MR.
Born in 1969 in Cupa, Japan
Lives and works in Saitama, Japan
contacter
Mr.’s neo-pop aesthetics spans painting, sculpture, installation, and video. Associated with the superflat movement, he uses manga and anime to portray his personal fantasies. While he consistently draws his themes and motifs from the otaku subculture or fandom, he is more specifically a self-described otaku artist. His cartoonish visions are essentially inhabited by young characters, who are meant to evoke feelings of moe (a Japanese notion relating to the adoration of fictional figures). In typical kawaii style, he sometimes depicts childlike features (round faces, wide eyes, colorful hair) with innocent undertones. Contrasting with the bright cheerfulness of his all-powerful characters, a wider reflection on solitude, social anxiety, and fear underlies his work. Specifically, the chaotic environments within which Mr. stages some of his exhibitions echo both Japan’s traumatic loss during World War II and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Born in 1969 in Cupa, Japan
Lives and works in Saitama, Japan
education
Sokei Academy of Fine Art and Design, Japan
solo shows
2025
- It Was on a Brilliant Day., Perrotin, Los Angeles, USA
2024
- Those that Bring Color to Life and Living, Lehmann Maupin, London, UK
- Invoke It and A Flower Shall Blossom, Perrotin Paris, France
2022
- Mr.: You Can Hear the Song of This Town, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, USA
2021
- Quotidianist, How Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2019
- Mr.’s Melancholy Walk Around the Town, Perrotin Paris, France
- Carte blanche à Mr. et Pharrell Williams; A Call To Action, Musée Guimet, Paris, France
2018
- People misunderstand me and the contents of my paintings. They just think they are nostalgic, cute, and look like Japanese anime. That may be true, but really, I paint daily in order to escape the devil that haunts my soul. The said devil also resides in my blood, and I cannot escape from it no matter how I wish. So I paint in resignation., Perrotin Hong Kong
2017
- Floating in the Air in the Vicinity of a Convenience Store, Lehmann Maupin, Hong Kong
2016
- Tokyo, the City I Know, at Dusk: It's Like a Hollow In My Heart, Galerie Perrotin Seoul, South Korea
- Sunset in My Heart, Lehmann Maupin, New York, USA
2015
- lost, Hidari Zingaro, Tokyo, Japan
2014
- LIVE ON: MR.’S JAPANESE NEO-POP, Asian Art Museum, Seattle, USA
2013
- Sweeet!, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong
2012
- Metamorphosis : Give Me Your Wings, Lehmann Maupin, New York, USA
2010
- Solo Exhibition Leeahn Gallery, Daegu, South Korea
2008
- Nobody Dies, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
- Nobody Dies, Lehmann Maupin, New York, USA
2007
- Lehmann Maupin, New York, USA
2006
- NIN-Stealth, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Miami, USA
2004
- Issey x Mr, Issey Miyake By Naoki Takizawa, Tokyo, Japan
- Thank You For Your Hard Work, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2003
- Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
2001
- Nano Galerie, Paris, France
2000
- Venus #2, Galerie Vedanta, Chicago, USA
1998
- Oh-Edo Kunoichi Ninpocho (Greater Edo Handbook of Female ninja techniques), Shop33, Tokyo, Japan
- Mr., Painter of Alps, Galerie Tomio Koyama, Tokyo, Japan
1997
- Aoi Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1996
- Frone & Perrine ‘97, Shop33, Tokyo, Japan
group shows
2024
- A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
2023
- AU BOUT DE MES RÊVES, Lille3000, Lille, France
2021
- Healing, Perrotin, Shanghai, China
2020
- Healing, Perrotin, Seoul, South Korea
- Kaleidoscopes: Contemporary Portraiture, Perrotin, Hong Kong
2019
- MURAKAMI VS MURAKAMI, Takashi Murakami's solo show, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong
- Bishojo: Young Pretty Girls in Art History, Museum of National Taipei University of Education, Taiwan
2018
- Megane to Tabisuru Bijutsuten, Aomori Museum of Art Aomori; Iwami Art Museum, Shimane; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka; Japan
- Bubblewrap, Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
2017
- Murakami by Murakami, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway
- Yokohama Triennale 2017, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan
- The Doraemon Exhibition Tokyo 2017, Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan
2015
- Animamix Biennale, Daegu Art Museum, South Korea
- Future Seasons Past, Lehmann Maupin, New York, USA
2014
- Bishojo: Young Pretty Girls in Art History - 16 Perspectives for Studying the Idea of the bishojo, Aomori Museum, Aomori City, Japan
2012
- A Nightmare Is A Dream Come True: Anime Expressionist Painting, Kaikai Kiki, Tokyo, Japan
2010
- Kyoto-Tokyo: From Samurais to Mangas, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
2009
- Neoteny Japan- Takahashi Collection, Yonago City Museum of Art, Yonago, Japan
- Animate, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
- Sacred Monsters, Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford, USA
- VRAOUM, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
2008
- KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
- Kaikai Kiki Artists, Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
- Art Los Angeles, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, USA
2007
- RED HOT: Contemporary Asian Art Rising, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
2006
- Chiho Aoshima, Mr., Aya Takano, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
2005
- Rising Sun, Melting Moon, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
- Kaikai Kiki Exhibition, Aoi Gallery, Osaka, Japan
- Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture, Japan Society, New York, USA
- AniMate., Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
- Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
2004
- Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Miami, USA
- T-Junction, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris
- Fiction Love: Ultra New Vision in Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
- Chiho Aoshima, Mr., Aya Takano, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin at LFL Gallery, New York, USA
2003
- Hope-The-Future is in Our hands, LAFORET Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Opening Exhibition, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
- Mr. vs. Shintaro Miyake Exhibition, NADiff, Tokyo, Japan
2002
- The Japanese Experience - Inevitable, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
- Chiho Aoshima, Aya Takano, Mr., Takashi Murakami, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
- Coloriage, Fondation Cartier, Paris, France
2001
- My Reality : Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, USA
- Hiropon Show, White Cube Gallery, London, UK; Shinsaibashi PARCO, Osaka, Japan
- Yokai Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- SuperFlat, MOCA, Los Angeles; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, USA
2000
- Superflat, Shibuya Parco Gallery, Tokyo; PARCO Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
1999
- Hiropon Show 32/80, NADiff, Tokyo, Japan
- Hiropon Show Vol.7, PARCO Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
- Sampling, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc., New York, USA
- Attention Spam, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
- Hiropon Show PO+KU Art Revolution, Logus Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1998
- Hiropon Show, George’s, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ero Pop Christmas, NADiff, Tokyo, Japan
1997
- Tokyo Sex, NAS, Tokyo, Japan
1996
- Pico Pico Show, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
public collections
awards
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