ARTDYNE is pleased to announce Koshiro Kihara’s third solo exhibition, “The Allegory of Beginnings”, which will be held from Saturday, May 10 to Sunday, June 1, 2025.

This exhibition will showcase Kihara’s latest works that continue his ongoing exploration of the intersections between “landscape” and “memory,” “material” and “perception.”

Koshiro Kihara’s paintings have garnered strong resonance among viewers through a unique expression that quietly stirs the boundaries between figuration and abstraction, substance and emotion. While the motifs in his works may initially appear to be organic objects, they in fact originate from the very materials of painting—clay and pigment. Yet, under Kihara’s hand, these materials take on the presence of light, shadow, gravity, and air, transforming into “landscapes” seemingly shaped by the laws of nature.

Entitled “The Allegory of Beginnings,” this exhibition comprises a body of work born from the artist’s pursuit of primal landscapes—those that exist before names or meanings are assigned. Kihara’s paintings act as quiet mechanisms that surface distant sensations and faint déjà vu from the depths of memory. They remind us of the essential power of painting to reveal what lies beneath perception.

We warmly invite you to experience Koshiro Kihara’s painted world—a space that might be described as the very beginning of all things.

Artist Statement

The motifs in my work are clay and paint themselves. However, just as sunlight filters through trees, casting shadows and creating a landscape, the motifs I depict—while rooted in raw material—also become landscapes shaped by the laws of nature, imbued with light, gravity, and air.

I take these landscapes made of clay and paint and crop them into rectangular forms. The resulting images unexpectedly connect with memory, evoking something familiar. At the same time, they seem to restore something known to me to its truest, most original form.

I believe I am trying to paint that very first landscape—a time before names, when the world was still only color and form.

―Koshiro Kihara

Biography

木原幸志郎｜Koshiro Kihara

Born in 1997, Hyogo, Japan

Education

2022

M.F.A., Graduate School of Fine Arts, Onomichi City University

Solo Exhibitions

2025

Koshiro Kihara Solo Exhibition, A.SINGLE.PIECE, Sydney

2024

“Scene”, ARTDYNE, Tokyo

2023

“Lemon-Colored Dream”, Gallery A8T, Sendai
“In Motion, Elusive”, ARTDYNE, Tokyo

Two-Person Exhibitions

2023

Koshiro Kihara & Kenshiro Kihara Two-Person Exhibition, Hankyu Men’s Osaka, Osaka

2022

“Figure and Ground”, Koshiro Kihara & Kenshiro Kihara, Artglorieux, Tokyo
“Stranger”, Koshiro Kihara & Kenshiro Kihara, Lloyd Works Gallery, Tokyo

2021

“Infinity Mirror”, Koshiro Kihara & Kenshiro Kihara, Gallery A8T, Sendai

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024

AaP2024, Lloyd Works Gallery, Tokyo
ART ART KOBE, Daimaru Kobe, Kobe
Dimensional Fantasia, GR Gallery, New York
ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2024, Fukuoka International Center, Fukuoka

2023

ART NAGOYA 2023, Nagoya Kanko Hotel, Nagoya
Shape!, Bunkamura Gallery 8, Tokyo
ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2023, Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka

2022

AaP2022, Lloyd Works Gallery, Tokyo
Before the Break 2022, Artglorieux, Tokyo
KUMA EXHIBITION 2022, ANB Tokyo, Tokyo
One FACE 2022, Lloyd Works Gallery, Tokyo
The Two-Dimensional School, Daikanyama Hillside Forum / N & A Art SITE, Tokyo
3331 ART FAIR, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo

2021

TAGBOAT AWARD SELECTS, Hankyu Men’s Tokyo, TAGBOAT Gallery, Tokyo

Grants & Awards

2021

KUMA Foundation, 5th Creator Scholarship
Muranushi Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Grant for Emerging Artists

Media Coverage

2024

Featured in “Nigh” Online Magazine, Issue 8

2023

Painting collaboration for film Lemon-Colored Dream, directed by Shunji Iwai
Painting collaboration for film Kyrie no Uta, directed by Shunji Iwai

2022

Featured in Monthly Kobo Guide “Blue and Burning,” February issue
Featured in Monthly Art Collectors’, February issue

2021

Appearance on BS Fuji TV program Before the Break – The Next Generation of Artists
Featured in Monthly Bijutsu (Art), December issue