'It’s like the natural world. Nothing lasts forever': Tadashi Kawamata on creating his temporary sculptures

Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata created a temporary wooden vortex sculpture titled "Tornado" inside the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, made from 5,000 individual pieces of wood and installed on the grand staircase for just two weeks in February. The work was commissioned by Ruinart as part of its "Conversations with Nature" series, which presents a piece in Paris before permanently installing it at the champagne house's headquarters in Reims. Kawamata, who has lived in Paris for 18 years, is known for using found materials and creating site-specific, temporary interventions on or inside architecture, emphasizing spontaneity and impermanence.

Exhibition | Kenjiro Okazaki, 'Never could be any other way — anagnorisis' at Pace Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Pace Gallery in London is presenting an exhibition by Japanese artist Kenjiro Okazaki titled 'Never could be any other way — anagnorisis'. The show features Okazaki's latest works, which explore themes of recognition and revelation through his distinctive blend of painting, drawing, and conceptual practice.

Everything You Need to Know About LACMA’s New David Geffen Galleries

LACMA has opened its new David Geffen Galleries, a single-story building spanning Wilshire Boulevard that houses the museum's permanent collection spanning 6,000 years of art. The galleries feature a revolutionary curatorial approach organized around bodies of water—Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian, and Pacific—creating nonhierarchical displays that mix works across time and geography, such as 17th-century Dutch paintings alongside 20th-century photography. The building also includes 3.5 acres of shaded public space below, outdoor sculptures by artists like Alexander Calder and Jeff Koons, and a 220,000-square-foot pavement artwork by Mariana Castillo Deball.

Marietta Museum of Art & Whimsy closing for summer, but 37 other exhibitions on view at museums in May

The article provides a roundup of museum exhibitions on view in Southwest Florida during May, highlighting five new openings, eight closings, and 25 continuing shows across museums from Sarasota to Naples. Featured exhibitions include Molly Hatch's site-specific ceramic installation "Amalgam" at Sarasota Art Museum, Jillian Mayer's interactive "Slumpies" sculptures, a group show "Something Borrowed, Something New" with works by Louise Bourgeois, Chuck Close, David Hockney, Yoko Ono, Kara Walker, and Ai Weiwei, and Maria A. Guzman Capron's solo textile exhibition "Penumbra." The Marietta Museum of Art & Whimsy is noted as closing for the summer.

Inside Frieze New York 2026: The Best Booths and Standout Moments of the Art Fair

Frieze New York 2026 opened at the Shed in Hudson Yards, drawing a record crowd of collectors, artists, and celebrities on preview day. The fair featured over 65 international galleries, with a strong presence of Latin American artists and a notable shift toward textile-based works, sculpture, and paper pieces. Highlights included the Ruinart Art Lounge with preparatory studies by Tadashi Kawamata, and the Focus section spotlighting emerging galleries. Notable attendees included Leonardo DiCaprio, gallerist Almine Rech, and Sotheby's senior vice president Ralph DeLuca.

Star of the Wilderness Exhibition celebrating the Publication of "Paint of This Planet” Volume III

ShugoArts in Tokyo presents 'Star of the Wilderness,' an exhibition by Japanese artist Masato Kobayashi celebrating the publication of the final volume of his autobiographical novel trilogy *Paint of this Planet*. The show features new works, including two large-scale paintings—'Artist and the Model' (over 2.6 meters) and 'Star of the Wilderness'—that exemplify Kobayashi's distinctive method of stretching canvas onto its frame while painting directly with his hands. The exhibition traces his journey from Kunitachi, Tokyo, to Ghent, Belgium, where he was discovered by curator Jan Hoet, and later to Tomonoura, Hiroshima, highlighting how his paintings emerge from specific places and moments.

BE PART OF A COLLECTIVE ART WORK BY CHIHARU SHIOTA FOR THE CURITIBA INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL

Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota has announced a new site-specific installation titled *The Space Between Us* for the 16th Curitiba International Biennial – THRESHOLDS, opening June 14 through November 15, 2026 at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON) in Curitiba, Brazil. Curated by Tereza de Arruda, the work invites the public to submit letters—in text, collage, or other manual forms—which Shiota considers self-portraits of each participant’s inner universe. Submissions must be sent by May 20, 2026, and will be woven into a large-scale collective installation that makes visible the hidden experiences of individuals.

Exhibition | Shota Nakamura, 'Apple' at Karma, Los Angeles

Shota Nakamura's exhibition 'Apple' at Karma in Los Angeles presents a series of new paintings that explore familiar subjects—fruit, shells, sailboats, landscapes—through a dreamlike, tonally nuanced lens. The Berlin-based Japanese artist focuses on the tonality of light, using closely-valued hues to investigate relationships between color, luminosity, and illusion. Works such as 'Landscape with Apples' (2026), 'A Black Dog', and 'Violin Player' demonstrate his method of combining personal photographs, memory, and art historical references into compositions that balance representation with formal abstraction, often referencing modern Japanese painters like Zenzaburo Kojima and Morikazu Kumagai as well as Mark Rothko.

Hole in one: artist-designed mini golf course heads to London

A playable exhibition titled 'The Art of Mini Golf' will open at Battersea Arts Centre in London from 17 June to 26 July, featuring nine interactive golf hole artworks. The show includes contributions from Turner Prize nominee Delaine Le Bas, US filmmaker Miranda July, Japanese artist Saeborg, and Berlin-based artist Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, who created the ninth hole artwork 'Enough is Enough'. The UK iteration of the touring show, originally organized by the Rising festival in Melbourne, offers playful twists such as a square ball in Le Bas' hole and a strap-on latex animal tail in Saeborg's 'Animal Golf'.

Shokkan at the ROM considers the sense of touch in Japanese art

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto presents "Shokkan," an exhibition curated by Akiko Takesue that explores the Japanese concept of touch in art. Despite the challenge of displaying tactile experiences behind glass, the show succeeds by featuring historic Japanese works—such as kimonos, tea bowls, ukiyo-e prints, and netsuke—alongside contemporary pieces by artists like Issey Miyake, Tabaimo, Makiko Hattori, and Emma Nishimura. Interactive stations allow visitors to handle replicas and less valuable objects, including samurai swords, scrolls, and netsuke, to physically engage with the theme.

FAD News: Brooklyn Museum to Stage Art of Manga, the First Major Americas Survey of Manga as Fine Art

Brooklyn Museum will present 'Art of Manga' on October 3, 2026, the first large-scale exhibition in the Americas dedicated to manga as a fine art form. Organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the show features over 600 original hand-drawn manga artworks (genga) by influential Japanese artists including Araki Hirohiko, Oda Eiichiro, Takahashi Rumiko, and Tagame Gengoroh, spanning foundational figures to eight contemporary masters.

Art of Manga

The Brooklyn Museum is presenting an exhibition titled "Art of Manga," showcasing the artistic and cultural significance of manga as a visual art form. The show explores the history, techniques, and global influence of manga, featuring original drawings, printed works, and immersive installations.

‘She rips your heart out’: This Japanese artist’s fiery red installation swallows this S.F. museum

The article describes a fiery red installation by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama that has taken over a San Francisco museum. The immersive work, characterized by its intense red color and engulfing presence, is noted for its emotional impact, with the artist described as someone who 'rips your heart out.' The installation is a major draw for the museum, offering visitors a visceral experience.

Cyborg Butterfly: Threshold | YOSHIAKI NAKAMURA

Japanese artist Yoshiaki Nakamura presents 'Cyborg Butterfly: Threshold', an exhibition featured on Ocula. The show explores the intersection of technology and nature through hybrid butterfly forms, blending organic and mechanical elements in a visual meditation on transformation and boundaries.

'Intersection: Kisho Kakutani and Kosuke Harasawa' at Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong on 16 May–4 Jul 2026

Whitestone Gallery Hong Kong presents 'Intersection', a duo exhibition featuring Japanese artists Kisho Kakutani (b.1993) and Kosuke Harasawa (b.1997), running from 16 May to 4 July 2026. Kakutani's works capture bright, humid mornings with frosted, detailed depictions of beaches and cityscapes, while Harasawa focuses on rain-soaked Hong Kong night scenes populated by ghostly figures with transparent umbrellas, blending nostalgia with urban transformation.

Hisae Ikenaga ”Anatomies of Use” at KIOSK, Ghent

From April 4, KIOSK in Ghent presents a new solo exhibition by Hisae Ikenaga titled "Anatomies of Use." The Mexican-Japanese artist brings together sculptures, assemblages, and collages that rework industrial materials and everyday objects into hybrid forms, blending ceramic fragments with a visual language that balances functionality and abstraction.

In SF, a gallery transformed into an immense, red web of memory

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco has opened "Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries," the first solo museum exhibition in the Bay Area for the Berlin-based Japanese artist. The centerpiece is "Diary," an 88-foot-long network of blood-red yarn that incorporates pages from diaries of Japanese soldiers and German citizens from World War II, creating an immersive web of memory. The exhibition also includes a crimson dress unraveling into cords, set designs for a theatrical psycho-drama, performance videos, and paper works reflecting on the artist's experience as a cancer survivor.

Anders Dickson at KAYOKOYUKI

Anders Dickson is presenting a solo exhibition titled "rot in the small season" at KAYOKOYUKI gallery in Tokyo, running from March 19 to May 2, 2026. The exhibition is documented with 51 images on Contemporary Art Daily, with press releases available in both English and Japanese.

yuko mohri tunes into the unseen energies connecting people and objects

Japanese artist Yuko Mohri has created an exhibition where decomposing fruit powers electronic systems, and visitors move through the installations, becoming part of the circulation of energy within the show. The work explores the unseen energies connecting people and objects, blending organic decay with technological interactivity.

Karen Swami - En galerie

Karen Swami is making a name in contemporary ceramics with works that combine clean lines, technical innovation, and striking surface effects, earning recognition from collectors and major institutions. At Galerie Minsky in Paris, she reinterprets the Japanese art of kintsugi: instead of highlighting cracks with gold, she grows porcelain flowers from the fissures, transforming repair into a vital, organic gesture. The exhibition, titled "Karen Swami. Hana is the new Kintsugi," runs at Galerie Minsky, 37 rue Vaneau, Paris 7e.

The boundary between inner world and reality in Gak Yamada's photography on show in Friuli

Il confine tra mondo interiore e realtà nella fotografia di Gak Yamada in mostra in Friuli

Japanese artist Gak Yamada's exhibition 'Cosmic Prayer' is on view until June 14 at Die Gelbe Wand, a new exhibition space in Pordenone, Italy, which will be the Italian Capital of Culture in 2027. The show traces Yamada's shift from photography as representation to an experiential medium, featuring series such as 'HIGAN' (where urban landscapes dissolve), 'Red' (where chemical decomposition reveals dominant red tones), and the latest 'Flower of the Universe,' inspired by cosmic connectivity. Yamada, who once abandoned photography entirely to paint, immerses prints in water to alter their chemical stability, with Fujifilm papers dissolving quickly and Kodak papers slowly, producing varied chromatic and material effects.

The Brooklyn Museum Presents Art of Manga

The Brooklyn Museum is presenting an exhibition titled "Art of Manga," showcasing the artistic and cultural significance of manga, the Japanese comic art form. The show features original drawings, prints, and other works that trace manga's evolution from its historical roots to its contemporary global influence.

A Milano c’è una mostra di bambole giapponesi. Un tempo prodotti industriali oggi pezzi da collezione

A new exhibition in Milan at the gallery N.51 presents the work of Japanese artist Shigeru Arai, known as NAGNAGNAG, who is celebrated for transforming industrial soft vinyl dolls (Sofubi) into unique art objects. The show, titled "Shigeru Arai Tribute Exhibition," marks the first time his work is displayed in Italy, tracing the history of Sofubi from its post-WWII origins in Japan—where it replaced dangerously flammable cellulose toys—to its elevation as a collectible art form through Arai's distinctive techniques, including biting the soft vinyl and applying multiple layers of paint.

αMプロジェクト2025‒2026「立ち止まり振り返る、そして前を向く vol.5 飯川雄大｜デコレータークラブ：すべて違う姿」 @ gallery αＭ

gallery αM in Tokyo is presenting the fifth edition of its αM Project 2025–2026 series, titled “Stop, Look Back, Face Forward. vol.5 Takehiro Iikawa: Decorator Crab－No Two Alike,” running from April 11 to June 13, 2026. The exhibition features works by artist Takehiro Iikawa, including pieces such as “Decorator Crab – Arrangement, Adjustment, Circulation” (2026) and “Decorator Crab – New Audience” (2026), with guest curator Aki Otsuki, a curator from the Ashiya City Museum of Art and History.

ART OSAKA 2026 RETURNS WITH EXPANDED VENUES

ART OSAKA 2026 will take place from 28 May to 1 June with an expanded two-venue format, featuring over 60 galleries from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and beyond. The fair is split between the Galleries Section at Grand Green Osaka in the Umekita district and the Expanded Section at Creative Center Osaka, a former shipyard. A special exhibition, "Another 1990s—Kansai Artists Beyond Time," revisits regional art practices from the 1990s.

Kazuhiro Nomura: Monad @ HARMAS GALLERY

野村和弘：モナド @ HARMAS GALLERY

Japanese artist Kazuhiro Nomura is presenting a solo exhibition titled "Monad" at HARMAS GALLERY in Tokyo, running from April 4 to May 16, 2026. The show features a series of works including the titular piece "Monad" (2026), alongside earlier works such as "juno (B)" (2006) and "eva's breast" (2009), as documented in a photo report by ART iT.

RAQEL Solo Exhibition “Tea Time”

RAQEL's solo exhibition "Tea Time" is being presented by Japan Osaka Art Gallery TIME in Minoh, Osaka, from May 14 to May 18, 2025. The show features works that explore a gentle world between fantasy and reality, using motifs of tea, sweets, and young girls to evoke charm, fragility, and solitude.