Kazuyo Kinoshita

"What I seek in painting as 'another nature' or 'another reality' is related to the fact that art and nature, while different in kind, are both creations."— Kazuyo Kinoshita (1939–1994)

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Gallery Sekiryu is pleased to present a two-venue exhibition of works by Kazuyo Kinoshita, held simultaneously at our Minami-Aoyama space in Tokyo and our gallery in Matsumoto, Nagano.

Born in Kobe in 1939, Kazuyo Kinoshita was an artist who worked primarily in the Kansai region of Japan.

In the 1970s, she gained recognition for her intellectually rigorous photographic works that explored questions of existence, perception, and cognition. From the late 1970s onward, however, she gradually shifted from photography—a medium that employs images drawn from the external world—to a more subjective practice of drawing and painting with line and color.

Kinoshita's pursuit of what she described as “another nature” or “another reality” took full form in her abstract paintings after 1982. Through restrained palettes and the dynamic interplay of brushstrokes, she sought to create a pictorial space that could only be realized through painting itself. This investigation continued until her death from illness in 1994 at the age of fifty-five.

A major retrospective marking the 30th anniversary of her passing, held in 2024 at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka and the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, reaffirmed the consistency of her lifelong inquiry into existence. In particular, it brought renewed attention to her post-1980 practice and the remarkable body of paintings through which she challenged the possibilities of the medium itself. The exhibition further highlighted Kinoshita’s singular contribution to abstraction and confirmed her place as one of the essential yet still underexplored figures in postwar Japanese art.

This exhibition includes photographic and paper-based works from the 1970s while focusing primarily on paintings made after 1982. We hope it will offer visitors an opportunity to encounter part of Kinoshita's quiet yet courageous exploration through painting—a lifelong pursuit of existence, perception, and reality.

All Works by Kazuyo Kinoshita

Kazuyo Kinoshita (1939–1994)

1939 Born in Nagata Ward, Kobe, Japan.
1962 Graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts and began teaching art at schools including Kobe Municipal Maruyama Junior High School and Shinwa Gakuen.
c. 1965 Began working with the artist group I (位), alongside Tatsuo Kawaguchi, Yoshimi Okuda, and others.
Early 1970s Held regular solo exhibitions at Gallery 16 (Kyoto) and Muramatsu Gallery (Tokyo).
1977 Received the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art Prize at the 13th Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan.
1981 Held a solo exhibition at the Heidelberg Kunstverein, West Germany.
1982 Received the 11th Blumelle Prize (Fine Arts Division) and began creating abstract oil paintings.
1990 Diagnosed with cancer. While seeking treatment in Los Angeles, she continued to make new work.
1994 Passed away in Kobe at the age of 55.
2024 A major retrospective marking the 30th anniversary of her death was held at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, and the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama.

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