Starting on June 14, 2025, KINOSHO KIKAKU will hold a group exhibition titled “Chemical X” featuring four artists with different approaches and perspectives.
Each artist depicts the boundaries between fantasy and reality, digital and analog, visible and invisible.
Sensual brushstrokes, reconstructions of pop culture and pixels, swirling colors bursting with passion, and tranquil yet somehow unsettling night scenes.
Expressions that should never have intersected cross paths as “X” and construct an unpredictable world within a single space. Please take this opportunity to view it for yourself.
Group Exhibition “Chemical X”
Participating Artists
neko, tsubura, Yamada Taro, Aizawa Ryōichi
June 14 (Sat) – June 27 (Fri), 2025
Opening Hours: 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Closed: Sundays and Mondays
neko Instagram(@0n0e0k0o)
Contemporary artist and curator.
He creates works by printing digitally produced images onto paper and then adding pastel, crayon, acrylic, and other media on top. The figures he depicts appear to be smiling, yet there is an underlying sense of sadness or violence. According to the artist, this may be because when he interprets these figures within his own context, they all connect to ghosts.
Late 2000s
He debuted in the art world as a founding member of “Post-Poppers,” the predecessor to Chaos Lounge. However, he left the group early on and disappeared from the art scene for about 10 years.
In 2020, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned to the art world with the support of art collector Motoha Iijima.
In 2021, he organized the group exhibition “Oyomari-kai” as an entry point to explore the future of character art and propose new ideas, aiming to uncover a wide range of pleasant spaces within Japanese contemporary art. In 2024, he conceived and organized the sequel project “Matsuri-kai.”
Solo Exhibitions
2023 “The Dress of Solitude” (Machida Center Building, Machida)
2022 “Kakeochi” (Soil/ Yoshimi Town)
2021 “Amaterasu” (LIGHTHOUSE GALLERY/ Ryogoku)
2021 “Omimai” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery/ Shinjuku)
2020 “Yukaku Baishun” (rusu/ Meguro)
2020 “Possessed” (River Coffee & Gallery/ Todai-mae)
Group Exhibitions
2024 “Ball” [planning, curation] (Koganei Chateau 2F/ Musashikoganei)
2024 “Tentacity: Obsession” (medel gallery shu/ Harajuku)
2023 “Vacant Lot” (Ogiya/ Kamakura)
2022 “Tokyo Colours” (TOKYO PARK/ England)
2022 “Addiction” (A4 Gallery Tokyo/ Taiwan)
2021 “Sleepover” [planning, curation] (rusu/ Meguro)
2021 “Japanese Group Show” (GALLERY JO YANA/ France)
2021 “Prayer” (Meee gallery/ Nakano)
This exhibition, “Chemical X,” is a collection of artists who (seem to) deal with character motifs.
The sense of reality of the characters is deepened by their interrelationships in the story, so I will write my personal statement in the same way.
The term “character” has various meanings, but in art, “character art” often refers to art that incorporates characters from one’s own country’s subculture, particularly those from manga, anime, and games, into an artistic context.
From classical to modern Western art, characters that are not human have been depicted as central figures based on the myths and religious views of each country, but these characters have often possessed sensual, erotic bodies in a morally ambiguous manner.
By the 19th century, when this demand reached its peak, modern humans were finally depicted as “human” motifs in art.
This trend is also present in contemporary character art.
Superflat symbolically portrayed characters from otaku culture as icons of post-war Japan, while Chaos Lounge symbolized the internet culture of the late 2000s through glitchy characters.
On the other hand, the “Oyomari Kai” exhibition that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic and the “Matsuri Kai” exhibition that followed it treated characters in a more realistic way as a breathing space for the oppressed social situation and each person’s loneliness.
These collectives became the catalyst for art characters, which had been symbolic, to take on a strong physical presence and humanity, but the basis of their existence is still deeply buried.
When art history is told as a story, art exhibitions are seen as scenes, but this exhibition is a real-time scene.
Once again, the characters interact subtly, but it is like a phantom dancing in an excavation site.
This finally connects to my personal artist statement, which is that my artistic nature is a form of shamanism that brings these characters into my body.
Character art is “our story” for me, and my personal medium cannot speak solely of myself and my motifs in art.
The beings that possess me seem to view the exhibition of character art as a journey toward the vast homeland that once existed (and continues to exist somewhere).
Perhaps it is a place deeper and more beautiful than art itself.
tsubura Instagram(0yen____)
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 2002.
Enrolled in the Painting Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo Zokei University in 2021.
Graduated from the same university in 2025.
tsubura is strongly influenced by subculture that existed before he was born, as well as commercial animation and games from the 1990s to the early 2000s, drawing inspiration from these sources to create his works. During his university years, he conducted extensive research on the relationship and harmony between pixel painting and characters, pursuing his own unique expression through his artwork.
All of tsubura’s characters are original and do not have names or specific models. They are beings created based on “vague memories” and “memories he would rather forget,” such as the bullying and interpersonal conflicts he experienced in the past. These memories are already blurred and difficult to describe clearly, but it is this “ambiguity” that forms the core of the work.
The coarse digital depiction of pixels symbolizes the low resolution of memories and the uncertain impressions that remain in the mind. The characters are depicted as if they were scenes from an anime, appearing on the screen as symbols of the people who have appeared in tsubura’s own life.
While still a student, she presented the “Green Back Series,” which borrowed the “green back” used in video compositing for painting. The green background expresses the “absence of background” and encourages viewers to imagine “where this character is” and “what kind of situation it is in.” The “lack” of visual information functions as an element that overlaps with the ambiguity of memory.
After graduating from university, she actively expanded her work beyond canvas paintings to include drawings. In recent years, he has presented a series of drawings using discontinued commercial cassette tapes and MDs as supports. This was born from his sense of “generational change” and “the passage of time” in modern society. Based on the idea that “things evolve and are passed on to the future,” tsubura aims to create works that connect the past, present, and future.
In recent works, he has incorporated monochrome depictions influenced by 1960s black-and-white television animation. For tsubura, monochrome expression is a “method of representing the past” and an important element that visually suggests memory and temporality. The scaled-down and reconfigured versions of the works presented at the ZOKEI exhibition also feature new interpretations in monochrome, presented as intersections of memory and time.
tsubura’s works are attempts to reconstruct the relationship between “place, time, and people” using digital expression in the form of pixels, starting from vague memories of the past. At the same time, they serve as a visual archive connecting personal history and subculture, memory and society, and the past and future.
Major exhibition history
2022 SUMMER GROUP SHOW (THE blank GALLERY)
2023: origine (Kobo Oyako)
OverWhelm (THE blank GALLERY)
2024: Drawing Exhibition Seimei (JITSUZAISEI)
Sugoi Group Exhibition! Girls (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery)
NIGHT OUT GALLERY Curated Exhibition FACES (America Bridge Gallery)
2025: 2024 Tokyo Zokei University ZOKEI Exhibition (Tokyo Zokei University)
48th Tokyo Five Art Universities Joint Graduation and Completion Exhibition (National Art Center, Tokyo)
Absolute Domain Muse (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery)
Drawing Exhibition Seiran (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery)
Awards
2024 Tokyo Zokei University ZOKEI Exhibition ZOKEI Award Winner
Event Participation History
SHIBUYA 109 40th Anniversary Art Project LOVE ART LAB.
山田太郎 Taro Yamada Instagram(ayso_c_in)
Artist Statement:
I create works by moving between the fields of two-dimensional expression (painting, printmaking, and digital illustration). I mainly use places I have actually visited as motifs, and I reflect on the boundaries between objects in the visible world and the world depicted.
Biography
Born in 2001 in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Currently enrolled in the second year of the printmaking course at Musashino Art University Graduate School.
Participated in group exhibitions at SUNABA Gallery (Osaka), Kinosho Planning (Tokyo), and Shirota Gallery (Tokyo),
and held a solo exhibition at MEDEL GALLERY SHU (Tokyo).
Participated in GEISAI#22 & Classic Tokyo Big Sight (Tokyo) and received the Jury Award.
Subsequently, held a solo exhibition at Hidari Zingaro (Tokyo) as a prize.
Additionally, participated in art fairs such as Daimaru Tokyo, Matsuya Ginza, and KIAF SEOUL.
相沢僚一 Ryouichi Aizawa Instagram(ry.1_a)
Visual artist.
Primarily focused on painting, he creates works that transcend traditional techniques. Currently, based on his belief that “nothing lasts forever,” he creates works such as dripping paint onto plants and ceramic sculptures modeled after his deceased pet dog.
【Exhibition History】
Exhibition History
【Major Solo Exhibitions】
2022 “Period’s PHANTOM” (LIGHTHOUSE GALLERY/Tokyo)
2021 “Plan to annihilation” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery/Tokyo)
2020 “All I Do Is Play Games” (Kamenya Omote/Tokyo)
2019 “MILD EXTINCTION” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery/Tokyo)
2018 “AFTER LIFE” (Lumière Center/Aichi)
2017 “The Work Is Never Dead” (Azabu BOOK&GALLERY/Tokyo)
【Group Exhibitions】
2025 “Drawing Exhibition Seiran” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery / Tokyo)
2025 “Scattered Garden Place” ChirakashiGardenPlace (Atelier Salon-Koushinkyoku / Tokyo)
2025 “To Return Someday, Let’s Build a Portal Here” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery / Tokyo)
2025 6th Art Hakase Saw! ‘Itami Sayo, My Friend’ (Tokushima Castle Museum / Tokushima)
2024 ‘Now Loading…’ (River COFFEE & GALLERY / Tokyo)
2024 ‘The Whisper of a Quietly Breathing Bookshelf’ (Ko Honya / Tokyo)
2024 “Shinkiba & Yumenoshima Exciting Art Festival 2024” (Shinkiba Station Area / Tokyo)
2024 “⟪pie☆SUMMER☆FEVER vol.2: Last summer vacation⟫” (pie / Myeongdong, South Korea)
2024 “2024 Seoul Popcon (2024 Seoul Pop Culture Convention)” (COEX/Seoul, South Korea)
2024 “Signs of Existence” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery/Tokyo)
2024 “Large Paintings” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery/Tokyo)
2024 “Artistic Vegetation” (Live Art Gallery/Ehime)
2024 “Drawing Exhibition Seimei” (JITSUZAISEI/Osaka)
2024 “Space Color Addition” (aL Base/Yoyogi)
2024 “The Art Scholar Saw! 5: The Vegetation of Art” (Tokushima Castle Museum/Tokushima)
2023 “TRI! Angle” (aL base/Tokyo)
2023 “Dolls and Virtual: Figure and Virtual” (miaki gallery/Tokyo)
2023 “Advanced Obsession” (anicoremix galery/Tokyo)
2023 “Sticks and Masks” (Kamenya Omote/Tokyo)
2023 “Dog Exhibition · Dog Paradise Collaboration Exhibition” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery/Tokyo)
2023 “Local! Local!” (pie, SanQ / Myeongdong, South Korea)
2023 “Drawing Exhibition Hatsuharu” (Shinjuku Eye Clinic Gallery / Tokyo)
2022 “Charabesque -Scarlet-” (Nezu Curry Lucky / Tokyo)
2022 “-Silent Rhapsody-” (THE blank GALLERY / Tokyo)
2022 “Charabesque” (Hiyosaka Art Research Lab / Miyagi)
2020 “Neighboring Garden” (Shinjuku Eye Gallery / Tokyo)
2020 “Shinjuku Online” (Shinjuku Eye Gallery / Tokyo)
2020 “LIFE WORK 2020” (Aichi Prefectural Art and Culture Center / Aichi)
2019 “April Mermaid” (Genron Chaos Lounge Gotanda Atelier / Tokyo)
2018 “LIFE WORK 2018” (Aichi Prefectural Art and Culture Center / Aichi)
2018 “Value Price” (Iriya Gallery / Tokyo)
2017 “SAIKO ART FESTIVAL ’17” (Saiko / Yamanashi)
2017 “The Revenge of Kuchikuchi, The Revenge of Meroeru” (Pocke / Tokyo)
2016 “Squatting Weak Punch Museum 52Hz Tsushima” (Aichi)
2016 “Naoki Okumura’s Friends Exhibition” (DESK/okumura / Tokyo)
2016 “BARRACKOUT” (Former Matsuda Residence / Tokyo)
2015 “Squatting Weak Punch Museum 52Hz, Homing” (Nakano ZERO Gallery / Tokyo)
2015 “KITAJIMA, KOUSUKE #11 ~At the Table Given by the Typhoon~” (Kata/Conbe / Tokyo)
2015 “Squatting Weak Punch Museum 52Hz” (Kozakuro Okinawa)
2015 “KITAJIMA, KOUSUKE #09 ~Rumors of the Day After the Bowl Q Matsuyama~” (Kata/Conbe, Tokyo)
2015 “TAGBOAT ART FES 2015” (Hulic Hall, Tokyo)
2015 “Tokyo Five Art Universities Graduation and Completion Exhibition” (National Art Center, Tokyo)
2015 “Squatting Weak Punch Museum 52Hz” (Tama Art University / Tokyo)
2015 “2014 Tama Art University Graduation Exhibition” (Tama Art University / Tokyo)
2014 “10th World Painting Grand Prix Exhibition” (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum / Tokyo)
2014 Seijo Shoujo Shirunabe “La Shiru Mode” (Harajuku Design Festa Gallery, Tokyo)
2014 Seijo Shoujo Shirunabe “Who is that girl?” (Harajuku Design Festa Gallery, Tokyo)
Projects
2023 “Sticks and Masks” (Kamenya Omote, Tokyo)
2023 “Dog Exhibition/Dog Paradise Collaboration Exhibition” (Shinjuku Eye Gallery, Tokyo)
2016 “BARRACKOUT” (Former Matsuda Residence, Tokyo)
Awards
2014
10th World Painting Grand Prix Sponsorship Award
Residency
Tsushima Art Scape Shagami Weak Punch Museum (Lumiere Center, Aichi)
