Toshihiko Mitsuya

Toshihiko Mitsuya

born / geboren 1979 in Osaka, Japan
lives and works / lebt und arbeitet in Berlin, Germany

Toshihiko Mitsuya's practice is characterized by the use of aluminum foil, which he manipulates and sculpts into intricate forms. In his ongoing project “The Aluminum Garden – Structural Studies of Plants”, he cuts and folds the metal by hand into shapes that seem to breath and live like plants. The reflective surfaces capture and diffuse light, allowing the sculptures to blend into their surroundings and oscillate between reality and illusion.

The expansive outdoor installations Mitsuya creates evolve over time, as living organisms and natural elements interact with the sculptures and gradually transform them in response to their environment. Mitsuya’s “gardens” thus become meditations on coexistence – between civilization and ecology, between human gesture and natural processes. His fascination with instability stems from early encounters with natural disasters, shaping a worldview in which transience is accepted as a fundamental principle of life. Mitsuya's work transcends the boundary between detail and fantasy: he creates an interplay between the artificial and organic that raises questions about materiality, transience and interaction.

AUSBILDUNG / EDUCATION

2004 BFA in sculpture, Seian University of Art and Design, Shiga, Japan

AUSGEWÄHLTE AUSSTELLUNGEN / SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025
"Lumen" Schloss Biesdorf /Berlin,Germany
"EMUS PRIMUS II" Bootshaus, Spreefeld/Berlin,Germany, organized by KWADRAT

2024
"THE ALUMINIUM GARDEN - STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF PLANTS", VIP lounge in Ginza Six, Tokyo, Japan
"Moon Art Night SHIMOKITA", Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, Japan
"W I N T E R" Project Space KIMGO, Berlin
“EMUS PRIMUS” Bootshaus, Spreefeld, Berlin, organized by KWADRAT

2023
"A Landscape or the ghost " HOTEL SHIROIYA, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan
"APOLLONIAN DIONYSIAN” SCHLOSS ZÜRICH Temporary Contemporary Space, Zurich, Switzerland
"Am Elvirasteig Edition II" Elvirasteig. Berlin, Germany, organized by KWADRAT

2022
(Solo Exhibition) "When you hear the sound of feathers" RinArtAssociation, Gunma, Japan
Lindau biennale - in situ Paradise - Stadtgebiet Lindau, Lindau, Germany

2020
"Wiedererwachen|Die kunst Geht Nach Draussen!|Open Air Group Show" STATION Berlin and Hotels Aletto/Berlin, Germany
“Sculpture & Nature” Schlossgut Schwante, Oberkrämer, Germany

2019
Japanese Painting Award "VOCA2019" Uenonomori Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2018
"Demi-gros" Safe Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2017
(Two-Person Exhibition) "cho-shizen" HUMO Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
”XXIII. ROHKUNSTBAU 2017 –Die Schönheit im Anderen- ”, Historic Castle Lieberose, Spreewald, Germany
(Solo Exhibition) ”Leaking Light” Project, Toshihiko Mistuya at SHIBUYA SEIBU, Seibu Shibuya department Store, Tokyo,Japan
"SMALL-an exploration of miniature-”, Sexauer Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2016
Art project TAKASAKI"THE ECHO" Takasaki City Gallery, Gunma, Japan
(Solo Exhibition) "Far from static" Harada head office Gallery, Gunma, Japan
(Three–person Exhibition) "White cube jangle" Sexauer Gallery/Berlin, Germany

2015
(Solo Exhibition) "THE ALUMINIUM GARDEN - STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF PLANTS" Collaboration with JUNE 14 MEYER-GROHBRÜGGE & CHERMAYEFF, STUDIO PICKNICK, Berlin, Germany

2014
"PLAYERS" Arts Maebashi, Maebashi, Japan
"Drive The Change" 100plus, Zurich, Switzerland

2013
"The Echo – Spreading of Light –"Japanisches Kulturinstitut, Cologne, Germany
"NOW JAPAN; tentoonstelling met 37 hedendaagse Japanse kunstenaars" Kunsthal KAdE/Amersfoort, Nederland
(Solo Exhibition) "Structual Studies"A collaboration with June-14 Meyer-Grohbrügge&Chermayeff, Krings-Ernst Gallery, Cologne, Germany

2012
(Two-Person Exhibition) "point of departure" Dr.Claudia Delank, Berlin, Germany,
“The Echo -Although I am still alive-", Kunstraum Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
(Solo Exhibition) “Structural Studies” Deutsches Architektu Zentrum DAZ, A collaboration with June-14 Meyer-Grohbrügge&Chermayeff, Berlin, Germany

2011
(Solo Exhibition) “fluid mountain” (Artist In Residence in Kurayoshi ／ Meirin AIR), Tottori, Japan
"LARK/PLUNGE" Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
(Solo Exhibition) "Going up a river” Children's art museum Hunabashi, Japan
"THE WAY THINGS MOVE", Parkhaus projects, Berlin, Germany

2010
The 13th Exhibition of the Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (The grand prize)
Taro Okamoto Museum of Art/ Kawasaki,Japan

2009
(Solo Exhibition) "still river", Kodama Gallery, Kyoto, Japan

2006
Art Court Frontier 2006 #4 By recommendation of Katsushige Nakahashi, ArtCourt gallery, Osaka, Japan

2005
"Why am I here?" Yoshio Kitayama x Toshihiko Mitsuya, gallery Yuragi, Kyoto, Japan

Grants / Prizes

2022  NEUSTART | Artists support program by artists' associations (BBK Bundesverband), Germany
2010  Grand prize, The 13th Exhibition of the Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art JAPAN

Workshop / Projects / Residency

2023
Installation for CFCL Womenswear Paris fashion week at Palais de Tokyo Paris, France

2021 – 2021
Workshop “Sculpture & Nature” Schlossgut Schwante, Oberkrämer, Germany

2019
Project for Audemars Piguet, Installations for show windows of 54shops in the world

2017
Workshop, Related to the exhibition”XXIII. ROHKUNSTBAU 2017 – Die Schönheit im Anderen - ” Historic Castle Lieberose, Spreewald, Germany

2016
Workshop, The Museum Of Modern Art Gunma, Gunma, Japan

2014
Workshop ”okaikosama” Exhibition "Players" Arts Maebashi, Maebashi, Japan

2012
Workshop, "Backjumps: Junior Issue2", Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

2011
Workshop Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, Japan
Workshop Children's art museum Hunabashi, Japan
Artist In Residence in Kurayoshi (Meirin AIR)/Workshop and Project for Utubuki Festival, Tottori, Japan

2010
Workshop “Backjumps, Volume 4.2: Junior Issue“,Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

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