Masayoshi Nojo

Masayoshi Nojo (b. 1989, Japan) completed his MA in Japanese Paintings in 2015 from the Kyoto University of Art and Design. With his unique and complex techniques he creates a contemporary visual language in tune with established Japanese aesthetics to explore themes of memory and the passage of time.

This investigation into time and memory is achieved through Nojo’s meticulous execution of a variety of techniques with mixed media. Firstly, Nojo prepares the foundation of his canvas with a marbled layer of acrylic paint, reminiscent of the river in the seminal work Red and White Plum Blossoms by Ogata Kōrin, the celebrated Japanese 17th-century Edo period artist. Nojo then photographs, selects, and carefully adjusts each image before transferring the image to the canvas via silk screening, allowing the marbled layer beneath to shine through. This adds an abstracted, contemporary edge to his works. Finally, layers of aluminium and silver foil are applied to the canvas.

b. 1989 - Kanagawa, Japan

Lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

Education

MA Japanese Painting from Kyoto University of Art and Design

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2026 Hone Intuition, JD Malat Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2025 Optical Scenery, Eslite Gallery, Taipei City, Taiwan

2024 Rest in Silver, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2023 Constant mutation, Mitsukoshi Contemporary Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2023 Immerse yourself in the transitory nature, Open Creation of Art Project, What

Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2022 The Wheel of Time, Nihombashi Contemporary Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.

2021 Stillness, Yukiko Mizutani, Tokyo, Japan

2020 Masayoshi Nojo: Under the Moonlight, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2017 Mirage, Tokyo Arts Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2016 Mirage, Gallery Art Composition, Tokyo, Japan

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025 Elements of Light, JD Malat Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2025 Summer Exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2025 Serenity, JD Malat Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2025 Matters of Materiality, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2025 Carte Blanche, JD Malat Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2024 Observation, Yukikomizutani, Tokyo, Japan

2023 Summer Exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2022 ACTIV ATE KOGEI + ART GINZA2022, Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo, Japan

2022 Group Exhibition, Hotel Metropolitan KAWASAKI, Kawasaki, Japan

2022 Foreshadowing, Eslite Gallery, Taipei

2022 Summer Exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2022 Kuriwada Eichi special award 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Sagawa Art Museum,

Shiga, Japan

2021 Summer Exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2021 Stillness, YUKIKO MIZUTANI, Tokyo, Japan

2020 Abstraction & The Natural World, group exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London,

UK

2020 The Contemporary Human Condition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2019 Summer Exhibition 2019, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2015 Stars Popped out of Chaos - Next generation of artists - Kyoto University of Art and

Design, SPIRAL, Tokyo, Japan

2015 Brilliant Corners, Tokyo Arts Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2015 Kuriwada Eichi Special Award Ceremony, Sagawa Art Museum, Shiga, Japan

2015 Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi 2015, Tokyo, Japan

2015 Postgraduate Exhibition, Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kyoto, Japan

2014 When the Attitude Becomes a Form, ARTZONE, Kyoto, Japan

2014 Stories Reconsidered by Materials, T-Art Complex, Tokyo, Japan

2014 Gashinten, The Sato Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan

2014 This Is Where I Learnt Nihonga, Galerie Aube, Kyoto, Japan

2013 TOKYO WONDER SEED 2013, Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo, Japan

2013 2013 Kyoto University of Art and Design Graduation Exhibition, Kyoto University

of Art and Design, Kyoto, Japan

2012 Gen the 3rd, ex Rissei Elementary School, Kyoto, Japan

2012 Art Festival, Iwami the Blue 2012, Shimane, Japan

2012 The 8th World Painting Grand Prize Exhibition, Sekaido Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

2012 Mebae 2012, Galerie Aube, Kyoto, Japan

2012 INNOV ATE, 3 Japanese Painters, Gallery Kato, Kyoto, Japan

2012 Gashinten, Muromachi Art Court, Kyoto, Japan

2011 Art Auction – STORY vol. 3, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

2011 Gashinten, Muromachi Art Court, Kyoto, Japan

Art Fairs

2026 Art Dubai, JD Malat Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2025 Abu Dhabi Art, JD Malat Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2025 Art Fair Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

2024 Art Fair Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

2024 Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan

2023 Tobi Art Fair, Tokyo Art Club, Tokyo, Japan

2023 Art Fair Asia Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

2023 Art Fair Tokyo, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan

2022 Seoul Kiaf PLUS, Seoul, South Korea

2022 art stage OSAKA, Osaka, Japan

2022 Art Fair Tokyo, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan

2022 MEET YOUR ART FESTIV AL 2022 New Soil, Yebisu Garden Place, Tokyo, Japan

2021 Art Fair Tokyo, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan

2020 Contemporary Istanbul, JD Malat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

2019 ZONA MACO, JD Malat Gallery, CDMX, Mexico

2019 Contemporary Istanbul, JD Malat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

2018 Art Fair Tokyo, Gallery Art Composition, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo,

Japan

2018 VOLTA NY, Gallery Art Composition Tokyo, PIER 90 NY, USA

2017 Art Fair Tokyo, Gallery Art Composition, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo,

Japan

2017 Art Jakarta, Gallery Art Composition Tokyo, The Ritz – Carlton Pacific Place,

Jakarta, Indonesia

2016 Art Fair Tokyo, Gallery Art Composition, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo,

Japan

2016 Art Osaka, Gallery Art Composition, Tokyo, Hotel Granvia, Osaka, Japan

Awards

2014 Kyoto University of Art and Design Graduate Diploma Exhibition

2014 Sagawa Art Museum Eiichi Kuriwada Special Award

2013 Academic Prize, Kyoto University of Art and Design Graduation Exhibition

2013 Grand Prize, Art Bar

2013 Creation of Kyoto Albion Award

2013 Grand Prize Turner Award

2013 Tokyo Wonder Seed

2012 The 6th Seison Maeda Prize

2012 The 8th World Painting Grand Prize

2009 Grand Prize, Tadasu no Mori Dessin Contest

Public Collections

Sagawa Art Museum, Shiga, Japan

Ueshima Museum Collection, Tokyo, Japan

The Prince Gallery, Marriott Hotels, Tokyo, Japan

Hotel Mystays Premier Group, Japan

Universal Music LLC, Tokyo, Japan

OCA TOKYO, Tokyo, Japan