How to live #2 at Roppongi

Born in Kanagawa, Japan, in 1980. Currently lives and works in Tokyo. Chiba’s paintings are created through a process in which the artist actively engages with the objects of his choice as much as necessary; he extracts images from his surroundings and previous life events and reconstructs them on canvas while utilizing his handmade motifs. With his sophisticated skill set, Chiba can differentiate textures of various motifs in his paintings where he establishes a complex world combining pseudo-reality, pure artificiality and reality. While sincerely imprinting copious achievements of paintings of all times and places on his mind, the artist boldly disturbs the existing structure of contemporary art with his preferred medium, painting.

Selected exhibitions: Sideward Exhibition, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2023; Masaya Chiba Exhibition, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2021; Assembridge NAGOYA, Former Minato Dormitory of Nagoya customs, Nagoya, 2019; Painting and …, Gallery αM, Tokyo, 2018; Perry Rhodan and my life, Art Center Ongoing, Tokyo, 2018; MAM Collection 006: Materials and Boundaries – Handiwirman Saputra + Chiba Masaya, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2017; What to Do With Memories by Utilizing Things Such as Indirect Lighting in Light Box Style, Yatsuzaki Halo, Feeling of Wanting to Kiss, Family Story, Sagamihara Stone Burger, Forget Medusa, and Element 50m Ahead, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2017; Discordant Harmony, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, 2015 (Travelled to Seoul and Taipei); Roppongi Crossing 2013: OUT OF DOUBT, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2013

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)

Born in Hong Kong in 1978. Currently based in Taipei, Lee has taken part in residency programs all over the world, including the US, Europe and Asia. In his art practice, Lee utilizes various media such as projector light, videos, sounds, words and found objects, and his artworks represent the artist’s desire to continuously blaze a trail for new expressions of painting. Having been born and raised in Hong Kong, a city that has been susceptible to political turbulence, Lee has been conscious of the current socio-political climate. He incorporates intricate expressions to provide an opportunity for the viewers to reconsider their relationships with society and others, and the nature of his artwork is what makes his exhibition spaces site-specific, reflecting the ambience and emotions of each location.

Selected solo exhibitions: A blank stare like a gasp, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2023; Lovers on the Beach, West Den Haag, Den Haag, 2021-2022; (Screenshot), ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2020; Resonance of a sad smile, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, 2019; ‘We used to be more sensitive.’, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2018; The Enormous Space, OCAT, Shenzhen, China, 2018; Not untitled, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2017; A small sound in your head, S.M.A.K, Ghent, 2016; Hold your breath, dance slowly, The Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, USA, 2016; The voice behind me, Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, 2015; ʻYou (you).ʼ, the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013.

Atsushi Yamamoto was born in Tokyo in 1980. After graduating from the Department of Painting at Tama Art University, he moved to Berlin in 2003 and started creating video works. In 2018, he stayed in Hue, Vietnam as a part of The Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists organized by The Agency for Cultural Affairs. Working as an office worker during the week and filming on his days off, he has produced more than 300 video works. His diverse works include social fiction, personal documentaries, and comedic experimental videos that question the meaning and meaninglessness of life.
Selected exhibitions: “A Solitary Emotion”, Koganecho Bazaar 2024, Yokohama(2024); “A yesterday’s temple”, Art Center Ongoing, Tokyo(2024); “MY HOME IS NOT YOUR HOME”, ShugoArts, Tokyo (2022); “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” Exhibition 2021, The National Art Center, Tokyo(2021); “MAM Screen 007: Yamamoto Atsushi”, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2017-18); Video Art Programs [A Window to the World] The 24th Program, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan(2011).