – Strawberry –
08/12/2017(fri) - 22/12/2017(fri)
Ruiji Aiba, Hiroyuki Aoyama, Yasushi Ikejiri, Haruomi Izumi, Sayaka Imai, Eri Iwasaki, Shinji Ohya, Akifumi Okumura, Satoko Ogura, Ami Onogi, Yuichi Kashima, Emi Katsuta, Takashi Kanazawa, Kaya, Yasushi Kanzaki, Yoji Kumagai, Noriyuki Kobayashi, Yuki Koyano, Sanami Shimada, Ken Shiozaki, Kou Shimizu, Chiaki Suzuki, Shiki Taira, Hiroko Takeda, Shin Tanaka, Koki Tsujimoto, Kenki Tsujimoto, Junya Tsubota, Ai Naka, Masakubi Nakamura, Shino Nakamura, Makoto Nitahara, Yukiko Hata, Toru Fukuda, Hikojiro Fujisawa, Akihiro Fujimoto, Fuyuki Maehara, Yuko Mawatari, Yoshiko Murakoshi, Eri Muranaka, Yohei Yashima, Shigeme Yasuhara, Ami Yamashiro, Kaz Watabe