Ryoji Yamada is an animation artist who has worked on numerous renowned music videos and participated in film festivals both domestically and internationally. In addition to a complete screening of his trilogy, he will also be presenting paintings and sculptures.
An exhibition by animation artist and illustrator Ryoji Yamada, known for his work at film festivals both in Japan and abroad, and for directing numerous music videos for renowned artists such as King Gnu and MILLENNIUM PARADE, will be held at the art space SHUTL in Higashi-Ginza.
Poster/Web Flyer
RYOJI YAMADA Solo Exhibition
CITYNESS 2012-2026
October 23 (Fri) – 31 (Sat), 2026
Closed on October 27th and 28th.
at SHUTL
4-1-8 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045
13:00 – 19:00
Admission fee: 1000 yen
Opening Night (ticket required)
Thursday, the 22nd
17:00-19:00 Opening Party
19:00-20:00 Secret Live
Closing Party
Wednesday, the 31st, 17:00-20:00
Official website
https://shutl.shochiku.co.jp/exhibition/cityness-2012-2026/
ArtSticker
https://artsticker.app/events/165233
Ryoji Yamada began creating artwork in 2010 while still a student at Tama Art University, and has presented his work at numerous film festivals both in Japan and abroad, including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. In 2018, he went to Germany through the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Overseas Training Program for Emerging Artists, where he studied under animation artist Andreas Hückade. After returning to Japan, he continued to create independent works while also expanding his activities to include commissioned work such as music videos and advertisements. In 2025, he held his first solo exhibition, which attracted over 1300 visitors in just one week.
This exhibition will feature screenings of the "CITYNESS" trilogy of animated works, consisting of "Waiter" (2014), "Hunter" (2017), and "Builder" (2025), which has not been released online, as well as drawings created in recent years.
Throughout his three works, Yamada has repeatedly depicted the process by which individuals come together within a city, forming entities distinct from the individual, such as crowds, communities, and institutions. The process of one person becoming part of a group; the emergence of cultures and movements that could not have been created by a single individual coming together; and the subsequent influence of these established groups on the individuals within them. Now that he has completed CITYNESS, these interests extend beyond animation to drawings, paintings, and sculptures.
Yamada's creative process begins with meaningless drawings. Lines and shapes that deviate from the artist's intentions, reminiscent of automatic writing, emerge as clues, and in animation, meaning is constructed through metaphors, symbols, and allegories.
However, the completion of the film is not the end of the production process. The constructed meaning is dismantled again and reduced to drawings, paintings, and sculptures. Lines that have experienced animation do not return to their original form, but instead invite new lines and images. Escaping from meaning, creating meaning, and then destroying it again—it becomes a question that constantly challenges one's own thinking. This cycle is what is currently expanding Yamada's work across multiple media.
The exhibition will feature the "CITYNESS" trilogy along with new and previously unreleased works, including large-scale drawings. Multiple media outlets, such as zines, posters, and apparel, will also be released to expand the scope of the artwork beyond the exhibition space.
It began with animation, then moved to drawing, and then back to movement, cities, and crowds.
Starting with the completion of "CITYNESS," a project that has been in production for over ten years, we invite you to experience the world of Ryoji Yamada's work, from the past to the present, and the future, at the venue.
statement
Through the act of drawing lines, I am thinking about the relationship between the individual and the collective.
Each line retains the speed, tremor, and hesitation of the body drawing it. Even when trying to draw the same shape repeatedly, it's impossible to draw the exact same line. It is by continuing these slight differences that movement is created in what should be a static image. I have observed this phenomenon for a long time while creating animation.
In recent years, that interest has expanded from lines aligned in time to lines accumulating in space.
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I'm depicting each individual human being. Yet, at what point does that become a crowd?
Each individual stone, each building, each individual body. When these different things are repeated and accumulated, we eventually recognize them as a single image. Crowds, cities, communities, and cultures may also be born in a similar way.
However, a collective does not simply erase the individual. When different things come together, movements and cultures that could not have been created by one person alone can emerge. And the resulting collective then begins to influence the individuals within it.
I am drawn to that cycle, but at the same time, I feel it is dangerous.
When will different things become one?
To what extent can differences remain within something that has become one?
I'm trying to depict the boundaries between various forms, such as animation, drawing, painting, and comics, by moving back and forth between them.
DM/WebFlyer
About
Born in 1987, this animation artist lives in Tokyo. They completed their graduate studies in graphic design at Tama Art University. They studied in Germany as a Cultural Affairs Agency Overseas Training Fellow. They participated in the founding of mimoid Inc. While working in the advertising video industry, they continue to create their own works. Their films have been screened numerous times both domestically and internationally, including at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Representative works include Saccharin / TONGO (2025), Builder (2025), Millennium Parade/Trepanation (2022), and King Gnu/Prayer X (2018).
CV
Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Graphic Design in 2011.
Completed Master's Program in Graphic Design at Tama Art University Graduate School in 2013.
2018: Selected as a one-year trainee for the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Overseas Training Program; Exchange student at the German Film Academy.
2020 Co-founded mimoid Inc.
Filmography/Biography
2013 Waiter
2017 Hunter
2019 Firehead
2020 Special Screening: "Discovering the Current State of Short Animated Films"
2021 The Edge Of Animation (Akiba Tamabi 21 – Group Exhibition)
2022 KA/SO (Khu Collective Project)
2022 New Chitose Airport International Animation Film Festival Main Visual
2025 Builder (Not yet released)
2025 CITYNESS LaLaLa,Brothers (Solo Exhibition)
2026 CITYNESS 2012-2026 (Solo Exhibition)
Awards / Major Screenings
2026 Hiroshima Animation Season, Japan Commissioned Works Division Grand Prix (TONGO)
Selected for the Midnight Section of the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival (Builder)
Selected for the Short Film category at the 2026 Etranger International Film Festival (Builder)
2023 New Chitose Airport International Animation Film Festival Pitch Award (Hanshan and Shide)
Selected for the short film category at the 2017 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Hunter)
Selected for the short film category at the 2017 Annecy International Animation Film Festival (Hunter)
Selected as a Jury Recommended Work at the 2014 Japan Media Arts Festival (Waiter)
2014 Annecy International Animation Film Festival Student Section Selection (Waiter)
2014 Image Forum Festival Excellence Award (Waiter)
Publish
100 Video Artists (2013, 2015, 2023)
Sponsorship
mimoid.inc/ Johnny Walker/ Taguchi Factory/ (What it isNt)
[mimoid] From the press release
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