Vanitas
Main Gallery Area Artist
Artist Information
Ryo Kawada
1988 Born in Niigata
2018 Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, MFA
2015 “2nd CAF Award winners” 3331 Arts Chiyoda (Tokyo, Japan)
2014 “Ryo Kawada, UROBOROS” Bambinart Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
2016 “Ryo Kawada, Guise” Bambinart Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
2018 “Ryo Kawada, figment” Bambinart Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
Based on Western-style paintings, I paint something that is a replication, contemplating what painting is that can truly feel real.
[Comment by Selector]
Ryo Kawada’s painting seems at first to develop a disquieting atmosphere, or work with religious themes, but actually it depicts familiar things and the friends around the artist. There is no intention or motif, and no desire for the work to hold any kind of meaning. He concerns himself only with reality as it is felt in the painting as he works. Winner of the Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi 2018 (Marunouchi Prize / Audience Prize), selected for the 2nd CAF Award in 2015 and for Tokyo Wonder Wall 2014, winner of the Tama Art Competition 2013 (Tenmyouya Hisashi Prize), and the Turner Award 2013 (Future Prize).