Biography
Yoi Kawakubo
b. 1979
Spanish born Japanese artist based in London and Tokyo, he turned to artistic practice after studying neuroscience and disability sciences subsequently working as a financial trader for several years.
In his spatial installations, based on historical research and references to literature, all topics are complexly interconnected through his personal experience. He makes use of a wide range of media, covering from photography to architectural interventions, including video, perfumes or cocktails, that he rigorously differentiate depending on the context.
Some of his recurring topics are examinations on the nature of finances, nuclear power, genetics or land property. These questions are all neatly grounded on fundamental questions of philosophical nature such as the ontology of human identity, consciousness or reflections on the limits of representation.
Recent group exhibitions include Yokohama Triennale 2020 -Afterglow- (Yokohama, Japan, 2020), Roppongi Crossing 2019 - Connexions (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2019), 21st DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow (National Art Center, Tokyo, 2019), Islands, Constellations and Galapagos -Yokohama Triennale 2017 (Yokohama, Japan, 2017), Linguamania (The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2017), The Vision of Contemporary Art 2015 (The Ueno Royal Museum of Art, Tokyo, 2015), Visceral Sensations (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan, 2013).
Recent solo exhibitions include I/body/ghost (Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix, London, 2018), Two million years of solitude, cherry blossoms and fifty thousand light-years more (Koganecho Site-A, Yokohama, Japan, 2017), Stella Maris was a name I found in a dream (Daiwa Foundation Japan House, London, 2016), and Fall (Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, 2016).
He has won the Ohara Museum of Art Prize at the VOCA 2015 The Ueno Royal Museum of Art, Tokyo, and has been shortlisted for the Shiseido Art Egg Prize in 2016 and the Sovereign Asian Art Prize (HK) in 2012.
He has been the recipient of the POLA Art Foundation award for overseas research in 2016 and Fellow of Overseas Study Programme for Artists, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan in 2017.
CV
1979 Born in Toledo, Spain
2003 BA in Disability Science, University of Tsukuba, Japan
2005 Leaves doctoral course at the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences,
University of Tsukuba
2005-2007 Works as a financial trader in Tokyo
2011 Artist in residence: Kareizawa Artist in Residence, Aomori, Japan
2013-2014 Artist in residence: Tokyo Wonder Site Creator in Residence
2013 Artist in residence: Tokyo University of the Arts (Programme for the development of emerging
artists to create the next generation’s culture, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of
Japan)
2014 Artist in residence: Chelsea College of Arts and Design, London (Tokyo Wonder Site Exchange
Residency Program)
2015 Artist in residence: Art Action UK, London
2016-2017 Recipient of Grant for Overseas Research, The Pola Art Foundation.
Artist in residence: The Florence Trust Artist in Residency, London
2017-2018 Fellow of Overseas Research Programme for Artists, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government
of Japan Lives and works between London and Tokyo
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018 I/body/ghost, Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix, London
2017 Two million years of solitude, cherry blossoms and fifty thousand light-years more, Koganecho
Site-A, Yokohama, Japan
2016 Stella Maris was a name I found in a dream, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London
Fall, Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo
2015 15,700 Suns, Project Sono-Aida, Tokyo
Two Million Years of Solitude, Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo, Tokyo
To tell a (hi)story, Husk Gallery, London
2012 Speak the Unspeakable, Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo, Tokyo
2009 Between Heaven and Hell, Shinjuku Ganka Gallery, Tokyo
2008 Lucid Dream, Punctum, Tokyo
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Yokohama Triennale 2020 -Afterglow-, Yokohama, Japan
2019 Roppongi Crossing 2019 - Connexions, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
21st “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” Exhibition, National Art Center, Tokyo
2018 Beyond Wonder - Perspectives on Utopia, Center for Art and Design, University of Nagoya
Secession, Hagiso, Tokyo
2017 All those ends, Arebyte Gallery, London
Kakegawa Chaennale, Kakegawa city hall, Japan
Yokohama Triennale 2017 - Islands, Constellations and Galapagos, Yokohama, Japan
Summer exhibition 2017, The Florence Trust, London
Seize the uncertain day, The University Art Museum - Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo
Linguamania, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
2016 From seeing to seen, Sezon Art Gallery, Tokyo
The 19th Taro Award for Contemporary Art, Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki
2015 The Vision of Contemporary Art 2015, The Ueno Royal Museum of Art, Tokyo
2014 Tokyo Story 2014, Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya, Tokyo
2013 Tokyo Experimental Festival 2013, Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya, Tokyo
Visceral Sensations, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
Sovereign Art Prize Finalists Exhibition2012, Espace Louis Vuitton Singapore, Singapore
Landtschaft: Solitude und Katharsis, Shinseido Tokyo Berlin, Berlin
2012 13 Gunzou, Canon Gallery Ginza, Tokyo
The Scene, hpgrp Gallery Tokyo, Tokyo
KISS THE HEART#1, Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo
2011 Medium, Ohshima Fine Art, Tokyo
TOKYO WONDERWALL 2011, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Images on twelve minds, Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
2010 Air, Space Womb, New York
LANDSCHAFT V, Radi-um Roengenwerke, Tokyo
Pre-landscape, Shinjuku Ganka Gallery, Tokyo
Memories of Light and Shadow, Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
Tagboat DNAT, Sato Museum, Tokyo
Awards and Grants
2017 Fellow of Overseas Research Programme for Artists, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government
of Japan
2016 Recipient of Grant for Overseas Research, The Pola Art Foundation.
10th Shiseido art egg Prize, finalist
19th The Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art, shortlist
2015 Ohara Museum of Art Prize, VOCA 2015
2014 Grant for Young Artists, 2012-2013, The Contemporary Art Foundation, Japan
2012 Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2012, Finalist
2011 International Color Awards, Photography Masters Cup, Honorable Mention, Nominee
Tokyo Wonderwall 2011, Nominee
Lectures and public talks
2018 Yoi Kawakubo in conversation with Miryam Sas, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge,
Cambridge
2014 Art after Fukushima and Tohoku, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
2013 Post 3.11: What Can Art Do? Four Years On: Art and the Disaster, The Free Word Centre,
London
Public collections and commission work
Ohara Museum of Art
Arts Council Tokyo
Tokyo University of the Arts
Development Bank of Japan
Selected Bibliography
Berger, Christian; Toyama, Terumi, I/body/ghost (exhibition catalogue) Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix, London, 2018
Yokohama Triennale 2017 - Islands, Constellations and Galapagos, (exhibition catalogue) Seigensha, Kyoto,2017
Carpenter, Ele, The Nuclear Culture Source Book 2016, Black Dog Publishing, London. p. 106
Nakao, Takuya, Between the sun and the Sea, April 2016, Bijutsu Techo, Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, Tokyo, pp. 188-189
Kurosawa, Ayako, Passing on invisible memories, Sankei Shinbun dated 12 Feb 2016
The 10th Shiseido art egg (exhibition catalogue) Shiseido, Tokyo, 2016
Okabe, Aomi, Encounter fruition of different cultures, Tokyo Shinbun dated 10 July 2015