Kishio Suga “In the Depth of Things”

Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyobashi is pleased to present “In the Depth of Things,” an exhibition of new works by Kishio Suga. This marks Suga’s 11th consecutive exhibition and his 18th solo exhibition at our gallery since 2006.

Kishio Suga (b. 1944) is known as one of the leading artists of the “Mono-ha” movement from the 1960s and 1970s, and continues to win international acclaim to this day. He held solo exhibitions at the He Art Museum (China) in 2024 and at Dia Beacon (New York, USA, scheduled to run for several years) and the COBRA Museum of Modern Art (Netherlands) in 2025, demonstrating the ever-expanding scope of his activities both in Japan and abroad. Even now, after a long career, the fresh body of work he creates with a creative energy that remains undiminished continues to captivate a wide audience.

In addition, the exhibition catalog for this year, published annually, will feature a new essay by Yasuo Kobayashi. This exhibition offers a valuable opportunity to engage with both the enduring philosophy that underlies Suga’s practice as well as his current perspective.

【“Simple Yet Powerful”: Suga’s Works and His Worldview*1】

Using familiar materials such as wood, stone, metal, and rope, Suga’s works establish relationships between “things” (mono), sites, and people through a series of subtle operations and arrangements, challenging our perception and spatial awareness in a quiet yet powerful way.

What is distinctive about Suga’s approach is how he perceives “things” not merely as materials, but also as entities that possess their own inherent existence. How does one “see” the depths of this invisible existence? And how might one go about opening up and presenting a space that befits it? This is the process that Suga has positioned at the very core of his artistic practice.

“From the inside out, from the outside in, the sense of physicality fades away. What I want to present are works that allow us to recognize that sense of physicality, even as it is prevented from disappearing.”*2

This perspective challenges our existing perceptions and values, creating new situations in which things resonate with other things, people, and sites. Suga’s artistic practice, which represents a consistent exploration of such issues over more than half a century, has garnered attention as a philosophical mode of expression that reexamines our relationship with the world.

Major exhibitions to date include “Kishio Suga” (Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art and other venues, 1997), “Suga Kishio: Stance” (Yokohama Museum of Art, 1999), “Uncertain Void: Installation by Kishio Suga” (Iwate Museum of Art, 2005), “Situated Latency” (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2015), and solo exhibitions at Pirelli Hangar Bicocca and Dia Chelsea in 2016. In 2017, he participated in the 57th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.

For more detailed information about the artist: https://www.tomiokoyamagallery.com/en/artists/kishio-suga/

【On This Exhibition and New Works: Continuing to Push the Boundaries of Things and Language】

Suga penned the following statement on the occasion of this exhibition.

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In the Depth of Things

A work is a “thing.” Of course, there are those who would say otherwise. The various things that surround people in everyday life are also “things.” When comparing those things with the “things” that are works, it is difficult to distinguish which is more real. Things that are not works and things that are said to be works both belong, as category of things, to the same realm. Most “things” are made to be useful to us; they have concrete functions and exist in our surroundings. Yet among these same surroundings are things that have no function, things that are unnecessary. That, it seems to me, is the “position” occupied by the things called “works.” A “work” emerges through the manifestation of human thought and consciousness and through relations with the external world, but in the end it is given into human hands as something that belongs nowhere. People do not easily forget the things they have once held in their hands. For that reason, consciousness itself becomes the issue, since it is also one of the foundations upon which people construct their worldview in order to live.

Kishio Suga, 2026

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In the new work Waves of Contact, wood fragments are scattered across a green background, some of which extend into the white border that surrounds that background, creating a sense of distinct layers. In Winds of Logic, small, thin wood fragments are arranged so that their orientation changes when placed on the upper and lower borders, causing the same objects to take on a different aspect or appearance. In Between Voids, wood fragments cluster together at three points, with nothing in between — only lines of wood connect them — which simultaneously manifests extremes of density and sparseness.

How is it that Suga’s works seem to come into being whenever he touches or makes contact with a particular thing? Why does the relationship and sense of presence between Suga and the thing in question appear to emerge there in such a vivid manner? Implicit within these questions is the issue of how we ourselves engage with things and perceive the world. Suga organizes and arranges these everyday and visible things according to the situation at hand, posing questions about what kind of consciousness or thinking is required, and presenting us with a creative path forward.

“Things scattered about, things that belong nowhere. That is the ideal situation: relationships unbound by any specific purpose.”*1

“What has all the time I’ve spent creating works been for? Perhaps the answer lies beyond the limits of things,” Suga remarks.*1

Suga has dedicated his life to continually challenging the limits of things and language, even at the very edges of their boundaries, all while espousing a unique perspective on nature and a sense of the times. We hope you will not miss this opportunity to see his latest work.

*1 From an interview with Yasuo Kobayashi conducted at Suga’s studio, April 2026

*2 “Collection Exhibition Related Lecture: ‘The Site Called Saiensu — 60 Years of Kishio Suga and Rikuhei Murai,’” Iwate Museum of Art, November 2025

*3 “Where Both Sides Meet: Kishio Suga in conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist,” solo exhibition catalogue, Cobra Museum of Modern Art, 2025

For more inforamtion, visit the official website: https://www.tomiokoyamagallery.com/en/exhibitions/suga-2026/