ob
Photo by Hiroki Tadano

Profile

Born in 1992, ob is the most important of the many artists who emerged as part of Japan’s SNS generation in 2010. As a university student in Kyoto, she organized and curated several local exhibitions after reaching out to other artists her age through the illustration communication service pixiv. This culminated in the exhibition “Wassyoi” for which she received much attention and acclaim. The name “Wassyoi” itself stems from the chant used by revelers in Japanese street festivals. As part of the new generation of artists who grew up in an environment where video games and social media have always been part of daily life, she explores the dreamy filter of the feminine psyche through the recurring motif of a wide-eyed young girl in her delicate, atmospheric paintings. ob collaborated with renowned cosmectics line shu uemura in 2013 and has been featured numerous times in art fairs overseas.

Biography
2010 Graduated from Kyoto Art Senior High School
1992 Born
Solo Exhibitions
2023 "Adjacent Existences," Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo
2022 "Miniature Garden," Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Seoul
2021 "Your, My, Story," Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, New York
2020 "Spiral and Spring," Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo
2017 "Lights Shimmering Between Realms," Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo
2013 "Heavenly Creatures," Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo
2011 "Fragrance" Kaikai Kiki Gallery Taipei, Taipei "Oblaat" Hong Kong International Art Fair, Hong Kong "Respiration," Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo
2010 "Houwa," 0000 Gallery, Kyoto
Group Exhibitions
2022 "Roppongi Art Night 2022", Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo
"Head in the Clouds", Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Tokyo
2021 "2021 Kaikai Kiki Autumn Show", Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"HEALING x HEALING", Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"Healing", Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Shanghai, China
2020 "Healing" Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Seoul
2019 "2019 Kaikai Kiki Summer Show," Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo
2014 "Bishojo: Young Pretty Girls in Art History" Aomori Museum of Art, Aomori; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka; Iwami Art Museum, Shimane
2012 "ob, JNTHED, Haruka Makita" Hidari Zingaro Berlin, Berlin
2010 "Oil Shock! - Oil painters born in the 90’s" Hidari Zingaro, Tokyo "Graduate Exhibition Of Kyoto Art High Schools," Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art , Kyoto "Artists Night Vol.1" 0000 Gallery, Kyoto "ART FAIR FREE" VACANT, Tokyo "Chaos Lounge 2010," Hibiya Takahashi Collection, Tokyo "¥2010 exhibition -Spring 2010" 0000 Gallery, Kyoto "¥2010 exhibition -Summer-" Dojidai Gallery, Kyoto "The World Next Door," Kaikai Kiki Gallery Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
Curated Exhibitions
2020 "neo wassyoi" Hidari Zingaro, Tokyo
2010 "wassyoi" Kaleidoscope Museum of Kyoto Gallery, Kyoto "wassyoi+" 0000 Gallery, Kyoto "wassyoi #" 0000 Gallery, Kyoto