Yutaka Aoki

1985

Born in Kumamoto, Japan

2008

Tokyo Zokei University, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Majoring in Painting

2010

Tokyo Zokei University, Master of Fine Arts

Lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

Yutaka Aoki expands the scope of painting through an examination of the relationship between painting and the surrounding world, and of the many possibilities that are born from that exchange. Employing multiple techniques, Aoki’s gaze is always on the study of light and its three-dimensional quality. Supplemented by transformations engendered by specific elements in the environment, including the passage of time, the presence of an audience, and the nature of the exhibition space, light imbues his work with an organic richness, providing a visual experience that awakens the natural human senses desensitized by our increasingly digital lives.

Yutaka Aoki was born in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, in 1985, and is currently based in Tokyo. In 2008, he graduated from Tokyo Zokei University’s Department of Fine Arts, and received a Master of Fine Arts from the same institution in 2010. He has presented major solo exhibitions which include “multiprime” (hiromiyoshii, Tokyo, 2011), “OUTER ROOM, INNER GARDEN” (Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto, 2012), and “Mouvements” (Sprout Curation, Tokyo, 2014). Notable group exhibitions include “The Way of Painting” (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, 2014), “CHOKOKU: Modern Japanese Sculpture from its Beginning to 1980’s, Works from the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo” (Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto, 2019), and “A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection” (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2024). In addition to the collection of the Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto, Aoki’s works have been acquired by the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection.

【Solo Exhibitions】

2025

“U” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan

2023

“Levels of Intimacy” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan

2022

“Walking Bride” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan

2021

“Treading Along the Window” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan

2020

“Vision, Touch” sequence MIYASHITA PARK, Tokyo, Japan

“INTO THE AIR” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan

2019

“Today's” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan

2017

“Without Blinking” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan

2014

“Mouvements” Sprout Curation, Tokyo, Japan

2013

“BREAK THROUGH IN A GREY ROOM” Sprout Curation, Tokyo, Japan

2012

“OUTER ROOM, INNER GARDEN” Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

2011

“multiprime” hiromiyoshii, Tokyo, Japan

【Selected Group Exhibitions】

2024

“A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection” Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

“Fellow Travelers of the Canvas A Perspective on Contemporary Art of Japan from the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection” Yamagata Museum of Art, Yamagata, Japan

2023

“CAMK Collection Exhibition Vol.7: Memory Storage for the Future” Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

2021

“Meta-materialism -Beyond the Material-” Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store, Main Building 6F, Contemporary Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2019

“CHOKOKU: Modern Japanese Sculpture from its Beginning to 1980’s, Works from the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo” Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

2017

“CSP4” Museum of the Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan

2016

“Collection Exhibition” Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

“ZOKEI NEXT50” 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan

“VOCA 2016” The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan

“Holbein Scholarship Selected Exhibition VOL.3” REIJINSHA GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

2015

“Winter Exhibition” Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

“NEW BALANCE” XYZ collective, Tokyo, Japan

2014

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

2013

“rgb+ exhibition vol.5” Tokyo Zokei University ZOKEI gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2012

“rgb+ exhibition vol.4” Tokyo Zokei University ZOKEI gallery, Tokyo, Japan

“Pandemonium” XYZ collective, Tokyo, Japan

2011

“rgb+ exhibition vol.3” Tokyo Zokei University ZOKEI gallery, Tokyo, Japan

“See me in the dream” Sprout Curation, Tokyo, Japan

“MAGIC BLACK” hiromiyoshii roppongi, Tokyo, Japan

2010

Tokyo Zokei University Painting Building Closing Exhibition “camaboco” Former Painting Building, Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan

“Painting on the move” hiromiyoshii, Tokyo, Japan

2009

“output” Tokyo Zokei University ZOKEI gallery, Tokyo, Japan

“Arts Challenge 2009” Aichi Arts Center, Aichi, Japan

2008

“Yutaka Aoki / Nobuyasu Sato” hiromiyoshii, Tokyo, Japan

2007

“Samayoibito” Space Kura, Kyoto, Japan

【Public Collections】

Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto

Takahashi Ryutaro Collection, Tokyo, Japan