KOSAKU KANECHIKA is pleased to present works by eight artists – Yutaka Aoki, Takuro Kuwata, Yosuke Takeda, Ryu Takeda, Noritaka Tatehana, Tenki Hiramatsu, Miwa Kyusetsu XIII, Dan McCarthy – at ART FAIR TOKYO 20 from March 13 to March 15, 2026.

Yutaka Aoki expands the scope of painting through an examination of the relationship between painting and the surrounding world, and through the many new possibilities that are born from that exchange. This exploration results in works that migrate freely between two- and three-dimensionality, and in works that respond not only to the material and production process, but also to their relationship with the audience’s gaze. Aoki’s approach also seeks to capture the ever-changing countenance of paintings, articulated as single moments along the axis of time. By repeated experimentation and the application of newly discovered processes, Aoki is continually rediscovering painting itself.

Takuro Kuwata has rapidly expanded the possibilities of ceramic art by creating works of an unparalleled nature that have been exhibited globally in Brussels, London, and New York. Kuwata’s contemporary visual language, which utilizes techniques of traditional Japanese pottery such as kairagi and ishihaze in a novel manner, has garnered international acclaim. Situated at the heart of Japanese ceramic artistry, Kuwata’s studio in the Mino region of Gifu retains history and techniques dating back to feudal Japan. Inheriting the traditional tea ceremony aesthetic of wabi-sabi, his works embrace imperfect beauty and natural forms that are celebrated in the preservation of a rustic, unrefined elegance. Through dialogue with the environment, history, nature, and time, Kuwata fuses together elements of tradition and modernity.

In his practice, Yosuke Takeda investigates what is possible with the medium of photography. In his acclaimed “Digital Flare” series, he captures the phenomenon of flares that appear when a digital camera is facing a strong light. Rather than a genuine subject captured by the camera’s system, a flare is something that emerges from the relationship between the subject and the system, the light that floods the interior of the camera frame. Describing the phenomenon generated by his process, Takeda says that it is “evidence of its means, and is a mark of its existence.” He relativizes the premise that in photography the subject exists outside the camera’s system, being something that is objectified, with its image captured by the camera. His practice, in which he takes as his subject “the complex relationship between the means (camera) and the purpose (subject),” produces works that build on various types of experimentation conducted throughout the history of photography, as well as being beautiful, powerful, and intense.

Ryu Takeda’s paintings evoke the imagery of accidental stains or scars. He remarks that the memories and characteristics of the rural forests from his childhood are expressed not only through his sight, but through sound, smell and touch. Takeda, who often compares the act of painting to an excavation, paints as if to unearth the unconscious realm that has been lost through verbalization and classification.

Noritaka Tatehana presents a never-before-seen perspective and worldview by combining elements of traditional Japanese culture with values of the contemporary world. His carefully honed artistry is elegantly expressed throughout his various mediums. Nurturing the sensitivities of a rich history, mythology, and innovation, Tatehana’s work brims with his potential and hopes for the future. The artist is renowned for his trademark works titled “Heel-less Shoes,” which are inspired by the elevated wooden clogs worn by traditional Japanese courtesans. These works have attracted global recognition since being worn by celebrities including Lady Gaga. To date, Tatehana’s work has been collected by institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Tenki Hiramatsu’s paintings begin without specific motifs, and figures subsequently emerge from applying and reworking oil paint over weeks or months, rotating the work in 90° increments. Figures materialize from the depths of initially unrelated backgrounds and traces of brushstrokes, as abstract compositions and colors respond to one another. Hiramatsu describes his creative process as an exploration of existence without purpose.

Miwa Kyusetsu XIII, who assumed the family title in 2019, is highly acclaimed throughout the world for his style that incorporates dynamic and innovative sculptural forms while carrying forward the legacy of Hagi ware ceramics by using the white Hagi glaze adopted by the Miwa family. His “El Capitan” series of tea bowls highlights the contrast between the unglazed surface of the pottery cut out using a Japanese sword and the Miwa family’s traditional white Hagi glaze (Kyusetsu white). This series owes its primary inspiration to Miwa’s astonishment at seeing the enormous granite edifice of the same name at Yosemite National Park while studying in the United States. This series constitutes the merger of that inspiration with Hagi clay and ceramic traditions. The works have an enchantingly powerful originality and convey the energy of nature and the long history of kogei crafts.

Dan McCarthy has exhibited his work globally throughout a career that has spanned over three decades. In addition to his two-dimensional works, such as his paintings and drawings, McCarthy produces his iconic “Facepot” series, which features facial motifs on ceramic vessels, with vivid colors, tremendous expressiveness, a familiar feel to them, a sense of primitiveness, and an immediacy that evokes the hand of the artist. In McCarthy’s work, these elements merge together to create an immediate experience that is not only visual but has a physical, and even emotional, effect on the viewer.

This presentation for ART FAIR TOKYO 20 will consist of approximately 15 works by the eight artists.