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    Curated by Nathalie Baume
    11 September – 18 October 2025
     
    Vernissage: Thursday 11 September, 6 – 8 pm
    4 rue des Minimes, 75003 Paris
     

    Plastic Love is an ambitious exhibition that seeks to uncover the universal potential inherent in Japanese art. It brings together the work of 19 artists, ranging from postwar masters such as On Kawara, a pioneer of conceptual art; Takesada Matsutani of the Gutai group; and Kishio Suga, a central figure of Mono-ha; to a new generation of emerging artists active both in Japan and abroad.

    The exhibition takes its title from Plastic Love, Mariya Takeuchi’s 1984 city pop classic, which played a key role in the genre's revival in the late 2010s. In a similar spirit, this exhibition hopes to serve as a renewed occasion to discover, appreciate, and reevaluate the aesthetic consciousness at the heart of contemporary Japanese art.

    Curated by Nathalie Baume 11 September – 18 October 2025 Vernissage: Thursday 11 September, 6 – 8 pm 4 rue...
    Rika Minamitani
    Passing Rain, 2025
    oil on canvas
    200.3 x 122.1 cm (78 ⅞ × 48 ⅛ in)
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  • Participating Artists

  • Time & Material

     
  • This section brings together artists whose practices engage time as both material and metaphor. Through repetition, erosion, accumulation, or conceptual systems, these works suggest the weight of memory, the passing of time, and the impossibility of stillness. They channel a quiet persistence—marking the everyday through formal restraint or poetic gesture.
  • Kishio Suga, Residing Cultivation, 1997

    Kishio Suga

    Residing Cultivation, 1997
    Oil paint, stainless on wood
    50.5 x 60 x 18 cm (19 ⅞ × 23 ⅝ × 7 ⅛ in)
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  • The Body

     
  • This section highlights artists who explore the body as a vessel for memory, presence, and transformation—whether spiritual, psychological, or physical. Through painting, sculpture, and mixed media, they address the tension between inner and outer worlds. Some, like Yabe and Kato, work directly with material and gesture, while others, like Okuyama and Nakamura, approach the body symbolically—rendering forms that seem to hover between human, creature, and spirit.
  • Shigeo Otake, The Four-Fingered Man C, 1982

    Shigeo Otake

    The Four-Fingered Man C, 1982
    Fresco strappo (transferred to panel)

    41 x 53 cm (16 ⅛ × 20 ⅞ in)
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    • Tamie Okuyama Birth, 1998–2024 Oil on canvas 112.2 x 162.3 cm (44 ⅛ × 63 ⅞ in)
      Tamie Okuyama
      Birth, 1998–2024
      Oil on canvas
      112.2 x 162.3 cm (44 ⅛ × 63 ⅞ in)
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    • Tamie Okuyama Mountain Axis, 1983 Oil on canvas 65 x 91 cm (25 ⅝ × 35 ⅞ in)
      Tamie Okuyama
      Mountain Axis, 1983
      Oil on canvas
      65 x 91 cm (25 ⅝ × 35 ⅞ in)
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    • Shota Nakamura Untitled, 2025 Oil on linen 52.4 x 42.4 cm (19 ¾ × 15 ¾ in) framed
      Shota Nakamura
      Untitled, 2025
      Oil on linen
      52.4 x 42.4 cm (19 ¾ × 15 ¾ in) framed
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    • Shota Nakamura Untitled, 2024 Oil on linen 30.2 x 38.4 cm (11 ⅞ × 15 ⅛ in)
      Shota Nakamura
      Untitled, 2024
      Oil on linen
      30.2 x 38.4 cm (11 ⅞ × 15 ⅛ in)
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    • Izumi Kato Untitled, 2025 Acrylic on stone 20 x 12 x 13 cm (7 ⅞ × 4 ¾ × 5 ⅛ in)
      Izumi Kato
      Untitled, 2025
      Acrylic on stone
      20 x 12 x 13 cm (7 ⅞ × 4 ¾ × 5 ⅛ in)
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    • Hirosuke Yabe Untitled, 2023 Kakishibu (persimon tannin), bengara(red iron oxide), wood 30.5 x 23.5 x 19.5 cm (12 × 9 ¼ × 7 ⅝ in)
      Hirosuke Yabe
      Untitled, 2023
      Kakishibu (persimon tannin), bengara(red iron oxide), wood
      30.5 x 23.5 x 19.5 cm (12 × 9 ¼ × 7 ⅝ in)
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    • Shinya Azuma Social destroyer, 2024 Oil on canvas 162 x 130.3 cm (63 ¾ × 51 ¼ in)
      Shinya Azuma
      Social destroyer, 2024
      Oil on canvas
      162 x 130.3 cm (63 ¾ × 51 ¼ in)
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  • Inner Figuration

     
  • These artists explore heightened emotional states through figuration that is theatrical, stylized, and psychologically charged. Working across painting, sculpture, and hybrid forms, they depict girls, creatures, and domestic spaces that are dreamlike, surreal, or at times grotesque. Their works evoke the longing and artificial sweetness of Plastic Love—where desire is always layered, masked, or refracted.
  • Tomoko Nagai, BURANKO, 2025

    Tomoko Nagai

    BURANKO, 2025
    Oil on canvas
    97.3 x 145.6 cm (38 ¼ × 57 ⅜ in)
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    • Rika Minamitani Passing Rain, 2025 oil on canvas 200.3 x 122.1 cm (78 ⅞ × 48 ⅛ in)
      Rika Minamitani
      Passing Rain, 2025
      oil on canvas
      200.3 x 122.1 cm (78 ⅞ × 48 ⅛ in)
      Inquire
    • Tenki Hiramatsu New life in a new place, 2024 Oil, wax, acrylic on wooden panel, artist frame 90 x 100 cm (35 ⅜ × 39 ⅜ in)
      Tenki Hiramatsu
      New life in a new place, 2024
      Oil, wax, acrylic on wooden panel, artist frame
      90 x 100 cm (35 ⅜ × 39 ⅜ in)
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    • Makiko Kudo So Many Things That I Cannot Do, 2023 Oil on canvas 116.5 x 116.5 cm (45 ⅞ × 45 ⅞ in)
      Makiko Kudo
      So Many Things That I Cannot Do, 2023
      Oil on canvas
      116.5 x 116.5 cm (45 ⅞ × 45 ⅞ in)
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    • Rikako Kawauchi Fires on the ground, 2024 Oil on canvas 130.3 x 97 cm (51 ¼ × 38 ¼ in)
      Rikako Kawauchi
      Fires on the ground, 2024
      Oil on canvas
      130.3 x 97 cm (51 ¼ × 38 ¼ in)
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    • Tenki Hiramatsu Think Red, 2024 Oil, wax, acrylic on wooden panel, artist frame 50 x 60 cm (19 ¾ × 23 ⅝ in)
      Tenki Hiramatsu
      Think Red, 2024
      Oil, wax, acrylic on wooden panel, artist frame
      50 x 60 cm (19 ¾ × 23 ⅝ in)
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    • Makiko Kudo ひとりもの, 2025 Oil on canvas 116.7 x 91.2 cm (46 × 35 ⅞ in)
      Makiko Kudo
      ひとりもの, 2025
      Oil on canvas
      116.7 x 91.2 cm (46 × 35 ⅞ in)
      Inquire
    • Urara Tsuchiya Untitled, 2025 Glazed porcelain 15 x 35 x 5.5 cm (5 ⅞ × 13 ¾ × 2 ⅛ in)
      Urara Tsuchiya
      Untitled, 2025
      Glazed porcelain
      15 x 35 x 5.5 cm (5 ⅞ × 13 ¾ × 2 ⅛ in)
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    • Tenki Hiramatsu Autumn Scent, 2024 Oil, wax, chalk on linen over wooden panel, artist frame 70 x 50 cm (27 ½ × 19 ¾ in)
      Tenki Hiramatsu
      Autumn Scent, 2024
      Oil, wax, chalk on linen over wooden panel, artist frame
      70 x 50 cm (27 ½ × 19 ¾ in)
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    • Urara Tsuchiya Untitled, 2025 Glazed stoneware 22 cm (8 ⅝ in) x 22 cm (8 ⅝ in) x 20 cm (7 ⅞ in)
      Urara Tsuchiya
      Untitled, 2025
      Glazed stoneware
      22 cm (8 ⅝ in) x 22 cm (8 ⅝ in) x 20 cm (7 ⅞ in)
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    • Minami Kobayashi White sheets nirvana, 2025 Oil on canvas 30 x 40 cm (11 ¾ × 15 ¾ in)
      Minami Kobayashi
      White sheets nirvana, 2025
      Oil on canvas
      30 x 40 cm (11 ¾ × 15 ¾ in)
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  •  

  • Inquire Works in Plastic Love