[Exhibition] Noritaka Tatehana’s solo exhibition “Obsession” will be held at KOSAKU KANECHIKA Kyobashi from October 11th to November 22nd. The exhibition features oil paintings and drawings on the artist’s memories and interests. Image
URL: NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K. Press Release: October 20, 2025 [Exhibition] Noritaka Tatehana’s solo exhibition “Obsession” will be held at KOSAKU KANECHIKA Kyobashi from October 11th to November 22nd. The exhibition features oil paintings and drawings that explore the artist’s memories and interests. Noritaka Tatehana will be holding solo exhibitions simultaneously at two locations: KOSAKU KANECHIKA Tennoz and Kyobashi. In Tennoz, he will exhibit craft works rooted in Japanese culture, while in Kyobashi he will exhibit oil paintings and drawings that reflect his personal side.
(C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Noritaka Tatehana Solo Exhibition “Obsession” October 11 (Sat) – November 22 (Sat), 2025 KOSAKU KANECHIKA Kyobashi | TODA BUILDING Noritaka Tatehana will be holding a new solo exhibition, “Obsession,” at KOSAKU KANECHIKA Kyobashi from Saturday, October 11, 2025 to Saturday, November 22, 2025. In contrast to his organized studio creative activities, the “Obsession” exhibition will feature only original paintings created by Tatehana himself, paintbrush in hand. After 15 years of artistic activity since graduating from university, Tatehana has returned to the most primitive approach to art, providing an opportunity to reexamine his own path and the roots of his expression. While the “Sacred Reflections” exhibition in Tennoz, which focuses on the creations made in a studio environment, focuses on the inheritance of culture and tradition, the “Obsession” exhibition conveys the artist’s trajectory and spirituality from a contrasting perspective, through creations that confront Tatehana’s own inner self and personal memories. Noritaka Tatehana said the following about this exhibition: My activities have expanded far beyond my imagination, taking on social significance and meaning that transcends the bounds of the individual. At the same time, however, there have been many moments when I have nearly lost sight of my personal values and aesthetic sense. Under these circumstances, as an artist, I felt that the only way to maintain mental balance was to face myself and create works with my hands. The lines and colors created through the brush express the fluctuations of my thoughts and emotions, my conflicts and doubts, and even the faint joys. The act of painting itself is a dialogue between the past and the present, my inner self and the outside world, and it leads to visualizing the memories and sensations deep within my heart.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-fbd3e1153cdc496fb16a9122d6e916a0-1929×2700.jpg
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-34a6c06fc56ff5e0bbd65cdea68e23bb-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Portrait (Blue Period), 2025 Oil on canvas 162.0 x 130.0 cm This work is a portrait by Noritaka Tatehana of his partner. The image is based on a birthday photograph taken by Tatehana himself. The work, characterized by its blue tones, was constructed with reference to Pablo Picasso’s Self-Portrait (1901), a self-portrait of the artist at the age of 20 that represents his “Blue Period.” The blue tones not only highlight the subject’s gentle expression, but also reflect the artist’s own feelings and memories of a past time.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-e4374a0daaec0a0a3dfefc79f1c92ce2-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-b3157211df9f21e7aa5a20eb7bca5271-1786×2500.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Self-Portrait, 2025 Oil on canvas 162.0 x 130.0 cm The
self-portrait is one of the most unavoidable subjects in the history of painting. Noritaka Tatehana has only exhibited one self-portrait to date, painted as his graduation project at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2010. This work is the most recent of the two he has created since then. The image for this work was constructed from a photograph taken by Tatehana’s partner on the morning of the self-portrait. At the exhibition, the self-portrait is displayed facing a portrait of his partner, evoking a sense of connection and dialogue between the two.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-135e08d0593edbca5db5128a5f93e775-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-ca42f5b44f7e936e15592f3de4910bf8-1532×2145.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Mother and Child, 2025 Pastel on canvas 162.0 x 130.0 cm This work depicts the Madonna and the Virgin Mary, a symbolic subject in Renaissance religious painting. This work was inspired by “Madonna and Child with St. Anne and the Young St. John.” Its composition draws particular reference to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Madonna and Child with St. Anne and the Young St. John.” The work is based on a casual family photograph, but its composition evokes the image of the “Virgin Mary and Child.” Furthermore, considering that Tatehana himself took the photograph, the confrontation of the three family members in the photographs alludes to the photographer and artist himself, which also becomes one of the elements of the painting. Noritaka Tatehana created several pastel drawings while studying at Tokyo University of the Arts, but they have never been exhibited to the public until now. This work is his newest and largest of these pastel drawings.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-c21bbc32e637b3b76c90bc0d21ec9f59-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-3a0c6cded6ccce353e273e579ba0b62a-1786×2500.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Self-Portrait, 2025 Oil on canvas 53.0 x 45.5 cm This work is part of Noritaka Tatehana’s “Traces of a” series, which was released in 2015. This self-portrait was created as a starting point for the series “Continuing History.” This series is a collection of metal sculptures based on the artist’s own skeleton, created using cutting-edge techniques to extract his own skeletal data. This work, which is an extension of this series, depicts not someone else’s skull like those found in museums, but the artist’s own.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-53252099c0b21aea48616220fed03316-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-46fa3786234b749dd8b0fc7b6806693a-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Bed head, 2025 Oil on canvas 116.7 x 91.0 cm
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-b5b39a5749da86b731c62729c7ac8e74-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-73dc8449e2f1007fa7826486c5a0311a-1786×2500.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Blue in Red, 2025 Oil on canvas 91.0 x 72.6 cm This exhibition features several works by Noritaka Tatehana featuring children. These works are constructed based on the artist’s unique perspective on everyday scenes. Tatehana says that among the photographs that record everyday life, there are some moments that would not be chosen as photographic works, but which have a strong appeal when viewed as motifs for paintings.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-f190827f4a75b68e3bdbdba3edc579cf-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-5d9753e58eea501ab96941a0864bb677-1929×2700.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Falling Camellia, 2025 Oil on canvas 53.0 x 45.5 cm (Photo on the left) This work is a continuation of “Camellia Fields,” a series presented in 2017. Using the camellias of Kamakura, where the artist spent his childhood, as a motif, the bronze sculpture “Camellia Fields,” which overlays Japan’s unique view of life and death, is presented in a new format: painting. While the sculpture is static, this work captures the dynamic flow of time by depicting the moment a camellia falls. In this exhibition, it is displayed alongside “Camellia Fields,” creating a striking contrast between stillness and movement.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-f07185afc2849014f90bb657fb5b4632-3000×2000.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Event overview Exhibition name Noritaka Tatehana “Obsession” Exhibition period Saturday, October 11, 2025 – Saturday, November 22, 2025 Opening hours 11:00 – 19:00 Closed on Sundays, Mondays, and holidays Venue KOSAKU KANECHIKA 〒104-0031 1-7-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo TODA BUILDING 3F 03-3528-6720 https://kosakukanechika.com Free admission
Artist Profile
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/38054/31/38054-31-460e375068e5a35466c4af9222097dfc-2000×1333.jpg (C)︎NORITAKA TATEHANA K.K., Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Photo by GION Noritaka Tatehana Born in Tokyo in 1985. Born into a family that runs a public bathhouse called “Kabuki-yu” in Kabukicho, she grew up in Kamakura. Influenced by her mother, a doll maker based on the Steiner education system, she learned to make things by hand from an early age. In 2010, she graduated from the Department of Crafts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, majoring in dyeing and weaving. In addition to cultural research on courtesans, she creates kimonos and geta sandals using Yuzen dyeing. His exhibitions include “Future Beauty” (international touring exhibitions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2012), “Image Makers” (21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, 2014), the solo exhibition “The Aesthetics of Magic” (Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum, 2016), the solo exhibition “It’s always the others who die” (POLA Museum Annex, 2019), the solo exhibition “NORITAKA TATEHANA: Refashioning Beauty” (Portland Japanese Garden, 2019), “Wako Zekka” (touring four venues including the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art, 2020-22), and the solo exhibition “Distance” (Yamaguchi Prefectural Hagi Museum of Art/Urakami Memorial Hall, 2023). His wide-ranging activities include a Bunraku performance at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris in March 2016. His works are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum, among others. He also served as exhibition director for the “Edo Tokyo Rethink” exhibition (Kyu-Iwasaki Residence Garden, 2024), which was planned as part of the “Edo Tokyo Kirari Project” organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and focused on Tokyo’s traditional industries. NORITAKA TATEHANA Official Site https://www.noritakatatehana.com Instagram Noritaka Tatehana ( @noritaka_tatehana )
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