Kairanban #1

Futoshi Miyagi was born in 1981 in Okinawa. He lives and works in Tokyo.

Confronting his own memories and experiences, Futoshi Miyagi has presented works on the subjects of nationality, race, and identity in a variety of forms, including photographs, videos, objects, and texts. Major solo exhibitions include “American Boyfriend: Portraits and Banners” (void+, Yutaka Kikutake Gallery, 2022), and the group exhibition “Does the future sleeps here?” (National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2024), and “Countermeasures Against Awkward Discourses : From the Perspective of Third Wave Feminism” (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 2021). He is also the author of a collection of novels, “Distant” (2019, De Shobo Shinsha).

Yukito Kono was born in 1989. He lives and works in Kanazawa.

Focusing mainly on the exploration and reconstruction of the function of images in society, Kono has produced a number of artist books and installations. His work, which is rooted in the tradition of photography, is open to contemplation beyond the boundaries of genres and eras. In 2017, he opened his own studio, gallery, and bookshop, IACK, in Kanazawa, based on the concept of an “open study”. He is seeking and practicing a new type of photographer who works with photography at the core of his activities in a seamless manner.

Hirofumi Isoya was born in 1978 in Tokyo, where he lives and works.

He studied architecture at Tokyo University of the Arts, and fine arts at the Graduate School of Advanced Art and Design, Tokyo University of the Arts, and Goldsmiths College, University of London. Through photography and sculpture, he reconsiders the processes of perception of things and the multifaceted nature of time. Major exhibitions include “Finding the Verb” (Koumi Plateau Museum of Art, Nagano, 2022), “Constellations” (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 2021), “L'image et son double” (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2021), and “Roppongi Crossing 2019 : Connecting and Seeing” (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2019). His works are in the collections of Centre Georges Pompidou, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and other private and public collections.

Kenji Ide was born in 1981 in Yokosuka. He lives and works in Tokyo. 

Ide’s major interest lies in “human-made things” – from objects found on the street to manufactured goods, and particularly objects created through personal speculation. His sculptures are meant to line up with the horizon of such objects. The introspective landscapes and poetic feelings found in his work suggest the sculptural possibilities of a unique and united sensibility. Recent exhibitions in 2024 include “Some other times”, Museum of Broniwski + Wschód, Warsaw; “Boy meets Girl”,  KAYOKOYUKI / Art Basel Paris; “American friend” at Adams and Ollman, Portland.

Chan Cho Kiu Bunchi was born in 1990 in Hong Kong. She currently lives in Tokyo.

Chan Cho Kiu Bunchi’s work focuses on painting and mixed-media installations. Her works often deliberately present monotonous moments. She believes that by delineating the state and texture of everyday objects, and by matching them with human’s daily actions, repetitions and habits, people can discover and understand the intangible networks and connections among all things. She has recently reflected on daily labour and searched for the limitations, energies and rhythms generated by the transitions between emptying and concentration.

Yui Usui was born in 1980 and currently lives in Saitama Prefecture. 

Through works and installations using found objects and handicraft techniques such as embroidery, patchwork and quilting, she presents a critique of gender norms and the labor system in Japanese society, as well as modern and contemporary history. Recent major exhibitions include “Sense island / land 2024” (Yokosuka Museum of Nature and Humanities, 2024) and “Caring / Motherhood: Contemporary Art from ‘Mother’ to ‘the Other’ Care” (Art Tower Mito Contemporary Art Gallery, 2023).

Sawako Tanizawa was born in 1982. She currently lives in Kyoto.

Her works focus on the themes of “liberation of delusion” and “the female image”. Based on her interest in gender, she questions the stereotypical assessments of female representations. Her work crosses and intersects several expressive techniques, including installation, ceramics, paper cutting, and painting. She also collaborates with novelists and artists.

Major exhibitions include “VOCA Exhibition 2022”, The Ueno Royal Museum (2022); “East Asia Culture City 2017 Kyoto-Asia Corridor Contemporary Art Exhibition”, Nijo Castle (2017); “Takamatsu Contemporary Art Annual vol. 05”, Takamatsu City Museum of Art (2016); “Monster Exhibition”, Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art, Aomori (2015). She received the Kyoto City Art Newcomer Award in 2020 and the VOCA Honorable Mention Award (2022).