Kohei Arano

Influenced by street culture and movies, I create paintings with the theme of “nihonga x street”, using images of anonymous people and scenes rooted in daily life as motifs. I use nihonga materials (mainly glue, Japanese paper, and pigments made from nature) and techniques (such as ink diffusion and tarashikomi), tagging (letters) from street art and incorporate various other elements to compose my paintings.

2022: Selected for the 1st Idemitsu Art Award (formerly the Shell Art Award) / The National Art Center, Tokyo

2021: Selected for the 56th Kanagawa Prefectural Art Exhibition / Kanagawa Prefectural Hall

2021: Winner of the Muse Award (Sponsor's Award) at the 17th World Painting Grand Prize Exhibition / Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

2021: Selected for the 39th Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition / The Ueno Royal Museum

2020: Winner of the Sam Trading Award (Sponsor's Award) at the 16th World Painting Grand Prize Exhibition / Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

[Public Art]

2024: Shibuya Public Art Project

2025: DeNA Kawasaki Spark Art Project

[Residency]

2025: BY ART MATTERS /China,Hangzhou