鯰 [Namazu] Solo Exhibition
“HOME”
▼OPENING RECEPTION
August 2nd (Saturday), 2025 17:00-18:00
■Period
August 2nd (Saturday), 2025 - September 13th (Saturday), 2025
*summer vacation: Aug 13 (Wed) -16 (Sat)
*temporary closure: Sep 3 (Wed) - 6 (Sat)
■Hours
Wednesdays through Saturdays, 13:00 - 18:00
(closed on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and National Holidays)
■Venue
KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY
4-7-6 Shirakawa, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0021 JAPAN
*car parking available in front of the gallery
concept image for the exhibition, “HOME” | © 鯰 [Namazu], courtesy KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY
concept image for the exhibition, “HOME” | © 鯰 [Namazu], courtesy KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY
concept image for the exhibition, HOME
© 鯰 [Namazu], courtesy KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY
KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY is pleased to present “HOME,” a solo exhibition by 鯰 [Namazu], starting August 2, 2025. This will be the gallery’s first solo show in five years since “Real-Life Escape Room” (2020).
鯰 [Namazu] is a team formed in 2018 by Yoshiki Omote, Shoma Fujimura, and Taichi Moriyama. The three, who also work individually as artists, have been based in Toride City, Ibaraki Prefecture. They focus on performance and interactive elements inspired by their everyday life and routines, especially their daily drinking sessions. For example, in their solo exhibition, “Real-Life Escape Room,” they created a two-story escape game inside a white cube gallery space, flipping the usual relationship between “seeing and being seen” by combining artwork viewing with solving riddles, which drew significant attention.
Many art collectives have defined roles for each member, but 鯰 [Namazu] has not created such a social structure. They also seek to reexamine the relationship between the artist and the viewer by intentionally including miscommunication and occasional clashes that happen during the creation of their works.
In this exhibition, their first solo show in five years, they will mainly showcase new video works, including a documentary road movie “Takoyaki in the Center of the World,” shot in Australia, along with a local series touring Nishitokyo City, the hometown of Fujimura and Moriyama, and Takatsuki City, Omote's hometown. For this project, the three members of 鯰 [Namazu] traveled to Australia to visit Uluru (Ayers Rock), the world's second-largest monolith. Uluru is considered sacred by the indigenous people, and in the 1980s, the Australian government returned ownership of the land to its original owners, the Anangu (a term used by several Aboriginal Australian groups in the Western Desert region to refer to themselves, meaning “people” in their languages). With wars and invasions happening worldwide, and divisions and conflicts increasing, what does “HOME” mean to each of the three members?
We cordially invite all to the first solo exhibition in five years by 鯰 [Namazu], which embodies the reality of an artist’s life.
Artist Statement
鯰 [Namazu] is an art team formed in 2018 by three members, Yoshiki Omote, Shoma Fujimura, and Taichi Moriyama. The three, who are university classmates and business associates, have been based in Toride City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and have been active in spur-of-the-moment activities centered on daily drinking sessions. However, seven years have passed since the 鯰 [Namazu] was formed, and the lives of the three have changed in their ways; and they rarely get together in Toride for drinks anymore.
Omote’s first child was born at the same time on-site work as installers drastically reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The following year, he became a university faculty member (with tenure), and his second child was born. Now that his tenure at the university is over, he lives with his family in a rented house five minutes from his studio in Toride. He enjoys his vegetable garden and spends his busy days working with his family as an artist, a sole proprietor of a construction business, and a part-time university lecturer. Recently, he has been considering moving back to his hometown in the Kansai region for the rest of his life.
Fujimura moved from Toride to Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, after getting married, where he operates a one-man metalworking shop. He faces daily encounters with a substance that has a specific gravity of 7.85, about eight times heavier than water, along with its loud roar and scorching temperatures exceeding 1580°C. Sometimes, he questions if he can keep going. Anxiety about the future hangs over him as he keeps working tirelessly in pursuit of an extraordinary and special life, even though he knows his body will eventually reach its limits.
Moriyama went through a gray period after losing his father, an artist he had admired, and separating from his ten-year partner. He continued pursuing his art while working as a blackjack in the art installation world. During this time, he found a new girlfriend, moved in with her and her two partners in a bright, well-lit, nice room. Recently, his exhibitions have significantly decreased, and he’s been struggling with alcohol, but he aims for a one-shot turnaround by renting a run-down studio in Yamanashi.
The three of them suddenly embark on a trip to cook takoyaki in the center of the world.
鯰 [Namazu]
(Yoshiki Omote, Shoma Fujimura, Taichi Moriyama)
Artist Profile
鯰 [Namazu] is a team formed in 2018 by Yoshiki Omote, Shoma Fujimura, and Taichi Moriyama. The three artists who usually work as individual artists are based in Toride City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and occasionally work around daily drinking parties. Inspired by the ordinary reality in everyday life, they create works with dynamic installations and physical expressions. Past exhibitions include “Eternal braketime in an oasis” (2022, Sono Aida #Shin-Yurakucho, Tokyo), “ATAMI ART GRANT” (2021, ACAO SPA & RESORT and others, Shizuoka, Japan), “Ripple Across the Water 2021” (WATARI-UM, The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art and others, Tokyo), “Real-Life Escape Room” (2020, KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY, Tokyo), “景観 (Scenery)” (2019, plat, Tokyo), “Iron Island Fes” (2018 and 2019, Keihin-Jima, Tokyo), and “TOKYO CANAL LINKS #10” (2018, B&C HALL, Tokyo).
Member Profiles
Yoshiki Omote was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1992. Omote completed his B.F.A. at Kyoto University of Art and Design, Faculty of Art and Design, Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Mixed Media Course, and M.F.A. at Tokyo University of the Arts, the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Department of Intermedia Art in 2016. His major solo exhibitions include “The Natural Vein of an Atelier” (2024, KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY, Tokyo) and “Life-Size Landscapes” (2019, KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY, Tokyo). Group exhibitions and art festivals include “STUDIO KODAI Vol. 2” (2020, CAPSULE, Tokyo), “Anthropocene” (2020, GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS, Tokyo), “Gunma Biennale for Young Artists 2019” (2019, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan), and “SETOUCHI TRIENNALE 2019” (2019, Kagawa, Japan). Omote was awarded the Grand Prize at “The 3rd CAF Art Award” (2016) and the Eriko Kimura Prize at “ART AWARD TOKYO MARUNOUCHI 2016.”
Shoma Fujimura was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1991. After receiving his B.F.A. at Meisei University, School of Art, Fujimura completed his M.F.A. at Tokyo University of the Arts, the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Department of Intermedia Art in 2016. Using metal and everyday objects as materials, he creates kinetic sculptures. His major solo exhibitions include “Romantic Action” (2024, KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY, Tokyo) and “Luck Action” (2021, KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY, Tokyo). Group exhibitions and art festivals include “Mechanical!? Art Town” (2024, “Arts Saitama Kitamachi Vol. 10” official program, Saitama, Japan), “MORPH” (2016, former Rissei Elementary School, Kyoto, Japan), “The 18th Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art” (2015, Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan), and ATLAS (2014, Tokyo University of the Arts, Ibaraki, Japan). Fujimura received a Special Award at the “18th Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art” (2015).
Taichi Moriyama was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1988. He completed his B.F.A. at Tokyo University of the Arts, Department of Fine Arts, Intermedia Art, and M.F.A. at Tokyo University of the Arts, the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture. Major solo exhibitions include “You Can See the Forest for the Trees” (2021, KANA KAWANISHI GALLERY, Tokyo) and “SonkeiChisui” (2016, BLOCK HOUSE, Tokyo). Group exhibitions include “Kirameki Art Festival” (2024, Kanno-ji Temple, Tokyo), “SETOUCHI TRIENNALE 2019” (2019, Kagawa, Japan), “PLAY OUTSIDE!—From Picnic to Skateboarding” (2018, Ichihara Lakeside Museum, Chiba, Japan), “Reborn-Art Festival 2019” (2019, Miyagi, Japan), and “SIDE CORE—STREET MATTERS—” (2017, BLOCK HOUSE, Tokyo).
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