Masato KOBAYASHI｜Artists

Portrait of the Artist — Exhibition Celebrating the Publication of MK, 2024, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Portrait of the Artist — Exhibition Celebrating the Publication of MK, 2024, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

FAMILY/Family of this Planet, 2024, rin art association, Gunma

Photo by Shinya Kigure

About Freedom, 2023, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

About Freedom, 2023, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

About Freedom, 2023, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

WHO WILL YOU SHOW YOUR ART TO ?”, 2023, The University Art Museum Chinretsukan Gallery, Tokyo University of the Art, Tokyo

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Family of this Planet, 2021, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Meiji Jingu Forest Festival of Art, 2021, Meiji Jingu, Tokyo

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Thrice Upon A Time, 2016, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

All Living Things, 2016, Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Shizuoka

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Thrice Upon A Time, 2016, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Nameless Horse, 2014, ShugoArts Kiyosumi

Photo by Shigeo Muto

ART TODAY 2012 Explanatory Paintings and Masato Kobayashi, 2012, Sezon Museum of Modern Art, Nagano

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Mediations Biennale, 2010, Zamek, Poznan

Photo by Masato Kobayashi

MASATO KOBAYASHI-The Paint of the Planet, 2009, Nariwa Museum, Okayama

Photo by Shigeo Muto

MASATO KOBAYASHI-The Paint of the Planet, 2009, Nariwa Museum, Okayama

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Touching the Cosmos, 2006, The Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Shizuoka

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Starry Paint, stars of outer space by pure painting, 2004, Tensta Konsthall, Spanga

Unnamed 2004 #2

2004, oil, coloser, canvas, wooden frame, 82x124cm, [05241]

Unnamed 2003 #3

2003, oil, canvas, wooden frame, 173x300x40cm, [05239]

Paintings in Situ, 2002, RICE GALLERY by G2, Tokyo

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Unnamed #27

2002, oil, canvas, wooden frame, [05044]

Gelijk het leven is, 2003, the Vlaamse Opera Gent, Gent

Epifanie-Actuele Kunst en Religie, 2000, Abdij van het Park, Heverlee

A Son of Painting Masato Kobayashi, 2001, S.M.A.K., Ghent

Watou Po ziezomer 1999: Serendipiteit” Douvie hoeve, 1999, Watou, Belgium

Unnamed #7

1997, oil, canvas, wooden frame, 252x230x80cm, [03404]

de Rode Poort / The Red Gate, 1996, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent

Unnamed #2

1996, oil, canvas, 200x300cm, [02653]

No Title (Artist’s Life)

1996, oil, canvas, 200x400cm, [02193]

A Painting

1993, oil, canvas, 198×262.5cm, [15242]

son of painting

1992, oil, canvas, wood, 162.3×197.5cm, [00462]

Painting=Sky

1985-1986, oil, canvas, 195x291cm, [15196]

Angel=Painting

1984, charcoal, chalk, paint, canvas, 130x162cm, [04107]

135

Portrait of the Artist — Exhibition Celebrating the Publication of MK, 2024, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Portrait of the Artist — Exhibition Celebrating the Publication of MK, 2024, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

FAMILY/Family of this Planet, 2024, rin art association, Gunma

Photo by Shinya Kigure

About Freedom, 2023, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

About Freedom, 2023, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

About Freedom, 2023, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

WHO WILL YOU SHOW YOUR ART TO ?”, 2023, The University Art Museum Chinretsukan Gallery, Tokyo University of the Art, Tokyo

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Family of this Planet, 2021, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Meiji Jingu Forest Festival of Art, 2021, Meiji Jingu, Tokyo

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Thrice Upon A Time, 2016, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

All Living Things, 2016, Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Shizuoka

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Thrice Upon A Time, 2016, ShugoArts

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Nameless Horse, 2014, ShugoArts Kiyosumi

Photo by Shigeo Muto

ART TODAY 2012 Explanatory Paintings and Masato Kobayashi, 2012, Sezon Museum of Modern Art, Nagano

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Mediations Biennale, 2010, Zamek, Poznan

Photo by Masato Kobayashi

MASATO KOBAYASHI-The Paint of the Planet, 2009, Nariwa Museum, Okayama

Photo by Shigeo Muto

MASATO KOBAYASHI-The Paint of the Planet, 2009, Nariwa Museum, Okayama

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Touching the Cosmos, 2006, The Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Shizuoka

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Starry Paint, stars of outer space by pure painting, 2004, Tensta Konsthall, Spanga

Unnamed 2004 #2

2004, oil, coloser, canvas, wooden frame, 82x124cm, [05241]

Unnamed 2003 #3

2003, oil, canvas, wooden frame, 173x300x40cm, [05239]

Paintings in Situ, 2002, RICE GALLERY by G2, Tokyo

Photo by Shigeo Muto

Unnamed #27

2002, oil, canvas, wooden frame, [05044]

Gelijk het leven is, 2003, the Vlaamse Opera Gent, Gent

Epifanie-Actuele Kunst en Religie, 2000, Abdij van het Park, Heverlee

A Son of Painting Masato Kobayashi, 2001, S.M.A.K., Ghent

Watou Po ziezomer 1999: Serendipiteit” Douvie hoeve, 1999, Watou, Belgium

Unnamed #7

1997, oil, canvas, wooden frame, 252x230x80cm, [03404]

de Rode Poort / The Red Gate, 1996, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent

Unnamed #2

1996, oil, canvas, 200x300cm, [02653]

No Title (Artist’s Life)

1996, oil, canvas, 200x400cm, [02193]

A Painting

1993, oil, canvas, 198×262.5cm, [15242]

son of painting

1992, oil, canvas, wood, 162.3×197.5cm, [00462]

Painting=Sky

1985-1986, oil, canvas, 195x291cm, [15196]

Angel=Painting

1984, charcoal, chalk, paint, canvas, 130x162cm, [04107]

Biography

Masato Kobayashi was born in Tokyo in 1957. He was the Japanese representative of the 1996 São Paulo Bienniale. In 1997, invited by Jan Hoet, he traveled to Europe, and continued to create works in various locations while based in Ghent, Belgium. Kobayashi returned to Japan in 2006 and began working based in Tomonoura, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima. He was also a professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts from 2017 to 2023. He has developed a unique technique of applying color by rubbing it into the canvas while supporting the fabric with one hand, simultaneously stretching it over the wooden frame to bring the painting to life and “aiming for a painting that does not lose its essence by merely existing.” Kobayashi has prolifically produced paintings that possess a form and unique brightness that can only emerge from that specific situation.

Selected solo exhibitions: “About Freedom”, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2023; “Family of this Planet”, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2021; “Artist and the Model”, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2019; “ART TODAY 2012”, Sezon Museum of Modern Art, Nagano, 2012; “MASATO KOBAYASHI – The Paint of the Planet”, Nariwa Museum, Okayama, 2009; “Starry Paint, stars of outer space by pure painting”, Tensta Konsthall, Spanga, Sweden, 2004; “A Son of Painting Masato Kobayashi”, S.M.A.K., Ghent, 2001; “KOBAYASHI Masato”, The Miyagi Museum of Art, 2000.

Publications: Masato Kobayashi MK, HeHe, 2024; The autobiographical novel trilogy, Paint of this Planet—Under the tree at Hitotsubashi University, ART DIVER, 2018; Paint of this Planet—Duifhuisstraat 52, ART DIVER, 2020

Selected Public Collections: Iwaki City Art Museum (Iwaki, Japan). The Miyagi Museum of Art (Sendai, Japan). The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan). The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan). Utsunomiya Museum of Art (Utsunomiya, Japan). S.M.A.K. The Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Ghent, Belgium). The Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum (Shizuoka, Japan)

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