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Ayako Someya

Her “calligraphy” is written with elementary symbols/structures that can be understood by anyone, but cannot be accurately read due to the blurring of the ink, reminiscent of the “Tarashikomi” style of the Rimpa school.
This conceptual departure from the traditional framework of the Kanji cultural sphere of calligraphy is a major difference from mediocre English calligraphy.
When it was introduced at one of Asia’s largest art fairs, “West Bund Art & Design” (Shanghai) in 2021, it attracted a great deal of attention.
In addition, the Four Seasons Hotel Osaka, which just opened in August, permanently displayed a total of 12 large works in the elevator halls on each floor and in the presidential suite. As one of the most notable pioneers of the new wave of avant-garde calligraphy, we cannot take our eyes off him.

Taishi Urakawa

2023 162 x 90cm(each) [left]Panel・Cotton cloth・Acrylic・Gesso[right]Panel・Canvas・Ink jet・Acrylic・Gesso

Artist Profile

1994 born in Fukuoka
2013 Graduated from Fukuoka Koryo High School
2017 Graduated from Kyushu Sangyo University Faculty of Art

Solo Exhibitions
2013 Self – Graduation Exhibition at IAF Shop, Fukuoka
Experiment and Destruction at Kyushu Sangyo University,Fukuoka
2014 “Self” – Graduation Exhibition at Art Space Tetra,Fukuoka
How to Get Involved with The World at Meichaenn Cafe, Fukuoka
2015 The Thing That Appears and then Disappear at Gallery Monma ANNEX, Sapporo
2016 “Solo Exhibition “ at Gallery Oishi, Fukuoka
2017 Self – Graduation Exhibition 2.0 at Muraokaya Gallery, Fukuoka
2022 Urakawa Taishi | Notice: View of Yokohama Construction Wall through Mobile Phone at Yokohama Museum of
Art, Kanagawa
2023 「Art Fair Tokyo 2023」Contemporary HEIS, Tokyo

Group Exhibitions
2013 Drawings/Photos for Room Decoration at Art Space Tetra,Fukuoka
2014 The 39th of Japanese University’s Prints Exhibition at Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo
Fukuoka Asia “Futari Ennial “at IAF Shop, Fukuoka
Process and Subjects at Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka
Rectangle Exhibition at Wald Art Studio, Fukuoka
2015 Koganecho Bazaar, Yokohama
Crucible for Tomorrow at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka
Three Persons Exhibition at Gallery Rashinnban, Tokyo
The 24th Exhibition of “A” at Tagawa Museum of Art,Fukuoka
Ninety-nine Persons Exhibition at Gallery Q, Tokyo
Capture -2 Exhibition at Gallery Q, Tokyo
Square Exhibition at Wald Art Studio, Fukuoka
2016 The Birth Cry and Scribble at Gallery Kaze, Fukuoka
Old School Building Project at Former Kyushu Sokei Junior College,Fukuoka
A Bunch of These Wild Grasses at Gallery Rashinban, Tokyo
The 11th of Mitsui Fudosan Commercial Management Office Exhibition at Mitsui Fudosan Office,Tokyo
Unknown People at Around Gallery of Kyushu Sangyo University,Fukuoka Gathering at Gallery Oishi, Fukuoka
2017 Isetan New Art Display at Shinjuku Isetan,Tokyo
Urakawa Taishi ・ No Name Sanemasa Exhibition at IAF Shop, Fukuoka Umu Q at Ueno Royal Museum,Tokyo
Where The Sensitivity Born at Kyushu Geibun Jan, Fukuoka
Graduation Exhibition at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka
Mini UMUQ at Turner Gallery ,Tokyo
2018 Voca and The Around Core at Gotanda Chaos Lounge Atelier, Tokyo
Pinches out The Beautiful Confusion at Art Space Tetra,Fukuoka
Multi Shutter at Eukaryote, Tokyo
Fachuasu ☆Metamarufo~ze at Gallery Ogata , Fukuoka
New 2D Artists, a Part, Core – Kazuki Umezawa ,Taishi Urakawa , Hyakutou Takeshi at Genron Chaos Lounge
Gotanda Atelier, Tokyo
2019 Taishi Urakawa, Subaru Kamo, Kota Takeuchi ‘Painting’ at SNOW Contemporary, Tokyo
Taishi Urakawa ・No Name Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition ‘It Won’t Finish Until It Has Finished ‘ at
Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto
Break Zenya at A/D gallery Roppongi Hills,Tokyo
No Name Sanemasa & Taishi Urakawa Two persons Exhibition ‘#Owaranyai? Mou Owannnyai!’ At NADiff
a/p/a/r/t, Tokyo
Yuki Yamamoto ・Taishi Urakawa Flatten Image at Gallery Monma, Sapporo
2020 Collectors’ Collective Vol.2 at MEDEL Gallery SHU, Tokyo
Kuniyoshi Ikushima + Yuriko Asano + Taishi Urakawa at Gallery Ogata, Fukuoka
2021 Art Fair Tokyo 2021 Contemporary HEIS, Tokyo
Break Zenya at Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore, Tokyo
Taishi Urakawa ・No Name Sanemasa Exhibition ~ The Window to The Another Scenery~ at Okawa City Seiriki
Museum, Fukuoka
ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2021 Contemporary HEIS , Fukuoka
Taishi Urakawa ・No Name Sanemasa The Window to The Another Scenery at Contemporary HEIS, Tokyo
2022 ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2022 Contemporary HEIS, Fukuoka
2023 CAMK Collection Exhibition Vol.7 Memory Storage For The Future at Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto,
Kumamoto
Precious Ambiguity at Museum of Kyushu Sangvo University, Fukuoka
「ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2023」Contemporary HEIS, Fukuoka
「ART TAIPEI 2023」Contemporary HEIS, Taiwan Taipei
2024 「ParaScape」Contemporary HEIS, Tokyo

Awards
The 24th ‘A’ exhibition outstanding award
The 25th VOCA exhibition award of Ohara museum of art

Public collections
Fukuoka art museum, Ohara museum of art, Kyushu Sangyo University

2023 162 x 90cm(each) [left]Panel・Cotton cloth・Acrylic・Gesso[right]Panel・Canvas・Ink jet・Acrylic・Gesso

Khvay Samnang

クゥワイ・サムナン《Human Nature》2010 ‒ 2011 年 デジタル C プリント 120×180cm ©Khvay Samnang, Courtesy of Tomio Koyama Gallery

Kwai Samnang is one of the most important young artists in Cambodia. Through a variety of approaches including photography, video, installation, sculpture, and performance, he explores new perspectives and interpretations of history, culture, and various events.

He is interested in the fluidity, historicity, and ongoing social and political issues associated with the land,
While primarily focusing on Cambodia as a theme in a specific context, his work also reflects the universal.

If you want to learn something, you have to spend enough time and really enjoy it,” he says. Kwai’s work is often humorous, and his performances are characterized by the layers of meaning, symbolism, and issues they raise within their seemingly funny performances.

Artist Profile

Kwai Samnang is one of the most important young artists in Cambodia. Through a variety of approaches including photography, video, installation, sculpture, and performance, he explores new perspectives and interpretations of history, culture, and various events.

He is interested in the fluidity, historicity, and ongoing social and political issues associated with the land,
While primarily focusing on Cambodia as a theme in a specific context, his work also reflects the universal.

If you want to learn something, you have to spend enough time and really enjoy it,” he says. Kwai’s work is often humorous, and his performances are characterized by the layers of meaning, symbolism, and issues they raise within their seemingly funny performances.

Born in Cambodia in 1982, Khouwai Samnang graduated from the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh in 2006.
His solo exhibitions include SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2011, 2012, 2014); Tomio Koyama Gallery Singapore (2014); Jeu de Paume National Museum, Paris, France (2015); CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art Bordeaux, France (2015); Orange County Museum of Art (USA, 2015), Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (USA, 2016), and Haus der Kunst (Munich, Germany, 2019).

Selected group exhibitions include Sights and Sounds: Global Video Art (The Jewish Museum, New York, 2013), the 4th Singapore Biennial (2013-14), the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial (2015), Documenta 14 (Germany, 2017).

He was a TWS Creator-in-Residence at Tokyo Wonder Site in 2010 and 2011, and a resident at the Bethenian Künstlerhaus in Berlin in 2014-2015.

(左)Photo by Prum Ero.jpeg

クゥワイ・サムナン《Human Nature》2010 ‒ 2011 年 デジタル C プリント 120×180cm ©Khvay Samnang, Courtesy of Tomio Koyama Gallery

nakajima mugi

DIVING 2024 240s-02 240×240×5cm

“DIVING to COLOR OCEAN”
I want to dive into the ocean of colors.
I am exploring the beautiful behavior of color in my paintings.
Since around 2016, I have been creating paintings by pouring acrylic paint into a container with a spout.
I slowly pour the melted paint into the tilted and fixed canvas,
The color slowly glides across the canvas, sometimes falling out of the frame in a matter of seconds.
The traces of matter settle little by little over time.
The multiple forces and layered structure created by rotating the canvas depict a color space that is extracted and freed from the laws of physics.

The title “DIVING” (diving) comes from the fact that I myself dive into the painting as if I were diving into the canvas, and I hope that viewers will experience the painting as if they were diving in a sea of colors.
At Art Fair Asia Fukuoka, he will exhibit a number of paintings that transcend the physical scale of the body. It is certain to be the artist’s largest-ever development. Painting on a large, independent canvas rather than a mural is an instinctive longing for me as a painter, but it is also a place where my various abilities are put to the test, so it is also a source of fear for me.

The masters of abstract expression who paved the way for the history of painting, whom I met when I began painting in earnest, are no longer with us. Compared to the time when they lived, visual media have diversified enormously, and we live in an environment where things that appeal to the five senses and allow us to experience a sense of immersion are all around us. In such an environment, I have been asking myself why I paint, and especially why I create abstract works. However, the reality through one’s own physicality will not change much no matter how technology develops.

I believe that the quest for universal beauty of “color” and “seeing” and the reason for the existence of paintings painted with paint on a large screen will not fade away, but will become more important as they become more independent, accompanied by the viewer’s experience.
I would be happy if you could enjoy the beauty of the colors created by the materiality and gravity of paint without using a brush.
Come, let’s go to the sea of colors together.

August 2024
Artist / Mugi Nakajima

Artist Profile

Artist.
Based in Osaka. Graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts, majoring in oil painting.
[Main activities in recent years]
2024 [solo exhibition] Takashimaya Osaka / main entrance, main window [Osaka Art & Design 2024 project].
2024 [art work]Louis Vuitton Men’s Building Osaka/VIP Lounge Painting Production
2023 [solo exhibition] Nagi-machi Museum of Contemporary Art/Okayama(2012)
2019 [VOCA 2019] The Ueno Royal Museum/Tokyo

(Left)Photo by Michika Mochizuki

DIVING 2024 240s-02 240×240×5cm

Sakura Fukushima

audience
2024 
33.3×33.3cm 

She has been creating works in which only specific motifs emerge clearly as if a camera were in focus in her works, which are painted with acrylic paint on cotton cloth in a blotchy manner.
The motifs that emerge are stitched on using thread, and the act of stitching is based on the desire to hold on to strong memories as she repeatedly moves back and forth between the front and back sides of a piece of cloth.
She is a fascinating artist who discovers landscapes that only she could have noticed in the accumulated memories that would have visited everyone.

Artist Profile

1987 born in Kumamoto, Japan
2012 MA in Oil Painting ,Musashino Art University , Tokyo ,Japan

Based in Tokyo, Japan.

Selected Solo Exhibition「PARK」( VINYL GALLERY / 2023 / Tokyo)、「prophetic dream」( Kiyosu city Haruhi Museum of Art/ 2022 / Aichi)、「Look back on tomorrow」(Tsunagi Art Museum / 2016 / Kumamoto)。

(left)©️miyuki toudou

audience
2024 
33.3×33.3cm 

Hsu Yunghsu

2023-22 2023 Porcelain 171×96×73cm

Hsu Yunghsu is a distinguished Taiwanese artist known for his unique and academically acclaimed ceramic works, which are housed in major Taiwanese museums and have earned him numerous prestigious awards globally. His innovative approach, treating his body as a creative tool, results in ceramics that transform heavy clay into delicate forms through complex processes. His work, celebrated for its craftsmanship and conceptual depth, embodies his philosophy of transcending life and art, with pieces that reflect both natural desires and a dramatic surge of creativity.

Artist Profile

1955
Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2003 – 2007
MFA, Candidate of Ceramic Art, Graduate Institute of Applied Arts, Tainan National University of the Arts, Taiwan
1971 – 1976
National Pingtung Teachers College, Taiwan

Hsu Yunghsu’swork is highly recognized for its academic value and uniqueness by both the Taiwanese government and the public. His pieces are collected in art museums across Taiwan and at significant and iconic locations. Xu has won numerous prestigious awards, including the first Excellence Award at Taiwan’s largest ceramics competition, the Taiwan Ceramics Award, the 4th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale in Korea, the 20th Fletcher Challenge Ceramics Award in New Zealand, and the 4th Aveiro International Ceramics Biennale in Portugal.
Moreover, his collectors span the globe, including regions such as South Korea, Japan, the United States, Singapore, and Taiwan. Hsu Yunghsu is truly one of the most representative and pioneering Taiwanese artists of this generation.

2023-22 2023 Porcelain 171×96×73cm

Chiharu Shiota

Artist Profile

Born in Osaka, Japan (1972)
Lives and works in Berlin

Her major exhibitions include “The Soul Trembles”, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo(2019), “The Key in the Hand”, Japan Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice(2015)and “Breath of the Spirit”, The National Museum of Art, Osaka(2008)

Her recent installation “The Ship of Memories”(2023) is the collection of Fukuoka Art Museum.

[Current exhibitions in Asia]

Solo exhibitions:
14 September – 1 December 2024 “Chiharu Shiota : I to Eye”, Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka

Group exhibitions:
“A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection”, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
[until 10 November 2024]

“Zipangu – Contemporary artists who have run through the Heisei era” Saga Prefectural Art Museum [until 20 October 2024]

“Perhaps Sunny Days”, Podo Museum, Jeju Island, Korea [until 20 March 2025]

Installation [from the Museum collection]:
“Memory of Water”, Towada Art Center, Towada, Aomori

[Upcoming]
solo exhibitions

27 Sept.2024 – 16 Feb.2025
Another Planet, A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

26 Oct.2024 – 30 Mar.2025
At the Edge of Fate, Jupiter Museum of Art, Shenzhen, China

Group exhibitions

27 Sept. 2024 ― 9 Mar.2025
Taguchi Art Collection + Hirosaki Museum Contemporary Art / 2024 Exhibition [Autumn / Winter] “How Did You Come into the World?”Hirosaki Museum Contemporary Art, Hirosaki, Aomori

Mio Okazaki

"FOOTBALL 2024  Acrylic on canvas  80×60×6cm"

“I fell in love with pro wrestling during high school and, after graduating from university, worked as a reporter for Weekly Pro Wrestling until 2021, handling interviews and art projects. I designed the commemorative T-shirt for the magazine’s 40th anniversary project. Pro wrestling and martial arts are surrounded by spectators 360 degrees around the ring, and the view differs depending on the seat. Each seat and perspective has its own beauty and intensity of the fight. By expressing these diverse perspectives using the technique of Cubism, I aim to depict the charm of pro wrestling and martial arts that cannot be conveyed through photos or videos. Cubism, represented by artists like Picasso and Braque, is an old technique that captures the shape of the subject from various angles in one picture. By combining this with pro wrestling, and sometimes incorporating cheers and sounds, I express my love for pro wrestling across the entire canvas.”

Artist Profile

Profile Born in 1995 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. After graduating from the Department of Visual Communication Design at Musashino Art University, joined the editorial department of Weekly Pro Wrestling at Baseball Magazine Inc. Responsible for the irregular series “Togei,” which combines art and pro wrestling. Currently, after leaving the company, creating many works with pro wrestling as a motif.

2019: Awarded Excellence Prize at Musashino Art University Graduation Exhibition
2021: Winner of the Kenta Nakajima Award & Liquitex Award at the 1st ARTIST NEW GATE
2023: Designed the 40th Anniversary T-shirt for Weekly Pro Wrestling
2024: Designed the Scratch T-shirt for METROCK ’24

"FOOTBALL 2024  Acrylic on canvas  80×60×6cm"

Tawan Wattuya

Tawan Wattuya “Oscar” (オスカー) 2024 32.5 x 50 cm 水彩・紙 Watercolor on paper

In addition to his paintings of monsters and heroes with a constructed screen composition, he is one of Thailand’s leading painters known for his unique expression using the special qualities of watercolor. Many of his paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, including New York. At the “Bangkok Art Biennale 2020,” his work using banknotes of various countries as a motif attracted much attention. The beautiful and delicate images are deeply engaging while sharply criticizing the chaotic political situation and lookism of his home country by effectively utilizing the difficult-to-control watercolor bleed. He is one of the most promising artists in Asia, and we look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

Artist Profile

Born 1973 in Bangkok, Thailand.

B.F.A. in Painting, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

b.1973, Bangkok, Thailand Tawan Wattuya is best known for his distinctive approach to watercolour and thought-provoking subjects. His choice of medium is a clear attempt to convey the speed and dynamism he perceives in contemporary Thai society. He consciously chooses to view his homeland from a distance, studying the social and political situation from afar in order to explore with depth and understand both his hometown and the different places he encounters. It is clear that Wattuya’s paintings are always poetic, personal, but nevertheless provocative in terms of his critical engagement with current issues. He is considered today one of Thailands’ most unique and engaged painters. His works have been exhibited extensively all over the globe. VILLAINS & HELLBENT POLITICIANS (New York, 2018); “MENAGERIE” SUNY ONEONTA (New York, 2019); QUEEN (nca nichido contemporary art, Tokyo, 2019); HATCH ART PROJECT (Singapore, 2019&2021), BANGKOK ART BIENNALE (Bangkok, 2020), KEEP IN THE DARK (Bangkok, 2021), PEEPSHOW arcade (New York, 2022) SILPATORN AWARD 2023 ,Visual Arts (Thailand 2023) Tawan Wattuya currently lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand.

(Left)©Tawan Wattuya Courtesy of nca | nichido contemporary art

Tawan Wattuya “Oscar” (オスカー) 2024 32.5 x 50 cm 水彩・紙 Watercolor on paper

Asami Iguchi

"Today’s attire 60 2023 Acrylic on linen 116.7×116.7 cm"

“My artistic work is inspired by the question, ‘Why do people dress differently?’ In a world filled with countless clothes, shoes, hats, and accessories, I explore through my art the process of selecting and combining these items to create a daily outfit. My work also expresses how attire serves as a tool for showcasing one’s individuality.
While staying true to my preferred fashion style might, sometimes make me self-conscious about others’ opinions or even leave me feeling vulnerable, I believe it’s more important to embrace what I love. I want to express myself through my clothing choices and walk confidently. To me, attire is not just about personal expression; it’s also a way of connecting with others and a means of self-exploration.”

Artist Profile

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1995
Completed a Master’s degree in Creative Expression at the Graduate School of Arts, Kyushu Sangyo University in 2020

"Today’s attire 60 2023 Acrylic on linen 116.7×116.7 cm"