Kisho Kakutani「Scrawl#11」Acrylic paint on canvas、S100、2026 Reo Kikuchi 「copy and paste2604」Acrylic paint on canvas、S6、2026

Every day, people are exposed to a massive number of images, including various scenes they see on their smartphones, images they have preserved as memories, and various others which are continuously copied and distributed in different ways. Rather than merely being processed as information, these images have impacts on our memories and perceptions. Kisho Kakutani takes images snapped on smartphones and adds noise, blurring and other alterations to create more obscure, less defined pictures. In this way, he aims to eliminate the functions of those photos as practical vehicles of visual information while simultaneously supplementing the images with the memories and experiences of viewers. The illegibility of the resulting visuals does not act as a mask; rather, it stirs the imagination and provides opportunities for new realities to spring forth. Reo Kikuchi, on the other hand, restructures images through repetitive hand alterations as a means of exploring the relationship between the original and their copies, and between the individuality and reproducibility therein. The subtle differences realized by displaying repeating versions of the same image make the viewer question their visual perception frameworks and cognition which enable acceptance of these things as natural phenomena. The artists harness different methodologies, yet they share the same core exploration of how we visually perceive things. In contrast to Kakutani's piquing of imaginative thought through deletion and omission, Kikuchi manifests disparities through the use of repetition. Both cases utilize the pictorial medium not as a means of re-creating the subject, but instead as a tool for transforming people's perceptions and awareness. Kikuchi's and Kakutani's art trigger unexpected reactions within the viewer rather than conveying something clearly and plainly. Said reactions take the form of memory recall, image complementation, cognitive fluctuations, and doubt cast upon established values and views. These "side effects" lead to deeply meaningful experiences via the works being viewed. By communicating through art that utilizes the two disparate approaches of removal and repetition, the two artists delve into the uncertainty of visual experiences in our contemporary age while searching out new potential in perception that surfaces beyond that threshold.

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🔶Kisho Kakutani

Born in 1993 in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture
2022: Completed the Doctoral Program in Japanese Painting, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts; awarded a Ph.D. in Fine Arts
2023: Appeared on BS Fuji’s “On the Eve of a Breakthrough: Artists of the Next Generation #399”
Exhibited works at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Osaka “Spectre” launch event

Solo Exhibitions
2025 Solo Exhibition “Realm of Dispersal” / Whitestone Gallery (Taipei)
Solo Exhibition “FOG” / MU GALLERY
Solo Exhibition “The Ambiguity of Memory” / JING YI YUAN HUI ART GALLERY (Beijing)
2023 Solo Exhibition “White Night” / Courtyard HIROO
Solo Exhibition “Medium and Protective Wall” / Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore · Shikisai-sha

Group Exhibitions
2026 Kisho Kakutani × Kosuke Harasawa Two-Person Exhibition “Intersection” / Whitestone Gallery (Hong Kong / M Place)
Three-Person Exhibition “A Swimming Soul” / Whitestone Gallery (Seoul)
2025 Meta Perspective: Naoya Oshima, Kisho Kakutani, Reo Kikuchi / Shikisai-sha
Kisho Kakutani × Hitomi Endo Two-Person Exhibition “Imprinting” / Whitestone Gallery (Ginza New Gallery)
Begins! / ShinQs Gallery 5
Resonance of Friendship: Echoes of Contemporary Japan / White Walls Gallery, Philippines
Art ENCOUNTERS #5 / SHABA (Omiya)
ART365 / Kochi Daimaru
2024 Kisho Kakutani × Yudai Takeuchi Two-Person Exhibition “The Torrent in Seconds—A Torrent in Seconds” / Whitestone Gallery (Ginza New Gallery)
ART ART KOBE -ArtSticker SELECTION-
Group Exhibition Part 2 with Shikisaisha Gallery / Empathy Gallery
Joint Exhibition by Jing Yi Yuan Hui & Shikisaisha / JING YI YUAN HUI ART GALLERY (Beijing)
Life With Art vol.2 / G735 Gallery
UN CERTAIN REGARD / SEOJUNG ART Busan
2023 WHAT CAFE EXHIBITION Vol.26
Group Show “New Wave” / Shikisaisha
Art in Tokyo YNK Spin-Off Event “TOKYO CONTEMPORARY KYOBASHI: The Beginning of Connections” / BAG-Brillia Art Gallery-
ART SESSION by Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore / Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore
2022 DRIVE UP! / WHAT CAFE
F/ART / Hotel Sui / Shikisaisha
Kisho Kakutani × Shuya Tajiri / Shikisai-sha
Art in Tokyo YNK / Tokyo Square Garden
WHAT CAFE EXHIBITION Vol. 22 / WHAT CAFE
2021 FACE2021 / SOMPO Museum of Art
A-TOM ART AWARD / Courtyard HIROO
The 30th Sato Museum of Art Scholarship Exhibition / Sato Museum of Art

Art Fairs
2026 ART BUSAN 2026
2025 ART021 SHANGHAI 2025
ART TAIPEI 2025
Kiaf SEOUL 2025
Beijing Dangdai Art Fair 2025
ART BUSAN 2025
2024 Beijing Contemporary Art Fair 2024
ONE ART TAIPEI 2024
ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2024
2023 ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2023
ART FAIR TOKYO 2023
ONE ART TAIPEI 2023

🔶Reo Kikuchi

2014 Enrolled in the Department of Painting, Japanese Painting Major, Tokyo University of the Arts
2023 Completed the Doctoral Program at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts; awarded a Ph.D.

Solo Exhibitions
2026 Surfaces / Tokyo / TAKU SOMETANI GALLERY
2024 MITSUKOSHI ART WEEK / Tokyo / Mitsukoshi Main Store, Nihonbashi; A Long Walk / Mie / Kaifu Art Gallery
This Is Not “ ” / Tokyo / Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore; What’s Spotlight? / Tokyo / Art ID
2023 [multiple/repetition] / Tokyo / Gallery Bi-no-sha; MITSUKOSHI ART WEEK / Fukuoka / Fukuoka Mitsukoshi

Group Exhibitions
2026 “A Gaze Toward Glue—Reconsideration and Response” / Tokyo / Takashimaya Nihonbashi (Traveling to Takashimaya Osaka and KYOTO-ba in Kyoto)
2025 Art in Tokyo YNK / Tokyo Square Garden Art Gallery, Meta Perspective, Shikisai-sha, Tokyo
Begins! Vol. 2 / ShinQs Gallery 5, Resonance of Friendship: Echoes of Contemporary Japan / White Walls Gallery
Art ENCOUNTERS #5 “Meta Perspective” / SHABA
2024 Distance / Tokyo / Gallery MU; Landscapes of Others Vol. 2 / Tokyo / alpha contemporary
Tokyo University of the Arts Japanese Painting Department Research Group Exhibition / Tokyo / Tokyo University of the Arts Exhibition Hall (2018, annually thereafter)
2023 GINZA COLLECTOR’S CLUB / Tokyo / Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore

Art Fairs
2025 ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2025
2024 ART AMOY / Xiamen, China / Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center; Art Shenzhen / Shenzhen, China / Shenzhen Convention Center

Awards
2025 Selected for the Idemitsu Art Award | SHIKISAISHA GALLERY