Daisuke Fukunaga

Objects depicted in Daisuke Fukunaga’s painting are something too ordinary for us to pay attention everyday – places or objects we have forgotten, such as a shabby vacant lot, a dark basement of the construction building without wiring, old cleaning tools like mops, tires, and wastes. With his “representationalism” approach, these objects seem to throw off its functional meanings attached to them and wriggle like animals, as if they had emotions and personalities.

Personified objects against the dramatic backgrounds in Fukunaga’s paintings evoke strongly and theatrically, emphasized by being depicted on large canvases. The senses of endless depth and presence as materials attract viewers.

Fukunaga Daisuke was born in Tokyo, in 1981. He graduated from the oil painting course of Tama Art University in 2004, lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. He has participated in group shows such as “AFTER THE REALITY 2” curated by Hiromi Yoshii (Daichi Projects, New York, 2008), “VOCA Exhibition 2009” (The Ueno Royal Museum), and “The Way of Painting” (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, 2014). Also as a member of the artist group MIHOKANNO, he participated in group exhibitions “Hello MIHOKANNO” (Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya, Tokyo, 2009) and “GOOD NIGHT MIHOKANNO” (Akibatamabi 21, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, 2011). He won the first Kinutani Koji Award sponsored by the Mainichi Shimbun in 2009. At Tomio Koyama Gallery, Fukunaga has held solo exhibitions in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2015.

Solo Exhibitions

2024 “Time in Fermentation” Tomio Koyama Gallley Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan

“Self Meditation” High Art, Paris, France

2022 “Fertile Break” Antenna Space, Shanghai, China

“Beautiful Work” Nonaka-Hill, Los Angeles, CA

2020 “Labor” Tomio Koyama Gallley, Tokyo, Japan

2015 “Documenting Senses – From Cats’Eyes, Not Dogs –” Tomio Koyama Gallley, Tokyo, Japan

2013 “Nostalgia” Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyoto, Japan

2011 “To have something as support” Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2008 “Local Emotion” Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2006 Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibitions

2026 “Statics of an Egg” David Zwirner New York: Walker Street, NY

2025 “The Blue Reverie of Everyday” RONG LU, Shanghai, China

“Tennoz Contemporary: Art Fair Together” Tomio Koyama Gallery Tennoz, Tokyo, Japan

2024 “Mon Cherie CoCo” Institut français de Tokyo, Japan

“Let's See” ArtSpace@HeluTrans, Singapore

2023 “Some Stools” TACOSUAVE, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

“BLUE WIND” HIGH ART ARLES, Arles, France

2021 “Natsuyasumi: In the Beginning Was Love” Nonaka-Hill, Los Angeles, CA

“Fifteen Painters” Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, NY

2020 “The Alpha and the Omega” Uriwari Sekitei Park, Yamagata, Japan

2019 “island” Art Laboratory Hashimoto, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

2018 “SUPER OPEN STUDIO 2018” LUCKY HAPPY STUDIO, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

“Satoshi Ohno Studio Exhibition” Satoshi Ohno Studio, Yamanashi, Japan

2017 “waiting in vain” statements, Tokyo, Japan

“COOL INVITATIONS 4” XYZ collective, Tokyo, Japan

“Sayonara Jupiter” 356 Mission, Los Angeles, CA

2015 “SOMETHINKS: Daisuke Fukunaga, Keisuke Yamamoto” Art Laboratory Hashimoto, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

“Taguchi Hiroshi Art Collection A Walk around the Contemporary Art World after Paradigm Shift” The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Japan

2014 “Group exhibition by Tomio Koyama Gallery” TOLOT/heuristic SHINONOME, Tokyo, Japan


“The Way of Painting” Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2013 “The Storm for Art and Popular Culture” Nagoya Citizens' Gallery Yada, Aichi, Japan

2011 “GOOD NIGHT MIHOKANNO” Akiba Tamabi21, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan


“FM 'REISSUED WOMEN'” Sprout Curation, Tokyo, Japan

2010 “Painting by Four Artists” Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyoto, Japan

2009 “VOCA 2009” The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan


TEAM 15 MIHOKANNO “Hello! MIHOKANNO” Tokyo Wondersite Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

2008 “AFTER THE REALITY 2” Deitch projects, New York, NY


“Vrishaba through Mithuna” Curated by Soshiro Matsubara, hiromiyoshii, Tokyo, Japan

Public Collections

Morgan Stanley Art Collection

The Taguchi Art Collection

Rubell Museum Miami, FL, USA

Ryutaro Takahashi Collection

Awards

2009 The 1st Koji Kinutani Prize, The Mainichi Newspapers