Emi Katsuta’s artworks have earned praise, both in and outside of Japan, for their adorable forms and vibrant colors. The title of the exhibition, Fluid, references both liquidity and individual liquid states. Amidst the frenetic pace of daily life and the frequent dramatic shifts in the contemporary social landscape , we must all remain flexible enough to come to terms with change but still maintain our core selves. Katsuta’s artworks are imbued with that same soft, supple yet powerful strength of will.

Tetsuro Kadonaga‘s wood-carved sculptures, which recreate the vibrant appearance of birds in minute detail, constantly fascinate viewers with fresh surprises.
This new exhibition will present a series of works that capture “eccentric” moments within the lives of these creatures, all faithfully depicted with incredible skill.
These pieces, which somehow remind us of ourselves, will stir a smile in all who see them.

Why is it that we are compelled to look?
Even when we have no idea what lies in wait, the desire to know can be impossible to resist.
For this exhibition, viewers will let “curiosity” be their guide as they experience the act of peeking, question the true meaning of beauty, and eventually return to the everyday.

Tohoku University of Art & Design is known for cultivating artists with a distinctive vision, including  those in SEIZAN Gallery’s roster, such as Hiroyuki Aoyama, Yukiko Hata, and Motohide Takami. This new exhibition will introduce five promising emerging artists from the university: Hikaru Ishiguro, Miu Kurihara, Yuriko Takahashi, Hanyu Zhang, and Ryoko Morimoto.

Working with origami as his motif, Takuma Shiratani’s wood-carved works earned an enthusiastic response after his recent exhibition with SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO凸.

In this first exhibition at SEIZAN Gallery ‘s main location, the artist will explore the concept of “sculpting the act of folding.” As such, the new works on exhibit will include not only completed origami forms but also pieces that represent different stages of the origami process. The tranquil beauty found within their simple shapes will leave viewers with a sacred impression.

The 2025 Something Precious exhibition will focus on “Pechka” as its theme and feature works by more than 20 artists. “Pechka” is a Russian word for a brick stove, but in this exhibition, it refers to the title of the Japanese children’s song (Lyrics: Hakushū Kitahara, Composition: Kosaku Yamada).
Like the lyrics “enjoy a pechka on a snowy night,” this exhibition brings together artworks inspired by scenes of warmth during the cold winter and we hope you’ll join us to end the year in style.

Natsumi Kofude’s works use the human-made products we encounter in our daily lives to explore the vague outlines of perception and awareness. Every “human-made” object is output that “someone” generated by passing a motif through an existing filter. Expanding upon that concept, Kofude’s artworks are generated by passing those filtered motifs through her own additional filter. By the time the motif passes through the final filter, the viewer, the object that is perceived is far different from what it was originally based on. In this way, Kofude’s work brings to the fore the indefinite and multifaceted properties that permeate our everyday landscape.

Ami Yamashiro has won many admirers with a mysterious artistic style that is full of suggestion. As evidenced from her previous exhibition that focused on the motif of tarot cards, her precisely composed canvases are impressive in ways that belie their small size, and each of the individual motifs arranged therein are imbued with a spiritual tenor that sets the viewer’s imagination alight. For this new solo exhibition, the artist will unveil a series of works that depict the natural world that surrounds us. By evoking the desire to return to nature or expressing reverence for natural phenomena, Yamashiro attempts to capture fragments of the true essence of human existence

Saori Doi’s powerful works sear themselves into the viewer’s memory with their texture. The rough surfaces of her paintings evoke the tactile feeling of earth and stone. a perceptual illusion akin to cutaneous sensation that builds affinity with the audience. Her motifs, though diverse and simiplified, are connected by a grandeur comparable to primitive spirituality, conveying the existence of some powerful ‘presence’ that permeates both the viewer and the work. Like distant thunder, or a rumbling tremor, these pieces channel fragments of the powerful forces that move the Earth and we hope you will experience them for yourself.

After astonishing audiences with elaborate pieces at his 2024 New York solo exhibition, Ikejiri returns this year with another series of works that employ candy wrappers as their motif. Wrappers are designed to appeal to viewers, but once discarded, they are truly empty and somewhat sorrowful objects. The artist builds on that sense of transience to create artworks that surpass mere representation.

At first glance, Cougar’s works appear like pixelated low-resolution images, but at their core, they pose questions about the true value of ‘looking’ itself. In the aftermath of their first solo exhibition, that questioning has probed even deeper. Cougar’s canvases change their appearance when seen at different distances, and through observation , such as by approaching and moving away from the paintings, the viewer’s memories begin to supplement and reconstitute themselves, leading to the emergence of graphical figures. To look is to imagine. The ‘cute’ and ‘nostalgic’ qualities of these works will surely speak to your memories as well.

In conjunction with the third edition of Tokyo Gendai, we are pleased to present Ayaka Fujioka’s works “Life Studies (102)” and “Life Studies (103)” from her forthcoming photo book LIFE STUDIES, scheduled for release this fall.

Born in 1972 in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Fujioka graduated from the Department of Photography at Nihon University College of Art and later studied abroad in Taiwan. She continued her photographic journey while traveling across Europe, Brazil, and other parts of the world. From 2007, she spent approximately five years in New York through the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Overseas Study Program for Emerging Artists. She is currently based in her hometown of Hiroshima.

Fujioka’s works have been exhibited both in Japan and internationally, including at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and the Tbilisi Photo Festival. Her photographs are held in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. Her acclaimed 2018 series Here Goes River garnered her three prestigious awards: the Tadahiko Hayashi Award, the Kimura Ihei Photography Award, and the Ina Nobuo Award.

LIFE STUDIES is a series centered on photographs taken between 2007 and 2012 during Fujioka’s time in New York as an emerging artist. The works serve as an introspective memoir, capturing the people and landscapes of New York City with a quiet, reflective lens.

From the remnants of past sensations to residual images of memories and the vague strands of thought that ruminate in our unconscious, Ishigami’s artwork naturally calls to mind indefinite phenomena from within. His distinctive brushwork glides across the canvas, almost reminiscent of time lapse photography, evoking the impression of multiple timelines compressed into one and alerting us to a harmonious blend of emotions. Perhaps what is captured there is the indistinct image of the psyche itself.

Ruiji Aiba’s latest solo exhibition explores the theme of “festivals” via diverse artworks that draw inspiration from medieval paintings. These lively pieces, reminiscent of folk toys, will create a festive atmosphere that grants visitors a special moment free from the everyday.

Mizuho Fukumuro’s artistic approach uses a wide variety of lines and brushstrokes to generate infinite relativity on the surface of the canvas. These brushstrokes produce multiple colors that intersect and bleed into one another, unfolding with a dynamic sense of movement while also giving birth to empty spaces. The layered lines evoke an organic image of vast, overlapping stratum, while the spaces formed by their repeated intersections gently stir the imagination, allowing us to ponder the presence of things that can’t be captured in physical form.

By painting landscapes that depict models, rather than real scenery, Takami attempts to capture the gap between viewer and object.

As indicated by the theme “fires on another shore,” these motifs are one step removed from reality and lack accuracy, making them intentionally distorted. The point of view expressed is that of an ignorant, uninterested, or indifferent “bystander,” drawing allusions with our own unconscious reactions to events.

The faint sense of incongruity or unease the viewer draws from these distorted motifs is perhaps the flip side of the freedom to interpret daily matters that we all possess.

It has been six years since Hata’s last solo exhibition. In this new show, the artist will exhibit her first attempts at still-life paintings, along with other new works that differ from her traditional motifs.

While focusing on subjects like social anxiety and occlusion, Hata’s vividly colored canvasses also evoke the viewer’s sense of humor. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the ever more unstable state of world affairs has hovered above our heads like a dark cloud. Hata’s works attempt to repaint that cloud in a gorgeous variety of hues. In doing so, they may serve as a source of cheer amid the daily reality that we all share.

During his 2023 solo exhibition Diving into Color, the vivid hues of Nobutoshi Matsuura’s paintings left a deep impression.

As an artist whose paintings “explore the nature of color as a physical property,” the works in this new exhibition continue the style that has become his life’s work while also showcasing an even greater transparency and visual depth.

By applying several layers of a single color, Matsuura is able to express the beauty of his chosen pigments in their purest form, and the finished paintings resonate with the viewer’s inner landscape in a way that emphasizes their physical mass.

We hope you look forward to seeing the results of the artist’s everlasting pursuit of his craft.

Soichiro Kanai’s path as a contemporary artist began after his stint studying abroad to become a professional tennis player ended in injury.

For this exhibition, he will present a mixed media work on canvas that utilizes natural materials such as beeswax, soil, and jute bags. The artist also works beyond the frame by engineering various shadows on the walls and floor of the exhibition space. These shadows are not mere byproducts of light but shift in color and shape depending on the perspective of the viewer. We hope you will enjoy both the artwork of Soichiro Kanai and the environment that it creates.

Yuki Yatsu’s compositions both draw from and bring a fresh perspective to the world of traditional paintings by expanding their range of expression and incorporating a playful sensibility. In this solo exhibition, the artist will exhibit a series of pieces she has dubbed “a chest of daydreams.” The gallery will be filled to the brim with colorful artworks, and visitors can look forward to an experience akin to peeking inside a chest of glittering treasures.

In conjunction with Art Fair Tokyo、SEIZAN Gallery will hold an exhibition presenting works by all the artists we have introduced at the fair’s past installments. Since first participating in the fair in 2009, our continued presence at Japan’s largest domestic art event has only been possible because of your support.
We hope you will join us to look back on 17 years of progress and challenges.

In Sayaka Sakurai’s first exhibition with SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO凸, the artist will use the opportunity to present her first ever large-scale painting.

Sakurai’s works employ “boundaries” as their primary theme. The vast landscapes she paints are intermittently dotted with a rough sense of menace. In her mind, “Paintings are a way for us to stand in our world and view what is on the other side, or perhaps a window through which we can travel back and forth.” We hope you look forward to experiencing this uncertain domain and its magnetically dangerous charm for yourself.

Our 2022 exhibition, “A Contemporary Pursuit of the Modern,” gave contemporary artists a chance to express their respect for artists from the modern period. The resulting collection of unique, ambitious works was well received and for this installment, we asked the artists to further pursue their own unique perspective by responding to a modern artist who practiced in a different field than their own.

We hope you’ll be excited to see the results when our artists confront the masters of the past.

With the help of natural mineral pigments, acrylic, and other materials, Tsujimoto combines his own experiences, the traces of others such as handwriting, and natural forms into ‘loci’, which he supplements with an expressive mixture of monochrome and gold leaf. This complex and delicate interaction of pigments results in a unique texture that can’t be recreated in digital form.

In this exhibition, the artist will offer a new perspective on Grimm fairy tales by incorporating thematic elements that reflect the diversity and independence of contemporary women.
We hope you look forward to seeing the new loci that result when these stories, all of which have transformed as they were passed down through the generations, encounter Tsujimoto’s distinctive artistic sensibility.

This will be Koki Tsujimoto’s first exhibition at SEIZAN Gallery in six years.

The show will combine the artist’s trademark motifs, namely elephants and whales depicted in parent-child groupings, with a new series of works that showcase his more recent foray into plant motifs.
It is both a new start and a culmination of the changes and growth that Tsujimoto has experienced over the past six years. We hope you will experience this memorable event for yourself.

This year’s installment of our traditional year-end exhibition, Something Precious, focuses on the theme of “Pandas – that’s not all.” While Pandas are known for their cuteness, the pieces in this show will express other lesser-known qualities. With works by approximately 30 artists, you’ll surely enjoy the mystery and freedom of imagination on display.

Kumiko Negami’s humorous, attention-grabbing sculptures linger long in the viewer’s memory. Her practice is focused on the expression of antinomies, revealing the world in all its imperfections, rather than merely depicting what is beautiful or orderly. With tolerance for contradictions, her works ultimately reflect a tranquil acceptance of reality, born from a tough brand of tenderness.

With his recent June exhibition at SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO凸, Yoji Kumagai unlocked a new direction for his artistic practice. Known for works that are strongly conscious of the traditional Japanese concept of blank space, the intervals that exist in his frames are not mere expanses of white but a dimension all their own, filled with meaning. In this new exhibition, the artist emphasizes the silence associated with “blank space” and conversely attempts to evoke the invisible sounds found therein.

Eri Muranaka’s beautiful cloisonne works weave together delicate lines with colorful glaze. This time, she will decorate the gallery space with pieces that use the Muromachi-era painted handscrolls Poetry Contest of the Twelve Animals of the Zodiac as their motif. The original handscrolls tell the lively story of a competition between the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac and Each piece is composed of the animals from the story, along with related seasonal and floral motifs., resulting in adorably elegant images that will make your heart dance.

In the first half of 2024, Hiroyoshi Asaka astonished audiences in Chicago, Tokyo and New York with his large marble works that appear indistinguishable from Styrofoam. Both in terms of their physical properties and their familiarity with daily life, hard, heavy marble and lightweight, readily available Styrofoam are true opposites. By using his unparalleled skills to transform that contradiction into a study of “illusion vs. substance,” Asaka questions the physical reality that our eyes perceive.

Seeming at first glance to be large works of folded paper, the young sculptor Takuma Shiratani’s carved wood pieces are notable for their precisely constructed forms. Fascinated by origami’s ability to evoke specific beings with the simplest of structures, Shiratani’s works use durable materials such as Japanese cypress, lacquer, and natural mineral pigments, all of which help the delicate shapes stand the test of time. In doing so, the artist hopes to elevate each piece into a prayer for the future.

This will be Takako Yabuki’s first solo exhibition in two years. Yabuki continually works with cats as motifs, and the creatures in her paintings act as a universal presence that resonates with the emotions of all. As each piece connects with the contingent and imperfect self of the individual viewer, one might forget that they are looking at cats and instead sense a blurring of the ambiguous boundary between the artworks and ourselves.

After beginning as a self-taught painter who practiced in the streets, Ko-Hey! Arikawa has grown into an artist who attracts as many as 12,000 yearly visitors to exhibitions in his home prefecture of Okinawa. Having previously created pieces in a range of styles, from flat paintings to large scale installations, Arikawa unveiled his vision of “the future of painting,” Monolith, in 2022. This exhibition will feature the work and focus on “physicality and materiality” as its concept.

Emi Katsuta’s wood carved sculptures have earned widespread attention in Japan and elsewhere. This new solo exhibition will explore the moon as its theme. Both eastern and western cultures have long found inspiration from the moon’s mystical glow and expressed it in a variety of artistic genres. Just in time for the harvest moon, come immerse yourself in autumn atmosphere as you experience these lunar-themed artworks.

The “Timeless Reflection” series presented in this exhibition marks a stylistic departure for the artist.
While known for using motifs reminiscent of software glitches to symbolize the feelings and stray thoughts of contemporary humans living among technology, Okamura’s new pieces depict the moon on the surface of rippling water, an image that expresses the relationship between individuals’ internal lives and the world at large.
Okamura is an artist who continues to explore what lies beyond our interchanging, divergent, and forever mutually influential worlds, and we hope you will come experience his works for yourself.

Takako Kikuchi combines the divergent traditions of cloisonne and Nihonga to create her own unique style. The lush fruits and wildlife she depicts, aided by Cloisonne’s transparent expressive techniques, have captured the hearts of many viewers.

In this solo exhibition, she will present works that combine her palette of traditional materials with more intangible images drawn from her own experiences and memories.

We hope you will enjoy this new chapter in the career of an up-and-coming young artist.

Hirokazu Ichii is a wood sculptor who specializes in gentle figurative works that are imbued with a sense of narrative.

The warmth and soft colors of his wooden materials combine serenity with substance, instilling the surrounding space with a purified atmosphere.

His works also reflect the artist’s personal vision of nature by tracing the inseparable link between humans and the blessings of the natural world.

As with last year’s show at SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO凸, this new exhibition will unfold as an installation featuring both sculptures and paintings.

The Nihonga paintings of Yoji Kumagai are known for their carefully assembled compositions, skillful brushwork, and delicate colors.

This is the artist’s first exhibition at SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO凸 and it will function as a culmination of his daily research efforts to this point.

Come see the results of one artist’s whole-hearted, stoic pursuit of his craft.

This is the first solo exhibition at Seizan Gallery for Kenta Takahashi, an artist who recently received his master’s degree from the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts with a specialization in printmaking. The exhibition will mainly focus on a new series of works that the artist created as a final project before graduation. After majoring in Nihonga at the undergraduate level, Takahashi has developed his practice by utilizing traditional natural mineral pigments and testing their resonance with other diverse materials. Building on the relationship between analog and digital expressions, Takahashi creates and arranges the display of artworks with divergent elements (inside and outside). In doing so, he explores his own personal conception of the nature of painting and reassesses the present and future values associated with Nihonga.

machumaYu’s artworks have long captivated viewers with their elaborate compositions and carefully crafted artistic universe. This latest solo exhibition, entitled Their History, builds on the artist’s conception of ancient and medieval history by imagining characters whose names have been lost to time. Within the fictional world of the artworks, traces of the lives and achievements of this fictional “them” form a vast, unique narrative that is replete with evocative detail and multiple perspectives.

Hiroyshi Asaka’s latest exhibition will present sculptures made of hard, heavy marble that conversely appear to be composed of mere Styrofoam. The contrast highlights the gap that exists between our visual perceptions and actual physical substance, bringing reality itself into question in the process.

The blue-toned night landscapes painted by Yuichi Kashima pull from the artist’s own memories. By sculpting the surface of his works with a carving knife and layering colors over the results, Kashima is able to directly reflect physical sensations onto canvas, bringing an incredible reality to his recreated experiences.

The pieces also activate the viewers’ own senses, invoking a curious sense of nostalgia.

Danielle Winger is an American artist exhibiting in Japan for the first time.
Her landscape paintings carry a rough impression at first glance, but their firm compositions and enigmatic use of light strongly convey the veiled nobility of nature.
On the contrary, the simplicity of the images is a manifestation of primeval purity that allows them to penetrate ever deeper into viewers’ hearts.

*Before the solo exhibition at SEIZAN Gallery Tokyo in April, some of her artworks will be unveiled at the Art Fair Tokyo 2024 (Tokyo International Forum, Hall E, SEIZAN Gallery Booth: N003).

Satoshi Yabuuchi is one of Japan’s leading sculptors. He is also an honorary professor at Tokyo University of the Arts and the director of the Nara Prefectural Museum of Art, all of which allows him to be active in many fields. In the area of preservation and restoration, he is known for his
research and efforts to keep traditional techniques alive for the next generation. Yabuuchi’s artworks are distinctive enough to be recognizable at first glance and many of his pieces, such as Nara’s Sentokun, have become prominent local characters or public sculptures, earning love from people all across Japan. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see one of his new works in person.

In this solo exhibition, the artist will present “50 Works,” a series of new pieces that includes NFT and which began life in 2023. Each of these works employs different themes and modes of expression, but by treating them as a series, Tanno is able to touch on the diversity and complexity within individuals.

The exhibition will take us, once again, to the inner depths of one artist’s mind.

In this new solo exhibition, Ruiji Aiba will supplement his signature motifs, such as goldfish, cats, and yokai, with new images that focus on the theme of “peaches.”

Peaches have long been popular in Japan and China as talismans or symbols of longevity.
The peach harvest held in March is also a lingering reflection of traditional prayers.

Come ward off ill fortune and bring blessings to your life by visiting our own early spring peach harvest.

Chisato Matsumoto uses traditional Japanese tie-dyeing techniques to create three-dimensional works.
By treating each drop of dye as a person and their aggregate as an entire society, her pieces symbolically express the dichotomy between individuals and crowds, in the process reflecting the hidden passions that lie beneath the contemporary world.

The piece on display in this new exhibition, Heart, is one in which grains of dye move with the energy of a living organism. Those autonomous grains then converge into a single entity and breathe as one.

This will be Kei Sugiyama’s first solo exhibition with SEIZAN Gallery.

Though no figures appear directly in the artist’s work, chairs and other common items function as a stand-in for people and express the warmth of daily life. This new exhibition will commemorate Valentine’s Day by presenting sweets (delicious things) as a theme. It will also transform the gallery into a playful space reminiscent of a buffet, where visitors can easily choose their favorite works.

Come celebrate the New Year with our first exhibition of 2024, Ebisu and Daikoku.
Often enshrined side by side, “Ebisuten” (the God of prosperity and fishing) and “Daikokuten” (the God of wealth) have long functioned in Japanese daily life as symbols of good fortune, making this a most auspicious event.
Visitors will enjoy genre-spanning works by 15 artists, including both traditional representations of the theme and more contemporary interpretations.

To celebrate the end of 2023, the gallery will resume its long-standing Something Precious exhibition for the first time in four years. The theme for this year’s edition will be “heroes” and nearly 30 artists will freely explore the images and ideas that word evokes. We hope you look forward to closing the year with this expansive presentation of new artworks.

Akiyoshi Nakamura combines different varieties of paper into thick, almost sculptural collages. The subsequent artworks have earned high praise for their traditional decorative patterns and pop style. In this new exhibition, the artist will prepare for the new year with works that feature the animal from next year’s Chinese Zodiac, the mighty dragon, as a motif. We hope you look forward to seeing these unique, vibrantly colored collages that combine power and intimacy.

Ayumu Matsuoka is a Nihonga painter who renders distinctive motifs with gentle brushwork. As an artist, he is notable for his substantial technique and expressive power. This new exhibition will be made up of calendars with animals as their subject matter.
Those subjects come alive with a tranquil air and firm resolve. In their serene stillness, viewers will witness a narrative of the changing seasons. We invite you to experience it for yourself.

Hajime Nakatomi has participated in exhibitions all over the world and his artworks are found in many public collections abroad, making him one of the few Japanese bamboo artists active on a large scale.
Taking advantage of bamboo’s straight yet supple form, the braided curves that he creates are orderly yet organic and imbued with the beauty of a single living organism.
At first glance, they may not even look like bamboo. However, bamboo is the only material that could give birth to their shape.

With her second solo exhibition of oil paintings at the gallery, Yamashiro will explore the 22 major arcana featured in tarot cards. While these themes have been interpreted by mystics in a myriad of ways since ancient times, the artist has applied her personal perspective and reconceived them as works of contemporary art.

Visit and find your own ‘trump card’ among this mysterious array of artworks.

Yoshiki Kikuno uses screen-printing techniques to create minimalist compositions. By restructuring hand-drawn motifs as printed elements, he is able to create complex textures within simple lines, resulting in surfaces that appear stoic but are interwoven with richly expressive details. This is the artist’s first exhibition with Seizan Gallery and he will mark the occasion by taking on new artistic challenges.

Throughout his career, Toru Fukuda has steadily won over fans with one-of-a-kind artworks that combine the precision of crafts with a unique natural aesthetic. For this exhibition, his pieces will explore “the shape of water” as a theme. Is it possible to evoke formless, colorless water using wood as a motif? We hope you look forward to seeing this cutting-edge artist take on such a challenge.

Cougar is an emerging artist who creates photo realistic oil paintings of pixelized images.
This exhibition at SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO 凸 will be the artist’s first with Seizan Gallery and will focus on the theme of “violence opposed by non-violence.”
Inspired by the 1967 photo Flower Power, which depicts soldiers suppressing a Vietnam War protest, Cougar’s exploration of the motif culminates in a resolute rejection of war and gun violence throughout the globe.

This is Shunsuke Ochi’s second solo exhibition with the gallery and first since 2021. Ochi’s works are closely linked to his lifestyle, drawing his inspiration from the conflicts and struggles of the everyday. Despite those struggles, the works also convey the artist’s firm determination to move forward, no matter how awkward the steps may be. We invite you to experience that passionate determination for yourself.

After last year’s exhibition FACE and his receipt of the Idemitsu Art Award, Yusuke Ishigami has been the subject of increased acclaim. His works present scenes that seem to evoke recollections and feelings drawn from personal experience, giving viewers the mysterious sensation that they are looking into someone’s memory from the outside.
Come and immerse yourself in this unique universe that exists somewhere between reality and illusion.

Nobutoshi Matsuura previously demonstrated the depth of his practice during last year’s exhibition at SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO 凸. Among the elements that compose his paintings, the artist places a particular emphasis on color and the complex combinations of pigments that arise from the glossy surface of his paintings reignite our sense of how beautiful colors can be.

Mieko Noguchi is well known for her signature works that encapsulate large-scale worlds like the Earth and Milky Way in small glass orbs. These objects not only express the formal beauty of outer space but are also imbued with the beauty of fine craftsmanship. Come experience the world in the palm of your hand and marvel at the grandeur and detail of these amazing artworks.

This will be Shouta Yamada’s third exhibition at Seizan Gallery. Working from a unique perspective as both an athlete and a ceramicist, Yamada’s works have a simple, unpretentious form that is also gently playful. Each piece is designed by the artist for easy handling and long use. We hope you look forward to seeing them for yourself.

Hirokazu Ichii is a sculptor who creates wood-carved pieces depicting characters with tranquil expressions. Each sculpture he creates is supple and embellished with distinctive clothing and accessories that inspire visions of a gentle narrative world.

With this exhibition, the artist has taken on a new challenge by exhibiting his sculptures alongside nihonga paintings. This combination of flat and three-dimensional works further expands his artworks’ image and evokes an “inner portrait” of human beings and their inability to live apart from nature’s blessings. The warmth possessed by wood, and the soft tones of the natural mineral pigments applied to both the painting and sculpture, grant the artworks a gentle but firm presence and the surrounding space brims with the raw power of natural life.

As each piece expresses the inspiration it received from mountain landscapes, it reminds us that we owe our lives to and are always a part of the natural world. The results will surely envelop viewer’s hearts in a kind embrace and encourage them to become newly aware of their own connections to nature.

After astonishing viewers with intricate artworks in his first solo show, Tetsuro Kadonaga returns with a new exhibition based thematically on “The Blue Bird,” a motif that will be familiar to readers of Maeterlinck’s 1908 play. We hope that these new pieces and their evocation of the beauty of nature will inspire you to find the small moments of beauty in your own daily life.

Sugiura’s “Bird’s Eye View” series is known for giving viewers an over-arching perspective on a variety of landscapes, but one of his newer series has focused on the motif of animal costumes, presenting works that combine humor and a sense of pathos.

This piece hinges on the word “lateral,” referring to both the zebra’s lateral stripes and lateral ways of thinking. That’s right… it’s a pun.

Wordplay that explores the overlapping meaning of different words and sounds can be thought of as expressing a particular type of artistic sensibility. After all, a superior work of art can conjure different simultaneous meanings within the viewer, allowing an experience that is layered and deep. Wordplay is thus a form that accomplishes this goal in the most direct of manners.

In this case, however, the wordplay is ascribed after the fact and the appeal of the artwork lies elsewhere. On the contrary, one senses that the piece’s true charm is its casual languor and the distinctly evocative expression on the subject’s face.

In the world of the tea ceremony, there is a famous saying that “rust is good, but allowing things to rust is bad.” The subject of this piece is in his natural state, free of unnecessary tension, and it is precisely because he is not performing that his expression feels so rich.

In that context, the words above and their ridiculously twisted logic can only be considered bad. We hope you enjoy the humor of these pieces, imbued with the strength that comes when we snort with laughter at nonsensical thoughts.

Bananas are among the world’s most consumed fruits. They are often used as a satirical motif in contemporary art, but it is their frequent appearance as a symbol of life and death in various mythological stories that captured the attention of artist Ryoma Noda. Noda also values bananas for the natural energy they possess and expresses this aspect in his work by employing traditional hollow dry lacquer techniques.

After the response to her first solo exhibition in New York exceeded all expectations last year, we are proud to present the latest works by Asako Tabata at Seizan Gallery in 2023. While the intangible air of anxiety that clouds her artworks can be frightening, Tabata’s pieces also carry a mysterious warmth that seems firmly tied to our everyday life. This exhibition will introduce approximately 40 pieces, consisting of sculptures and paintings.

In Greek mythology, we find the story of Sisyphus.

Sisyphus was a man whose punishment for defying the Gods was being forced to push a massive boulder up a mountain slope. However, every time he approached the summit of the mountain, the boulder would roll back down to the bottom, and he must repeat the process for all eternity. Since then, the word “Sisyphean” has been used to signify “exhausting labor that is ultimately in vain.”

The French author Albert Camus took an affirmative reading of the story, suggesting that Sisyphus represents the way human beings continue to live despite knowing that they will eventually die. Meanwhile, the Japanese philosopher Kuki Shuzo saw Sisyphus’s willingness to continue a task that was essentially meaningless as revealing the free will and dignity at the core of human character.

The feeling inspired by Watabe’s artworks resonates with these ideas.

It always seems as if the frail, helpless, “wordless” creatures in his paintings are silently confronting some thing or event. For us viewers, it is difficult to directly comprehend whatever worth they may feel.

And yet, they have chosen to be themselves, rather than any other, and live out that choice before our eyes.

Such a sight can’t help but pierce viewers’ hearts.

Even without words, there is no denying their will.

Hiroko Takeda’s works are loved by many for their gentle colors and exquisite detail.

Since 2022, she has also begun producing works in ink, an exploration that has enabled her to expand her range of expression. For that reason, the artist is eager to present a different side of her artwork in this new solo exhibition. We hope you look forward to seeing a true artist at the height of her ambition.

With each solo exhibition, Ruiji Aiba transforms the exhibition space into his own unique universe. This show will present approximately 60 works based on the theme of “toys.” The centerpiece will be a series of figurative objects inspired by toys of the traditional handmade variety. Having collected the spirit of these beloved toys from around Japan and channeled them into his artworks, we look forward to seeing what sort of chemical reaction they will produce when combined with Aiba’s own artistic sensibilities. Please come see for yourself.

As ordinary days repeat, certain things become so second nature that they are “unseen, even as they are seen.” From the pebbles that mark the sidewalks down which we pass to the mother of pearl buttons that fasten our clothes, where did these things come from and how did they find their way into our hands?

Even if we can’t see the undulations of deep underground currents, the heat that circulates within massive rock formations, or other natural activities that are repeated over dizzyingly long timespans, the artist Mizuho Fukumuro believes those things have synergy with own bodies and the emotions we express.

The landscapes of 10,000 years ago and the scenery that spreads out at our fingertips today… By gradually applying layer after layer of paint to create crisscrossing lines and perspectives, Mizuho Fukumuro explores the relationship between far distant locations and our own selves.

From global pandemics to global social instability, it feels as if the times are growing more chaotic with every passing year. In the midst of that turmoil, Shiozaki has created a folding screen piece displaying the image of two whales overcoming rough waters. The strength and determination of the animals in this new major work seem to evoke the artist’s own prayers and it will be the focus of this new exhibition, displayed along with as many as 15 paintings that feature the artist’s trademark images of dragons, tigers and more.

Our first exhibition of the new year will present works by Yuki Yatsu, an artist whose pieces were given a warm reception after last year’s show at SEIZAN Gallery TOKYO 凸. Yatsu is an artist who employs classical brushwork and traditional materials but uses them as tools to capture the present. She has summarized the theme of her new show with the phrase “play among the clouds.” We hope you will enjoy these heart-stirring works for yourself.

Nobutoshi Matsuura’s artworks are notable for their smooth, lustrous surface. The glossy texture of each piece is reminiscent of still water, and it is only when their subtle colors rise from the depths to mix together that the brushstrokes within can be thinly discerned, prompting the viewer to reaffirm the work’s existence as a painting.

Since the modernist period, abstract painting has largely been divided into two conceptual categories, “warm” and “cool”. A clear predecessor can been in the works of Mondrian and other artists who gradually scraped away elements from the frame and sought a pure form of painting using geometric expressions. Following them came painters like Dubuffet and Kandinsky, who actively projected bodily movements onto the canvas and evoked strong human emotions through the free application of color.

In the world of abstraction, these two concepts are not necessarily in opposition and can even be combined in a single piece. Matsuura’s artworks fall into that grouping. Just as their effervescent hues are suppressed by the solid, transparent surface layers on which they are rendered, his paintings lean sharply in the direction of the “warmly abstract” while maintaining a cerebral, “cool abstract” aura in their outer appearance. It is extremely fascinating how, in doing so, they also become a reflection of human beings themselves.

Stemming from the artist’s desire to find beauty in chance events and his stubbornly simplistic decades-long pursuit of a single form of expression, Matsuura’s works are sure to provide viewers with a sublime experience.

We hope you will come experience the sheer beauty of Nobutoshi Matsuura’s artistic universe for yourself.

As the spread of COVID-19 has become a part of our daily lives, we find ourselves uncon-sciously narrowing our range of behavior and more emphasis than ever is placed on the in-dividual as a unit. At times, these trends may inspire a feeling of stagnation, but even then, human beings continue to carry the fires of passion within them. Each work in this exhibition represents the ‘passion’ of their respective creator. We hope you look forward to it.

machumaYu and Ami Yamashiro are two artists who possess their own unique artistic universe while also somehow evoking an underlying sense of shared roots. Recently, they have cemented their friend-ship by embarking on a new joint challenge in which they each created 12 small artworks and com-piled them into a calendar. The calendars created by each artist will be available to purchase for a limited time at the exhibition venue.

What is “painted” in this work is a sky of blue-green and rows of standing trees. However, the entire frame is shrouded in a deep fog and all that can truly be confirmed are a series of leafless branches near the center. The term “paint” may be inappropriate for most photographic works of art. However, when one considers Tanno’s practice of using photographed landscapes as raw materials which he can combine and edit, the resulting artwork can only be described as having been “painted” by the artist’s hand.

Though Tanno couples these production methods with inward elements, one could also say that the artwork is an attempt to break free of the confines of the individual psychic landscape and approach a terrain that is deeper and more primordial. There is also the sense that such terrain exists in close proximity to the Japanese aesthetic concept of wabi-sabi.

The landscape that sits before our eyes is one of stillness and desolation. However, that state has been crystallized by the integration of Tanno’s careful and expansive interventions, and one cannot help but feel the traces that remain of his spirit.

Encased in hushed silence but never losing their beauty, Tanno’s works hold the potential of arriving at the Japanese ideal of yugen, the aesthetic of the delicately beautiful and subtly profound.

This will be Sanami Shimada’s first solo exhibition with Seizan Gallery in three years and the artist plans to focus thematically on “nocturne,” a type of musical composition that is written with nighttime as a motif. As they harmonize with these gentle music evocations of night, Shimada’s artworks will also reveal a powerful energy that lies within their tranquility.

Yoji Kumagai and Takahiro Sando are two artists who have engaged in a friendly rivalry throughout their careers as painters. Each has served a guidepost and a mirror image for the other, allowing them to accentuate their individual style and refine their artistic posture.
With both artists now entering their 20th year of practice, an exhibition at this moment carries the weight of inevitability.

It’s said that Michelangelo described his sculptures as the result of seeing angels in the raw marble and trying to set them free.
Viewing Akie’s creations, one feels a certain synergy with those words. She, too, finds living beings lying within the material form of stones and acts to release them. Now, the artworks born from that process have been collected in a catalog, which is set to be published.

In honor of the catalog’s release, we will be exhibiting the piece featured on the book’s cover. We hope you will pay witness to these loveable artworks, born not only from the artist’s gaze and technical skill but also the coincidence that marks her encounters with the individual stones themselves.

The works of Atsuko Nakajima employ dried lacquer techniques to create organic forms that are somehow reminiscent of living beings. Their warm, supple design, coupled with the deep hue of lac-quer, evokes an intimacy that tempts the viewer to reach out and touch them. With this solo exhibition, she will exhibit approximately 50 pieces born from substantial technical expertise.

As an artist, Takako Yabuki’s calling card is her continual use of cats as motifs. However, the core theme underpinning her work is the creation of “shared experiences” with others. Cats, as free-spirited neighbors to human beings, serve as a medium through which she can experience the feelings of others as personal memories. It is that act of direct experience that is the true fabric of her artwork.

To sing with a perfectly realized voice. To realize images from one’s mind by carving them from a single piece of wood. In either case, there are no second chances. Join us as tenor singer Masafumi Akikawa presents himself for the first time as an artist whose work extends across multiple genres.

The exhibition will include multiple heartfelt works, including a wood-carved statue of Kusunoki Masashige that was over three years in the making.

Even as they differ in cause and level of intensity, the spread of COVID-19 within Japan in recent years, as well as the outbreak of conflict and military invasions abroad, have revealed the powerful compul-sion of human beings to establish their “place”. Emi Katsuta has identified the theme of her artwork as “Someone’s Whereabouts”. These whereabouts, through their attribution to a non-specific someone, are perhaps a more gentle ‘place’ where anyone can belong.

Takako Kikuchi’s artworks combine cloisonne ware with Nihonga, maintaining the unique expressive lines of the original but also expanding their range.

With more and more chances to exhibit her work in recent years, Kikuchi has quickly become the subject of increased attention. This exhibition will present 20 artworks, each with a motif culled from “special moments” experienced by the artist during the course of her everyday life.

Landscapes, music or anything you are familiar with, and the surprise when something you know suddenly appears as a strange thing.
Please come and see the latest work by doll artist Chiaki Suzuki born from her fresh experience.

Miharu Yokota’s works unfold as a narrative that depicts the world of nature and daydreams that she experienced as a young girl. The results are romanticized original landscapes born from these childhood memories. It is perhaps these experiences, which everyone carries in some form, that impart her work with a nostalgic glow that has won over the hearts of many.

The works of machumaYu unfold in her own fantastical style, which she calls “Bright Darkness.” By illuminating the unstable or ambiguous spaces that lie deep within the human heart, she has become a filter through which the unconscious can present itself within the universe of her creations. This exhibition is your chance to taste a drop of her imagination distilled.

In this exhibition, artists who practice in contemporary times will challenge themselves to recreate the spirit of iconic paintings from Japan’s modernist period.
They will do this not by merely appropriating from past works but by traveling back in time to place themselves in the shoes of the artists from that era and competing in the same artistic arena.
While the results will undoubtedly showcase a respect for the past masters who forged the history of Japanese art, it remains to be seen what form these new pieces will take. We hope you look forward to it.

The artworks of the French artist ALBEN are formed by casting and assembling a variety of objects in transparent resin. His practice often incorporates elements of popular culture and has attracted attention from across the globe. ALBEN’S pieces are composed of everyday items and children’s toys that he has collected during his travels around the world. While they are rooted in his own childhood memories, the results have a pop flavor that exceeds the limitations of space and time, summoning a sense of shared nostalgia among viewers.

Rendered using the unique colors of Nihonga painting materials, the plants and flowers depicted by Shigemi Yasuhara stand regally within a seemingly moist environment, evoking a sense of quiet grace.
This latest exhibition will be held to commemorate the release of a new catalog of drawings by the artist.
Focusing mainly on sketches that illustrate the create process behind Yasuhara’s large canvas works, the exhibition will also include new paintings that showcase the artist’s trademark use of gunjo (ultramarine) and rokusho (green rust) hues.

There are times in our everyday life when a sudden glimpse of beauty takes our breath away. Ei Ebihara’s artworks capture those moments. In her practice, Ebihara limits the number of colors employed for each piece to focus on the unique form possessed by the motif and the vivid results seem to have been cut straight from the artist’s mind and heart.

Come experience just how vivid and charming everyday life can be, when filtered through the gentle eyes of Ei Ebihara.

Yuki Yatsu is a nihonga artist who captures “the present” by working from a foundation of classical brushwork and traditional painting materials. The work on display in this exhibition was created with the hope that it will provide a temporary respite for those who are forced to live amid radical changes, such as those wrought by the spread of COVID-19 and acts of war.

Ruiji Aiba is an artist whose solo exhibitions transform every gallery space into a unique creative environment.

His works are imbued with a warmth that reflects the artist’s hand and they unfold into tales of fantasy and myth that carry a strange sense of intimacy, as if they somehow reflect our own lives.

This exhibition will focus on elaborately designed earthenware tea pots.

Kenta Takahashi’s minimalist paintings pare away all that is unnecessary from the canvas and employ the granules of traditional mineral pigments in a way that resembles collections of digital pixels, opening new pathways of expression and challenging the potential limits of Nihonga.

The paintings on display in this exhibition are composed mainly of silver leaf, evoking the metal plating that forms the core of urban infrastructure. Against that backdrop, lines dance across the canvas in a manner reminiscent of street art.

Ubiquitous on the walls of our cities, graffiti can only be interpreted by those immersed in the culture of the alleyways that host it, making it function as a sort of indigenous code to some and appear as mere obscenity to everyone else. By rendering motifs in the graffiti style using the traditional materials of Japanese painting, the artist has created works that may prompt viewers to reevaluate the meaning of Nihonga in its present form.

The title of this exhibition, Fast Asleep, evokes a state where a person has slept so deeply, they don’t know what is happening around them. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, each and every one of us is a “concerned party” and no one is able to be at complete peace. It is for that very reason that the artist wanted to evoke a quiet sense of tranquility with her new artworks. The artist also imbued these pieces with the hope that when our slumber has ended, we will open our eyes and step out into the world once again.

Born in 1995, Ryoma Noda recently received a Master’s degree from Tokyo University of the Arts, after majoring in lacquer ware. This exhibition, his first at SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO 凸, will showcase the artist’s ability to apply traditional techniques in the service of a highly original artistic style, resulting in artworks that have their own one-of-a-kind presence.

The work on display in this exhibition utilizes the motifs of Southeast Asian mythology to ask fundamental questions about the true nature of humankind.

This exhibition follows on Yamada’s exhibition with Seizan Gallery in the previous year, a show which received tremendous response. Working from a unique perspective as both an athlete and a ceramicist, Yamada’s works have a simple, unpretentious form that also carries a sense of tranquility, reflecting the artist’s own aesthetic ideals.

Expectations are once again high for this new exhibition, where Yamada will once again present ceramic vessels of great strength and warmth.

The artworks of Sanami Shimada use figurative images of women to express a diversity of emotions and ways of being for natural lifeforms.

The large canvas created for this exhibition is based on the concept of “dancing alone to music that you perform”. That spirit is directly conveyed by the image of a woman holding a trumpet and ballet shoes.

Musical performance and dance are, by their nature, oriented toward the future. One could say that their essence is the continuation of individual moments that never pause in one place, each being spent for the sake of the next. In form, as well, they are constantly guided toward what comes ahead. Musical performance is led by sheet music or other performers. Dance is led by music and space.

When we consider the aforementioned concept with these things in mind, the creator’s powerful desire for self-determination becomes clear. “Dancing alone to music that you perform” — in other words, every person must be guided by their own self.

Of course, doing both things at once, on your own, is not an easy task. If it can be accomplished, however, would that not be the true meaning of controlling one’s own future?

When we speak of forging our own path to tomorrow, one might imagine acting in a bold, stately manner, but even that behavior may begin from awkward, comical first steps, accompanied by a distorted melody.

It is that diligent effort which unlocks limitless emotional impact and captures the hearts of viewers.

A group exhibition of artworks by four artists from the Millenial Generation. As Millenials are said to have provided the momentum for a major shift in contemporary values, this exhibition brings artists from that generation together in one place and provides them an opportunity to present the expressive techniques, thoughts and feelings born from their various experiences.

We hope you enjoy this joint exhibition of artists who have inspired one another to explore the future of Nihonga.

Takako Yabuki’s artwork culls from and rearranges those things seen and encountered in her own day to day life, expressing a thematic interest in that which protrudes ever so slightly within the corners of our existence.

Her paintings and sculptures often portray the adorable gestures and comical behavior of cats, capturing split-second moments in time. They are born not so much from mere observation, but the personal relationship the artist has developed with her beloved cats and the “smells” and “warmth” of those relationships are fully evoked for the viewer.

Joker cards created by a cast of 25 artists, spanning Nihonga and Western painting alike!! At times the “maid” in a game of Old Maid, at times a powerful wild card, the innate charm of the Joker card will be fully expressed for all to enjoy.

An original deck of cards (limited edition of 8 ) will also be available for purchase during the exhibition, featuring reproductions of the various Jokers and flip-side designs presented by each artist.

The Joker is already a one-of-a-kind presence within any deck of cards, but the combined creativity of the exhibiting artists will create an irresistible universe where the motif takes on new depth and meaning.

image:
Original deck of cards
Joker: Asako Tabta, Joker Has Come, 2021
flip-side: Asako Tabata, Old Maid, 2021

Enter a sepia-toned, nostalgic universe where adorable “lifeforms” and machines are presented as objects with rounded form and mysterious lettering. The artworks created by ceramicist Taro Tasaki are talismanic spirits that come to life within the setting of a highly original story, setting viewers’ imaginations and hearts alight.

While Tasaki already has a passionate base of fans and collectors, this will be his first exhibition with Seizan Gallery and will be composed of works handmade by the artist.

We hope you will come to experience these vibrant artworks and the world they compose for yourself.

Emiko Aoki’s “Infinity” series is based on a conceptual approach in which the frame of each canvas is composed by an accumulation of individual brushstrokes, expressing the infinite power of images to bring forth meaning. The accumulation of paint from each of these strokes creates unique gradation and shadows, which in turn give birth to a rhythm and form that is overflowing with life.

Since receiving the Grand Prix at 2017’s Face exhibition, the Infinity works have become a calling card for the artist and this exhibition will feature the latest work in the series.

Ami Yamashiro is an artist known for her copperplate prints. In this exhibition, she takes a step away from the monochrome world of Mezzotint and returns to her roots as an oil painter, exploring a new range of expression offered by the use of color. Yamashiro’s artworks have always evoked a philosophical impression, like a puzzle that you want to solve, and here viewers can look forward to seeing the impact color has on her unfolding artistic universe.

All works will be offered at small sizes. This is the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery in seven years, and we hope you will enjoy seeing her take on new challenges.

Shunsuke Ochi is a brilliant young artist who combines analog and digital techniques to create his own unique style.
Conceptually, he mixes and matches a variety of contemporary motifs, resulting in artworks that express discomfort with modern society and question its absurdity via a healthy dose of humor.

These pieces confront society while also acknowledging the artist’s own human frailties and their rough-hewn irony carries a mysterious sense of wit and warmth.

Perhaps their greatest source of charm is the way they capture, in life-size, the image of mankind trapped between the fault lines of individuality and society.

In this exhibition, the artist looks back over his personal and artistic roots to present the culmination of his career to date. We hope you look forward to it.

The title of the exhibition is drawn from a well-known Buddhist parable that analogizes the inescapable confusion and pain of the world in which we live to a burning house. It is said that humans ignore the raging flames around them and continue to play, even as the house is consumed.

Just as the analogy suggests, in our daily lives, we isolate ourselves and avert our eyes from “death” and other negative factors.
Takami’s works are nothing less than an attempt to excavate these factors and place them under a renewed spotlight. The brushwork with which he does so is exceedingly dispassionate, and the results evoke his determined honesty as he attempts to plainly capture reality in a sincere way.

Toru Fukuda creates works by combining scenes from nature with traditional crafts, his aim is to explore the ways that Japanese culture’s affinity with nature have led to a unique aesthetic sensitivity.

Eri Muranaka is one of the most prominent young cloisonne artists in practice today. This will be her second solo exhibition at SEIZAN Gallery and the show will center on new works in gold and silver leaf that depict the Four Taoist Gods. We hope you enjoy the artist’s universe of elegant, delicately graceful creations.

Hajime Emoto is an artist who gives birth to mysterious lifeforms. His sculptures possess reality and humor in equal doses, stimulating curiosity in the viewer. Exquisitely crafted, these mysterious works seem almost to be searching for a place in reality where they could reside.

Toshiyuki Kajioka utilizes ink and pencil to depict the surface of water. Through layer after layer of applied black, his artwork acquires depth and evokes the sense of the moon glowing in the dark of night, the smell of wind, and the flowing motion and sound of running water. After shows at Seizan Gallery New York and TOKYO DECO, this will be his first solo exhibition at SEIZAN Gallery’s main space.

Made with impressive skill, Yoshiro Iwaisako’s lovable, expressive animal sculptures depict humorous scenes in which characters ride on bicycles that express the spirit of boyhood or cover themselves with samurai armor. It is this affinity with our daily life, expressed in the poses and decorative elements of his work, that has so captured the hearts of his many devoted fans.

“By focusing on each individual element of a picture, those elements will combine to form a complete world.” Believing this to be a unique aspect of Japanese culture and the essence of Japanese painting, Yoji Kumagai has dedicated himself to exploring Nihonga’s untapped potential. This exhibition will center on new works, including a 145.5×112.1 cm canvas that was intended for solo exhibition at Art Fair Tokyo before the fair’s cancellation.

Ei Ebihara was born in the very year that the US army launched their first attack on the Japanese mainland. Since childhood, she has loved to paint and spent day after day depicting the world around her, her craving never fading, even after inheritance of the family factory left her with little time to create. Never one to hunt for motifs, her works are born from moments of inner inspiration and rendered with a unique sensitivity that overcomes the barriers of trend, time period and gender. We hope you enjoy them.

Drawing the viewer’s eye with their ultramarine hues, Shigemi Yasuhara’s works explore the elements of traditional beauty that make up Nihonga. Each possesses an elegant, dignified beauty that is expressed with both depth and breadth. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with SEIZAN Gallery and we hope you look forward to it.

Metal artist Katsuhiro Akihama creates various range of artworks such as  Jewelry, sculpture, and uses feathers as his main motief.
For this latest exhibition, Akihama presents an installation art collaborated with the space of  SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO 凸.

Tetsuro Kadonaga’s practice impressively elevates everyday scenes of nature and living things into works of art. Rendered with an affectionate eye, his sculptures possessive a narrative quality, evoking the air and warmth of reality. In recent years, he has also drawn attention from abroad.

In celebration of the gallery’s 10th anniversary, this exhibition will reintroduce artists whose works were presented by the gallery at Art Fair Tokyo during the past decade and are currently in practice.

Junya Tsubota renders the universal motifs woven by nature with his own unique perspective, expressing them as rhythmic, modern works of Nihonga. Pleasantly effervescent, his beautiful pieces echo within the viewer with a quiet resonance.

Ceramicist Ruiji Aiba’s magical universe is based on motifs from the ancient Chinese legend of Kiku-Jidō, a story set in the Wei Dynasty about a boy who drinks the dew from a chrysanthemum and becomes immortal. The dew also travels in a stream that reaches the foot of the mountain and it is said that those who drink of its waters will be cured of disease and live long lives.

Shouta Yamada’s unique aesthetic is born from his eclectic background as an athlete, ceramicist, and practitioner of the Japanese tea ceremony. His pieces are imbued with the hope that they will be familiar to the touch and well suited to daily use. We are proud to introduce these works of warmth, vigor and power.

SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO DECO places its focus on individual artworks by introducing prominent pieces by individual artists, one at a time. The piece chosen to color the beginning of 2021 is by the French artist ALBEN. The artist’s work pairs universally well-known icons with elements that diverge in substance to create unique compositions.

Toru Fukuda uses unpainted natural wood and traditional techniques such as inlay or parquetry to create a universe of handmade beauty. By combining scenes from nature with traditional crafts, his aim is to explore the ways that Japanese culture’s affinity with nature have led to a unique aesthetic sensitivity. He is currently the subject of much focus as a sculptor whose natural talent has reached early maturation.

“A single ant bite can fell the largest elephant.”
Even the smallest of individual organisms can, when they gather in great numbers, defeat the most powerful enemy. These are words of hope, expressing the idea that even in the most difficult of circumstances, if we use our knowledge and wisdom to the utmost, we can change the world.

Still, what is the nature of the relationship between those that challenge and that which is challenged? Is it one side rising under the banner of justice and the other a massive evil? Is it a pioneer being chased and overcome by those whose have watched and longed to be like them? Is the single bite one of pleasant sweetness or pungent bitterness?

As each artist takes on their own challenge, how is the scenery of the universe they create reflected in the heart and mind of you, the viewer?

In her 2017 solo exhibition, Megumi Aoki used reflective stainless steel plates as a supportive substrate to create innovative, original works. In recent years, her practice has evolved to include several pieces where subjects are rendered in precise lines against astonishing backgrounds with a black color of unlimited depth. The effect is like an optical illusion, where faintly phosphorescent animals or flowers appear on the black canvas, leaving viewers with a highly impressionistic experience. From these contrasting approaches, in which reflective surfaces take advantage of external light and, more recently, in which light emerges from inside the work itself, we can see that she has explored the expressiveness of light from extremely opposing perspectives. We hope these latest developments in Aoki’s work and the way the subtle light of these pieces expresses the hidden power and energy of living things.

Since his 2019 solo exhibition at SEIZAN GALLERY NEW YORK, Motohide Takami’s work has been the focus of attention from international media and the art world.

Takami’s work focuses on that which is truly frightening about the human heart. By evoking social phenomena in ways that evoke the distance that humans place between themselves and such occurrences, he draws the viewer’s attention to the dread born from our own indifference.

For this latest exhibition, Takami has chosen The Big Mac as a motif and we invite you to experience the message it conveys for yourself.

The landscapes of Raizo Yamasaki are more appropriately described as monumental than large. The images of oceans and mountains that fill his canvases combine to form a vast single entity for whom the human lifespan is but a mere moment within the gentle passage of time.

Yamazaki’s works reconstruct universal images and succeed in strengthening the awe inspired by their vastness.

He is an artist who uses abundant sensitivity and skill to confronts forces that are impossible for humans to resist. This will be his first solo exhibition at Seizan Gallery.

Shunsuke Ochi utilizes the aesthetic sense of a new generation to question the nature of contemporary society.

In this exhibition, he will present “artwork that preserves for memory the historically difficult national circumstances” brought on by the twin ‘disasters’ of 2020 – the continuing spread of Covid-19 and the first ever postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that occurred because of it.

In addition to his work as a sculptor, Kaimon Yoshimizu is a a buddhist monk and creator of Buddhist statues.
He received his Ph.D in preservation of cultural heritage from Tokyo University of the Arts. After graduating, his practice evolved dramatically and he received attention from many corners as a rising young talent. Yoshimizu’s artworks all possess a quiet, purified air. However, they are not all stillness and feature subtle movement that might be missed without careful observation.
From the sounds of small creatures walking on the sand to lotus flowers opening in bloom, his pieces focus the heart on the smallest elements of existence. We hope you will observe them patiently and let their soft sounds reach your ears as well.

Norio Shinoda is one of Japan’s most prominent creators of minute pencil drawings. Upon first encounter with his works, many viewers will be at a loss to discern whether they are witnessing a photo or drawing. As their eyes dart across the entirety of the frame, they will soon find themselves mesmerized by the near-terrifying level of precision and detail.

Shinoda began his career as a self-taught oil painter before moving to work with pencil. The amount of time and passion that went into that process exceeds the limits of the imagination.

Shinoda’s artworks are more than mere sketches. Instead, they are the embodiment of the spirit, refined and condensed, found in those humans who have dedicated themselves to mastery of a particular skill.

While this exhibition focuses mainly on recent pieces, they will be presented side by side with artworks and documentary material from the past, making it something closer to a retrospective. In addition, work will also be on display at our second-floor space, SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO凸, during the exhibition period. As Shinoda’s practice results in only a limited number of pieces, this is a rare and precious chance to see them for yourself.

Emi Katsuta exhibits her works mainly at art fairs and department stores. In recent years, she has received greater focus from abroad, particularly since her solo exhibition last year in New York, where her works began picking up attention from around the world.

Many of Katsuta’s pieces feature children with innocent faces and colorful clothing. As if dressed up in costume, the adorable characters transfix with their moistened eyes. However, their subtle features prevent easy discernment of their emotions and reflect a hidden willpower that leaves the viewer with a lasting impression that is more complex. The works are thus not merely cute, but highly spiritual as well.

Please take a long look and let her artwork engage you in a dialogue.

It is often difficult for us to look at things with pure eyes.

Instead, what is seen passes through the filters of knowledge, experience, and outlook, appearing in a different form for each viewer. Yo Ishihara’s artwork expresses the world as seen through those filters. For viewers, the experience is akin to wearing two pairs of glasses and their newly clouded field of vision will surely cause distress. However, the experience also helps remind us of the filters we all possess

* This exhibition was once exhibit online due to the Covid-19, and  will be showcased at our gallery space.

Kajioka’s works are born from wet application of hemp on board, bold touches of ink, and fine pencil etchings that create a layered surface of black.

He began exploring his current style in his late teens. One night, as he was crossing a bridge over a river, he looked down at the water and felt his eyes overcome by pure darkness. The experience left him profoundly aware of the uncertainty of his own existence and transformed him from a painter who was inspired by the atmosphere of Nihonga and the traditional motifs of “flower, bird, wind, and moon” to an artist who continually depicts the warmth of light melting into darkness.

We hope you enjoy the tranquil ripples of life expressed by Toshiyuki Kajioka, an artist who has been active in New York and Paris in recent years.

Our ancestors lived as one with nature and felt an esteem for the natural fabric of which humans were simply one part. In Ichii’s work, we can still hear the echoes of that sentiment, reverberating as basso continuo. Using the wood as a sacred vessel, he creates sculptures that express the inability to separate man from the works of nature. Once installed, the artworks transform the location into a spiritual realm where harmony is achieved between viewer, object, and space.

Kikuchi’s practice is a rare combination of cloisonne ware and Nihonga.Her characters, rendered as cloisonné figures, possess a luster and transparency that glimmers with the light of living things.
They are supported by a gentle atmosphere borne from backgrounds painted with mineral pigments.
By creating objects where these two divergent techniques co-exist, Kikuchi’s goal is to “create a miniature universe within each artwork”.
This is the artist’s much-anticipated first solo exhibition and we hope to receive your visit.

Mieko Noguchi’s signature works evoke the solar system and the Milky Way, enclosing the massive scale and structure of outer space inside glass orbs that fit in the palm of your hand. By contrasting our normal experience of the world with the limitless expanse of space, these abstract works challenge our sense of the relationship between “the universe” and “self”. We hope you enjoy them.

A sculptor who tries to capture the breath of life that exists in nature, Tetsuro Kadonaga began work with wood carving in his 30’s, after previous experience with photography and painting. Although he created artworks only in his spare time and had limited opportunities to exhibit them, news of his vibrant bird sculptures spread by word of mouth among other artists and his reputation has grown among those with deep knowledge of the art scene.

We hope you enjoy his works not only for their form but also for the “precision” with which he captures the expressions and blessings of nature.

The grandson of Nihonga artist Gakuryo Nakamura, Takao Nakamura’s paintings are based on his experience residing at Kyoto’s Daitokuji Temple and incorporate a spirit of good will as they seek to guide viewers down the righteous path. They are powerful omens of good fortune filled with his own unique depictions of light and water, as well as creatures such as dragon and phoenix dancing in the clouds. We hope you enjoy them.

It is often difficult for us to look at things with pure eyes.

Instead, what is seen passes through the filters of knowledge, experience, and outlook, appearing in a different form for each viewer. Yo Ishihara’s artwork expresses the world as seen through those filters. For viewers, the experience is akin to wearing two pairs of glasses and their newly clouded field of vision will surely cause distress. However, the experience also helps remind us of the filters we all possess

The creatures born from Aiba’s hand are strange yet lovable misfits and their playful appearance captures the heart of the viewer at first glance. Here is a ceramic artist of such imagination, one expects his creations to spring to life when left alone in the dark. We hope you look forward to this unique show.

When we look back at books of ancient History, Fairy Tales and Folklore, we can discover how our ancestors endured and held it together in times of calamity. Japan is known as the country where the living coexist with myriads of gods, goddesses, and spiritual creatures called yokai. People believed every natural phenomena, every object, artificial or not, is inhabited by a spirit. There are gods who are causing natural disasters and yokai that are saving us. One such spirit creature, Amabie, predicts pandemic.  It is a mermaid or merman with three leg-fins who appears from the sea and predicts abundant harvest or pandemic. A woodblock print newspaper from 1846 reported that a glowing Amabie appeared from the offshore of Higono-kuni (today the Kumamoto Prefecture), told local officers that people would enjoy abundant harvest for six years, while suffering from pandemic.

Wood block print telling the appearance of
Amabie. Published in the early May, 1846(Late Edo period.) The Kyoto University Library (cited from Wikipedia)

The creature instructed the officers to draw an image of itself, and show the drawing to the people to save them from the pandemic. This story of Amabie and its whimsical image recently became an instant meme surging on the internet in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

SEIZAN Gallery is excited to announce that we will collaborate with artists to present our Online Group Show, “Jo Sai Sho Fuku (Ward off Calamities, Invite Good Luck) : Gods and Yokai in the Time of Pandemic.” The artists will reimagine and recreate images of spirits from old history books and tales including the amabie and others who saved human beings in times of calamity. Works will be presented on our website (www.seizan-gallery.com, www.art-japan.co.jp) and on social networks in the coming weeks.
We believe that art keeps us together in difficult times. It is more important than ever to stay in touch. We at SEIZAN will continue to stay strong, support our community, and provide art that is a source of comfort and inspiration.

Minako Yoshino is an artist based in New York and working in the world.
She has also worked on many monuments related to urban planning.
In NY, her masterpiece “Lovers” was installed and attracted attention.
In 2020, Japan’s first “Lovers” will be set up in Toyama, the artist’s hometown.
Her work has a message and continues to communicate “harmony and connection” to people over time.
Many people love a work that blends into space and transforms the place like a painting.
In this exhibition, various works ranging from marble sculptures to “Lovers” will exhibit.

Valenijn is a Belgian artist who works with metal and specializes in metallic coloring.
His works cover a wide range of motifs, from the figurative to the abstract,
and the colors applied to their simple structures and smooth surfaces combine with the luster and air of the metal to offer a rich breadth of expression. This exhibition will also feature drawings that exhibit the characteristic touch of a modeler.

Yashima’s dolls are made from cheap, mass-produced plastic. In contrast to the flimsiness of the material, the figures resemble real life in a way punctures the viewer with the weight and pressure of a needle. However, one could also find encouragement in the figures and their determined visage. This exhibition will take place simultaneously with a solo exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum and we hope to receive your visit.

“Memory of sense of sea”－ The collection of works in this exhibition is based on the artist’s experiences beneath the sea. With details such as light reflected off the crest of waves, silvery fish scales, sea foam, and the blue of the ocean floor, they do more than simply create natural depictions of ocean landscapes. Rather, they unfold in a way that recreates the sense of being underwater.
This is your chance to experience a breathtaking undersea world with no need to worry about actually breathing underwater.

True to the words “around the world”, Foujita lived at the forefront of a turbulent age, traveling the world and creating artworks wherever he went before finally resting his brush only a few years before his death at the age of 81. Despite his eccentric looks, Foujita was an artist of incredible skill who understood the trends of his time and knew how to attract attention. We are proud to present an exhibition of works by an artist of great vision and insight.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, a genius who was active in the 1980’s before his untimely death.
Banksy, a street artist whose work has become a source of global fascination.
This exhibition will consist of prints by these two artists who symbolize the art scene
of today. It is a rare opportunity to see their valuable works in Japan and we hope you will visit for yourself.

SEIZAN Gallery Tokyo 凸(deco) will open on 6 December, 2019 as the second gallery space of SEIZAN Gallery Tokyo.

To commemorate the opening, SEIZAN Gallery Tokyo 凸 will present the inaugural exhibition: Yasuhiro Asai. Yasuhiro Asai (b.1983) is a Japanese Urushi (lacker) artist renowned with his beautiful and detailed works.

As Japan begins a new era, we present the first “Something Precious” exhibition of the Reiwa Age: “Ah/Uhn”.
The syllables Ah and Uhn have a broad range of meaning, representing the interval between inhalation and exhalation, opposing forces, and all things contained in the universe. In this way, they also symbolize beginning and end, making them the perfect motif to express the dawning of a new generation of Japanese history.
In artistic terms, Ah and Uhn have traditionally been associated with twin open-mouthed and closed-mouth forms.
Given such far-reaching thematic material, we are excited to see what images it conjures up in the minds of contemporary artists. Over 50 such artists have taken the challenge and will present their work.

“The Red” will this time be divided into two installments named “Man” and “Woman”. Against the backdrop of “red”, the color of life, the artists and their expressions will explore the similarities and differences between the sexes while bringing out the beauty in both.

This incarnation of “The Red” follows from the original, held two years ago, and will be presented with an all new roster of artists.

Akie’s brushwork preserves the natural features of the stones on which she works, but also lends an eye to the spirit that resides within them.
The artist supplements the images she perceives by researching different living beings, including their ecology and features. The process of breathing intricate life into the stones imbues them with respect for those strands of our grand earth that stretch unbroken from the beginning of time to the present day. Seizan Gallery is proud to deliver this first solo exhibition of Akie’s intensive practice.

Following the original exhibition in 2017, “The RED” returns and will once again be presented in two separate installments. Although the previous exhibition was dedicated solely to Nihonga painters, this new exhibition will include artists who practice in western painting and sculpture as well, while continuing the thematic exploration of the color “red” through a wide variety of expressions. Whether on-screen or in situ, the artworks will stir deep emotions. We hope you enjoy experiencing “red” in all its many shades.

Yukiko Hata’s works consistently capture the nature of “contemporary Japan” and the society of which we are all members. Underlying each piece are the artist’s feelings of alienation and suspicion toward the world at large. By rendering society in endlessly bright and vivid colors, her paintings become less of a “curse” and more of a “celebration”. The results are nothing less than the traces of the artist’s struggle to confront the world and will surely pull at the heartstrings of all.

Inspired by Otogi-zōshi, a collection of short stories written between the Muromachi and Edo Eras (1336 – 1868), Kamei’s pieces in this exhibition have been dubbed Otogi Dolls. Care has been paid to every detail, from their skin color to texture, resulting in a presence that is infinitely eerie, stunning, and awakens the imagination of the viewer. Take a step into an alluring world with Kamei as your guide.

Based in New York, Hyemi Cho utilizes painting as a way of addressing primordial questions of existence that have been with her since childhood. By expressing the chaos and indefinable emotions that manifest in daily life, she also seeks to grasp hold of things yet unseen. We hope you enjoy her artistic universe, born from unconventional imagination and repeated flashes of black humor.

This will be Koki Tsujimoto’s first exhibition at Seizan Gallery in three years. Employing pigments that burst with heat, his works seem to paint even the air around them with dazzling color. The figures depicted in this many-hued universe are animals that symbolize good fortune. In their powerful, dynamic forms we sense a sincere prayer for good in the world. We look forward to showing you the growth of this energetic, rapidly maturing artist.

machumaYu ’s works are interpretations of “bright darkness” that depict the loneliness, desperation, hope, joy, sadness, and conflict at the root of peoples’ hearts.
While mainly exhibiting in Fukuoka, she has been active in the Tokyo area as well since 2010, earning a devoted fanbase for her dark yet comforting artistic universe.

Shinji Ohya uses traditional Nihonga techniques to depict gold fish, carp, and seasonal flowers. The motifs which emerge from his canvases have a cultivated elegance that draws the eye, recalling the solemnity of wind rippling across still water and the unceasing changing of the seasons. We hope you will enjoy witnessing these works by a Nihonga artist who specializes in portraying the quiet lustre of life.

Sanami Shimada’s works appear at first glance to depict delicate females lost in thought, but on closer inspection reveal women with bewitching feminine charm, connecting with the deepest inner workings of the heart. Here is a young female artist who has greatly expanded her range in recent years and we are excited to share her growth for all to see.

Ken Shiozaki paints animals and imaginary creatures with a uniquely humorous perspective. In recent years, he has created works which reference Hokusai and collaborated with Marvel Comics, greatly expanding his reach beyond the normal confines of Nihonga. His works have earned popularity through exhibitions at department stores and this will be his first solo exhibition with Seizan Gallery in seven years, following on a previous exhibition in 2012. We hope you are as excited as we are.

By applying the traditional decorative techniques of wood inlay to sculpture, Toru Fukuda has created a new genre of free-standing wood inlays. To take advantage of the wood’s natural hue and texture, Fukuda uses only unpainted wood culled from naturally growing trees, combining deep insight into nature with sensitive artistry to create works that not only capture the attention but simultaneously convey the vitality and ephemeral nature of living things, filling us with respect for life itself. This will be Fukuda’s first solo exhibition with Seizan Gallery.

Yoji Kumagai has earned tremendous attention since his first solo exhibition at Seizan Gallery in 2017. This second solo show will focus mainly on seemingly narrative paintings in which humans and other living things are interwoven in a fairy tale world. Rendered with careful technique, the artist’s works unfold into a fascinating universe that asks us to consider the true essence of Nihonga.

During the Age of Exploration, the European powers gathered biological specimens and other numerous rare items from around the world, creating collection chambers known as a “Cabinet of Curiosities” in a number of locations. Hajime Emoto’s works recall this era when people were brimming with curiosity. Through ingenious sculpting techniques, he gives birth to living things steeped in the unknown.
We hope you will enjoy this modern-day Cabinet of Curiosities that will set your heart a-flight.

Sometimes fanciful, sometimes humorous, Ruiji Aiba is a ceramic artist devoted to artworks that implant themselves in the memory of those who view them. From pieces that can be enjoyed for their mysterious universe of tricks and surprises to those that reflect the artist’s own unique view of “beauty in utility”, the exhibition will feature a wide range of objects on display. We invite you to immerse yourself in the extraordinary universe of Ruiji Aiba.

The 10th anniversary of our annual exhibition “Something Precious” is themed Japanese era “Heisei”.
On May 1, 2019, the end of Heisei era and the beginning of another.
As all forepassed time: Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa have their symbolic episodes, Heisei would be memorized with specific images.
Our selected artists face the edge of the new era and leave their footprints.

World famous hero Ultraman becomes traditional handmade woodblock prints.
Strip shaped prints are created with traditional techniques such as Bokashi, Kira, Kara and so on.
Frames and scrolls are also made by using selected Japanese craft techniques. Please enjoy our new styled “traditional wood-block prints.”

* All the piece of works are not for sale during this exhibition, but can pre-order from January, 2019 at SEIZAN Gallery.

Japanese-style painter Hiroki Takahashi charmingly render the beauties of nature with ethereal brush works. His works indicate a highly formal aesthetic while establishing a distinctive sense of the light, angles and reflections.

This exhibition holds around the same time as his solo-exhibition at The Sato Museum of Art.
http://sato-museum.la.coocan.jp/

Continuing from last time “Introduction” in 2016, the 2nd Gin no Shizuku titled “Break” will be hold. The stunning artists evolved with time shows power of art.
Those pieces of work could be drops to cause significant ripples beyond the art world.

Yayoi Kusama is one of the most famous contemporary artists to come from Japan and garnering immense praise all over the world.
Her most popular motifs, Pumpkin and other valuable original prints will be showcased.

For the Frst time in three years, a wool doll creator Chiaki Suzuki backs to Gallery Seizan.
Her excellent techniques enable every individual works have their own character and create warm atmosphere which fascinates viewers.

Cutting-edge young female artist, known for her unique yōkai world that unfolds on silk with excellent brush works. The comical world of yōkai living as humane characters amaze and inspire your imagination.

Recent research shows that most people think their pets as special family.
On the other hand, growth in the pet industry has been caused of animal cruelty.
We against those barbarity at the convenience of humans, and we hope to support animal protection and welfare activity through this event.

Announcement of results of the charity auction and the donations

It is delighted to announce that we could get 162,543 JPY for the charity auction on Sunday, Oct 14, 2018. We appreciate all the support we received and our report is as below,

※All proceeds for donation will go to animal protection organization; 33,123 JPY to Save the Dog, 129,420 JPY to Dog Shelter.

New York City based Israeli artist Yigal Ozeri is well known for his astonishing hyper-real depictions of young women in shining light.
His works have shown extensively around the world, and in the permanent collections of: The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Mc-Nay Art Museum in San Antonio, The Jewish Museum in New York and more.
This is the first solo-exhibition at SEIZAN Gallery.

Animals and plants painted with delicate lines like raw silk.
They are divine, fleeting, graceful, but stately presented.
This is the first solo show of Noriyuki Kobayashi at Gallery SEIZAN.

Light and mellow colors and a faint breath of life in the air.
We can see his strong-willed paintings with a tranquility.
Please enjoy the world of Shigemi Yasuhara’s Japanese paintings.

This is a participating exhibition in “GINZA ART NIGHT 2018” planned by Ginza Galleries.

Nikitama = the Japanese spirit

Group exhibition of “Nikitama” which is composed of only male artists.
It aims to attract visitors by ability of Japanese paintings with “Nikitama”.
What is the genuine Japanese painting?
This is an exhibition but also a serious match of men who carry the hope of Japanese painting world.
This will be annual exhibition, and an influential Japanese painter will be invited every year.

Traditional tea ceremony themed “strawberry” will be held.
Tea ceremony utensils will be presented by the artists: Ruiji Aiba, Junko Yoda, Yumiko Murai, and others. Please enjoy Gallery SEIZAN’s “Omotenashi(hospitality)” full of strawberry.

The graceful world that consists of light and delicate lines.
Hiroko Takeda creates works full of delicate nuance, on which she arranges gold and silver leaf exquisitely.
She has now attracted considerable attention as a young woman artist.
We hold her solo-show for the first time in these years.

Hyper realistic world of Yang Shao Liang.
The texture of skin, the light reflects on eyes, and softness of hair, those texture gives us feeling as if we are looking at a photograph.
The artist puts his heart and soul into his paintings, and is unwilling to compromise.

Adorable shapes in mysterious atmospheres, and detailed craft skills with tricks of sense of humor.
Ruiji Aiba’s attention and enthusiasm to his small creation makes the one and only world.

This is the first exhibition of Takashi Seto who stands out among craftspeople. He follows and transmits traditional techniques of dyeing, while he creates a newest world from his original angle as a dyeing artist.

Emiko Aoki’s works attract our attention by its bright colors and her unique matieres.

Her works are divided into three types, “EPIPHANY” / “PRESENCE” / “INFINITY”.
She makes use of the reflection of light in the series “PRESENCE” and a large plane of colors and complex small planes harmonize well like a musical performance in the series “EPIPHANY”. Vivid colors piled up on canvas make us think of a series of petal -infinite life-, in the series “INFINITY”.

She said, “colors are light, so I think that is something sacred intuitively. Colors symbolize purity of life and thought in my production and I feel power of life especially in Red and Orange.”

She won the Grand prize of “FACE 2017 Sompo Japan Art Award” and Ohara Museum of Art prize at “VOCA exhibition 2017” last year.

We’ll show “EPIPHANY” and “INFINITY” mainly.

Animals such as birds, tigers and so on, painted on his paper by minute brushwork without hesitation.
Takashi Kanazawa’s Japanese paintings on which energetic animals and the silent world appear at a time, hold us spellbound.

We present our annual show “Something Precious”.
This is ninth time we’ve staged this show and this year’s theme is “Strawberries”.
How will the participating artists’ imaginations swell up from these sweet and sour fruit that are bursting with fragrance?
Please look forward to entering a world filled with fruity expression.

The artist who is known for his excellent techniques – Yoji Kumagai’s works are poetic and narrative as he seeks after the truth of life.
He told that he has got be able to paint what he wants.
First solo exhibition at Gallery SEIZAN.

Loneliness, despair, desire, pleasure – complicated and unstable emotion in the inner part of our heart.
She depicts it with appearance of children and animals.
machumaYu’s world stay by our side, and kindly light the lamp in our heart.

It is the memorial exhibition for the publishing Picture book.

As if she looks at self-image in the mirror, Megumi Aoki paints stainless steel plate with mineral pigments or acrylic paint.
How various feelings that Aoki has got when she faces things will be depicted in her works.
Won the Oka prize(Sato Sakura Museum)in 2016, 2017.

Kaz Watabe got the attention of visitors from all over the world at Art Fair Tokyo 2016.
He depicts monstrous creatures that have no voice.
Where are they stare at and what are they thinking ?
It’s the ephemeral and mysterious world with full of love.

Atsuko Nakajima’s lacquer works are created with certain techniques and unique sense.
Please enjoy her various kind of works from containers for daily use to decorated plate with silver-lipped pearl oyster that put on metal leaf.

Seiichiro Ban – who loves drinking, sometimes lose contact with others, always bother us.
This daring artist depicts a little boy lives in an innocent world.
The first solo exhibition in Gallery Seizan.

Jun Kamei makes dolls that fascinate us.
These dolls like a character in some fairy tale, but are not like that.
Please enjoy the world of Kamei’s doll that excite everyone’s imagination.

Before midsummer is coming, there will be a cool breeze blowing off the Gallery SEIZAN.
From some fine art pieces to rare, what will jump into your eyes ?
A valuable painting that is not usually exhibited will be seen.

This is a group exhibition on the theme of “RED”.
The color red symbolizes the energy that dwells in the strong emotions and the lives of human beings, and this exhibition focuses on how each of these artists attempted to capture this color and express his own idea.

Please enjoy the world of “RED” of women.

This is a group exhibition on the theme of “RED”.
The color red symbolizes the energy that dwells in the strong emotions and the lives of human beings, and this exhibition focuses on how each of these artists attempted to capture this color and express his own idea.
We are also planning to organize a sequel exhibition “The Red -Women -” from June 9 to 21.

Naho Hanawa photographs a moment of everyday life.
She prints out an image on a piece of transparent board, and then arranges it in layers.
Those layered images will remind you something you have left behind in a busy days.
Her works shows us a new image of memories.

This exhibition mainly features her metal based cloisonne works with animals.
“People have been praying not only to God and Buddha but animals thought to be holy messengers. Those are still exists beside us and watching over how we live.”(Eri Muranaka)

Young artists who will play a leading role in the future show their works in collaboration with others. All the members who completed degree of the Conservation of Cultural Properties at Tokyo University of the Arts, create highly skilled works with their own unique sense. The third time of “KAKU no KAI” following the exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 2014.

Akifumi Okumura depicts animals and plants familiar to your life but put in an oddly fantastical context.
A sense of the surreal makes you feel more conscious of the mechanical flow of time.

The summer heat is over; we are well into autumn. Little monsters will invite you to their unusual tea ceremony room. Allow the tinkling wind bells hypnotize you, and let your senses be transcended into a world of Japanese spirits and mythological creatures.

Curious narratives are carefully woven by intricate strokes in ink and acrylics.
At first glance, Hori’s works look like ink wash painting,
and yet the cute and unique characters appearing there are either contemporary or nostalgic.
A pleasant mixture of anachronisms gradually speaks to our heart.

The subtly depicted female figures remind us of the instability of thought, the transience of life, the ephemerality of time and ambience. A young artist, Shimada is a spiritual vanguard of our time.
This is her first exhibition here at our gallery.

This is an exhibition displaying works from Hiomi Takesue ; an artist that brings back the good old days,
and antique, Korean style pottery (Richo) from the 17th century.
Please enjoy this cultural experience!

This exhibition will display artwork for various, specialist artists that have collaborated for the first time.
It has taken 5 years since the first meeting of the collaborating artists and this will be their first exhibition
of 3, titled “Introduction”.
The second and third are named “Blast” and “Sudden”.
This is definitely one that people shouldn’t miss.

In the casting world, Kengo Takahashi wants to push himself to his own limits;

expressing himself through various metals.

Studying from classic to contemporary styles, he has found a certain technique

that makes his works delicate and aesthetically pleasing.

The main focuses of this artist are wales and elephants,

using pop art styles and traditional techniques to help show his story and

feelings through the medium. You can really feel his energy and passion through his works.

We are delighted to invite you to the first solo-exhibition of Swiss sculptor
Étienne Krähenbühl in Japan.
He is well-known mainly in Europe, and his art works uses technology to bring it into the modern world, giving the spectator a feeling of mystery and gravity.
Since he encountered and was intrigued with a physical phenomena in superconductivity during his research with scholars and researchers at the NCCR MaNEP, the University of Geneva, he has been seeking the possibility of expression through material by a collaboration of his art and science.
One of his art works using a shape-memory alloy invites the viewer to his unique world and offers us the opportunity to explore art that responds to nature.
Enjoy the fascinating reflection of Krähenbühl’s world – the marriage of art, technology and science.

Hiroyuki Aoyama typical motifs centre around candy, ramune and water.
Not only are they focused on these themes, but they also have a realistic touch to them,
using vivid colours to bring the pieces to life.
A lot of his works contain cherubs, giving the pieces a big impact;
also bringing realism and fantasy together.

Ruiji Aiba creates unique items, using precise crafting skills passed down from generation to generation.
Aiba’s work using frog, Karako,Chinese apparition and so on as motif vary in taste, and his works are most certainly an eye-catching wonderment.

In its seventh year, the theme for this year’s Something Precious exhibition is “Water”.
Colorless, formless, it is the nearest and most precious thing to us.
Protean and bearing infinite possibilities, it was the perfect motif to give our line-up of 50 participating artists.
This year’s group is a mix of familiar faces and first-time participants.
How will they interpret this theme? Coincides with Ginza Galleries’ annual Xmas Art Festa.

Using wool fleece, self-taught artist Chiaki Suzuki, creates a charming world of “Felt Characters”.
Her great range of expression underscores her mastery of felting skills.

Kanzaki’s wildly imaginative, rule-defying one-piece wood sculptures never cease to amaze us.
The depth of his approach begs the question, is it really just one piece of wood?
Don’t miss this opportunity to view the astonishing works of the ever-entertaining Hiroshi Kanzaki.

Having completed the doctoral program of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (Japanese paintings) at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2013 Hiroko Takeda furthered her studies in China. After advanced study and training in China, Hiroko Takeda’s skills and creative senses are highly refined. This is her first solo exhibition after her return to Japan, and her most recent works will be shown. Highly acclaimed as a rising new star in Nihonga, the world she spins in her paintings will mesmerize you.

Namiko Kuroyanagi’s debut solo exhibition.
Her creations are finely detailed and diminutive but richly expressive.
She is an artist from whom great things can be expected.

A meeting of talents from various genres with one thing in common, the Japanese fan.  A group exhibition of Paintings on Japanese Fans fill the gallery with the brilliance of summer colors and light.

Metal sculpture that appears to be as soft as lace and as fluid as a ribbon.
The layers of ever circling metal create a gradation effect that draw in the viewer’s eyes.

The second edition. The skill of painting lines is everything in Japanese Painting.
In this exhibition we present artists whose skills are highly regarded.
Enjoy the quality and individuality of the superb lines that appear in the different artists’ works.

The artist is scheduled to be in the gallery on Monday the 20^th, and Tuesday, the 21^st.
**Please note that this may change based on the artist’s convenience.

Having mastered the techniques of Igne Oyasi, traditional Turkish lace making, Nanami Kou has translated the craft into original art.  By special arrangement, we are exhibiting pieces that will be loved for generations.

Annual exhibition of young wood sculptors on the rise. Artists in the Lotus Society are selected from among the best young wood sculptors in Japan today. Each edition gives rise to new discoveries and surprises.

Something Precious is a celebration of our year in art and our way to celebrate our artists. In the 6th edition of this, our largest annual group exhibition, we present 41 artists, from young emerging to big name artists participating for the first time. Works from various genres (Japanese painting, Western Painting, wood and metal sculpture, glass etc.) express a multitude of interpretations of a one word theme, “Diamond”. Expressions run the gamut of serious to playful.

Wood Sculptor Long awaited Solo exhibition.
Having earned his Ph.D at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, School of Fine Arts, Graduate School of Conservation Science (Sculpture) and now working as a lecturer there, Yoshiki Masuda has deep understanding and knowledge of classical sculpture techniques. His work with art conservation and preservation projects such as the World Heritage site Kofukuji Shrine, has polished his skills to a high level. His knowledge and insight give greater power to his artistic expressions making him an ideal representative of Japan’s young sculptors today. At the heart of his work is the intention to create art works that live and spread joy within the spaces that they occupy. As one looks upon the artworks, one cannot help but feel that each piece will take to wing or swim away at any moment.

Mezzotint, La manière noire, copperplate intaglio. Inspired by the distinctive rich velvety black that is produced by mezzotint, artist Ami Yamashiro creates a world of nostalgic visions, a sense of mystery and a feeling that one is suspended in the midst of something extraordinary. Her concept, “an untruth that cannot be said to be untrue” causes us to question that which we are viewing. Although to the casual observer the prints appear to be complete, they are not. Yamashiro says, “I want to leave it unfinished to allow the viewer to converse with the subject and complete the work, filtering it through their own experiences and ideas bringing their own thoughts into the process.

Asako Tabata expresses the individual in ordinary life scenes with a clarity and power that is uncommon today. The emotions and thoughts of the person are revealed within their facial and physical expressions with such an unsettling penetration that more than empathy, the viewer feels they have stepped into the life of the subject. Whether it is the scene of a girl in the living room reading a book or a boy walking down the street, the depth of the expression will touch you.

The show consists of two series of work; Subterranean, and Black. Although the series title Black implies monochromatic works it is a color series, created in black. The richness of the black adds a sense of supernatural phenomena and mystery. With animals as his subjects, he asks us what is it that we see, or think we see, versus what it is that we perceive and what lies in the gap between. Is it life, the power of life, divinity?