Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore (GINZA SIX 6F, Chuo-ku, Tokyo) will host KINJO's solo exhibition "No Side by Side" at the art space FOAM CONTEMPORARY from August 1st (Sat) to August 19th (Wed), 2026.
overview
KINJO has explored how familiar images, such as product packaging and urban spaces that we see every day, change over time by transforming them into paintings and sculptures. These images, taken from everyday scenes, are separated from their original context and, through the repetitive process of "drawing and erasing," are repositioned into new relationships.
In this exhibition, "No Side by Side," the artist reinterprets traces left in the city and images of the streets, presenting new works interspersed with installations. Within the works, images with originally disparate backgrounds—such as names of people, product names, someone's gaze, and traces on street corners—are placed together in a single space. In a space where relationships that should be adjacent quietly shift, each image maintains its own unique presence. And only when viewers confront the works and intersect them with their own memories and experiences do the images transcend their fixed meanings and forge new relationships each time.
Experience the urban atmosphere and overlapping memories expressed by KINJO at the venue.
Artist Statement
Living in Tokyo, you see parking blocks almost every day.
When I was a child, there was a spot in our yard where we'd poured mortar. I remember leaving our names and handprints in it before it hardened. That spot is gone now, but every time I see concrete, I remember that time. It was just there to park cars, but you can see people sitting on it, or there are sloppy marks, gum stuck to it, or it's chipped. It's meant to be a tool to maintain a certain distance, but to me, it seems like something that remains after people have left. Traces of someone's presence are left there.
When I look at those traces, rather than thinking about the people who were there, other memories within myself come to mind. Old and new things, images I picked up in the city, and my own memories—they all remain in my mind without being organized. Even when I'm creating, I tend to overlap them rather than classify them.
Draw, erase, cover, and draw again.
In that case, what you drew first will become invisible, but it won't disappear completely.
Images don't disappear as far away as we think they do. I believe they simply continue to overlap with other memories and images, just at a slightly different distance.
The landscapes we see every day bear countless traces of someone's actions and the passage of time. Boundaries, which are originally meant to separate things, become intertwined with other memories and events as time passes. Ends and beginnings, too, are not clearly separated, but seem to quietly coexist. Images change distance, and their contours continue to change quietly.
KINJO
Regarding sales
The exhibited artworks will be available for purchase at the store starting August 1st (Saturday) at 11:00 AM.
For information on selling on the art e-commerce platform "OIL," please see below.
https://oil.bijutsutecho.com/
Artist Profile
Born in Tokyo, KINJO has roots in Okinawa and creates paintings, sculptures, and performances that draw inspiration from American culture, which has strong ties to Japan. Through a process of repeatedly drawing and erasing, symbols such as "eyes glowing in the darkness," "cereal packages," and "snakes" become blurred and ambiguous outlines, transforming into endearing "personal beings" that resemble the artist's own portrait. For KINJO, these are like self-portraits, and also an act of delving into his own roots.
Main exhibits
2026 "Armadillo" POST (South Korea)
2026 "ELSEWHERE" MOOSEY ART (UK)
2025 "Ba-Junction-" parcel (Tokyo)
2025 "COVER UP" dopeness artlab (Taiwan)
2025 "NOWSTALGIA" RARO (Italy)
2025 "Shaky specimen" wall okinawa (Okinawa)
2025 "It is there, but it is not there.1 It exists, but it doesn't; it doesn't exist, but it does." ISLAND JAPAN (Tokyo)
2025 "Things in the corner" E2 gallery (Tokyo)
2025 "VOID" Hikarito Gallery (Tokyo)
2024 “KOVER” dopeness artlab (Taiwan)
2024 "-Come From Somewhere" PARCEL (Tokyo)
2024 "Consideration for Wandering" BEAMS T (Tokyo)
2023 "Not See It Even" MOOSEY (London)
2023 “TRANSPARENT GARDENER” YIRI Arts (Taiwan)
2023 "PLACE" Tokyo International Gallery (Tokyo)
Exhibition details
"No Side by Side"
Dates｜Saturday, August 1, 2026 to Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Hours: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM *Closing at 6:00 PM on the last day Reception: August 1st (Sat) 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM *Open to everyone.
Venue | FOAM CONTEMPORARY
Organizer: Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore | Admission: Free | Closed: Mondays | Inquiries: info.ginza@ccc.co.jp
FOAM CONTEMPORARY
Combining the flexible concept of "liquid" with the conventional white cube-like space equipped with all the necessary facilities, this space, named "FOAM," represents an intermediate state that offers a multifaceted expression of the Japanese art scene.
The initial "O" in the logo is deliberately distorted to resemble a bubble. This represents the ever-changing contemporary art scene itself, while also symbolizing the free, flexible, and limitless expression of artists.
As a space for expression that explores and cultivates the value and appeal of art that transcends the life cycle while staying true to the actual times, we will introduce a variety of artists who deserve attention, regardless of their career or age.
Instagram｜ https://www.instagram.com/foamcontemporary/
Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore
We connect art, Japanese culture, and daily life through books, proposing a lifestyle enriched by art.
Address: GINZA SIX 6F, 6-10-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Opening hours | Please check the store's website.
Homepage |https://store.tsite.jp/ginza/
Facebook｜ https://www.facebook.com/GINZA.TSUTAYABOOKS/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter｜ https://twitter.com/GINZA_TSUTAYA
Instagram｜ https://www.instagram.com/ginza_tsutayabooks/
CCC Art Lab
CCC Art Lab is a planning group within Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd., a planning company, that proposes "a life with art." Through our proposals for "a life with art," we aim to make art more accessible, make people's lives happier, and contribute to creating a better society. Based on the knowledge we have cultivated through many years of business experience in store planning, art media, product development, and event production, we propose projects with an approach that only we can offer.
https://www.ccc-artlab.jp/
[From a press release by Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. (CCC Art Lab)]
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