Biography

Exhibitions

Selected Exhibitions

2013
ART meeting, Ginza Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo, Japan

Thumbhole Communication Exhibition, Gallery Q, Tokyo, Japan (’16)
2014
Group Exhibition, Itochu Aoyama Art square, Tokyo, Japan (’15, ’16)

ACQUAINT vol.1, Yu Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

-KENZAN- Japanese Youth Independent Artists’ Exhibition, Tower Hall Funabori, Tokyo, Japan (’14, ’15)

Heartwarming 2014, Gallery Q, Tokyo, Japan (’15)

Farm, Gallery Q, Tokyo, Japan
2015
Kentaro Sato Solo Exhibition, Gallery Q, Tokyo, Japan

The Strength of Art, Isetan Shinjuku Department Store, Tokyo, Japan (’16)

Joint Graduation Exhibition of 5 Art Universities in Tokyo, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan

EXIST vol.4, Jinen Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

ART POINT Selection VI, GALLERY ARTPOINT, Tokyo, Japan

Life 2015, GALLERY ARTPOINT, Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibition, Ginza Surugadai Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (’20)

Nyankodama, Hakkendo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Sesshu International Art Society Exhibition, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
2016
Kentaro Sato Solo Exhibition, Art Space 88, Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibition, FEI ART MUSEUM YOKOHAMA, Japan

25^th Scholar Art Exhibition, The Sato Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
2017
Circulating Water, Place to Return, galleria grafica bis, Tokyo, Japan

Art Miami, USA (’19 ’22, ’23)

Bienal de Art Maison Japón 2017, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain

Kamiyama Foundation Exhibition, Ginza Art Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Joint Graduation Exhibition of 5 Art Universities in Tokyo, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan

Next Art, Ginza Matsuya, Tokyo, Japan
2018
TEFAF Maastricht, The Netherlands (’19, ’20, ’22, ’23, ’24, ’25)

Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, USA

Small Works, Galleria Grafica Bis, Tokyo, Japan

Seattle Art Fair, USA (’19 ’22, ’23, ’24, ’25)
2019
Masterpiece London, UK (’22)

Nihonga Now, Masterpiece London, London, UK

Hibiki, Alumni Selection Exhibition, Tama University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan (’20)

Shin Nihonga Exhibition, Gallery Q, Tokyo, Japan

West Bund Art and Design, Shanghai, China (’20, ’21, ’22, ’23, ’24)
2020
Opening Ceremony, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Tokyo, Japan

9th Artist Group – Wind – Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan
2021
Kentaro Sato Solo Exhibition, Art Space RASHINBAN, Tokyo, Japan

9th Artist Group – Wind – small works Exhibition, Takashimaya Art Gallery, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Japan

Art Fair Tokyo, Japan (’22)

The Secret Show, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Tokyo, Japan

NIHONGA RENAISSANCE, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Tokyo, Japan

RE:OPENING CEREMONY, A Lighthouse called Kanata

The Armory Show, New York, USA (’24, ’25)

The Elemental: Music of the Spheres, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Tokyo, Japan

Untitled Art Miami Beach, USA
2022
A Lighthouse called Kanata New York Pop-Up, USA

The Future Eternal – a special exhibition for DESIGNART TOKYO, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Tokyo, Japan
2023
Art SG, Singapore (’24, ’25, ’26)

“Visions of the Sky” – Kanata @ DIDIER AARON New York

Kanata Three Year Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition – Beyond the Abstract World: From Yufuku to Kanata

The Treasure House Fair, London, UK (’24, ’25)

Tokyo Gendai, Yokohama, Japan (’24, ’25)
2024
EVERYTHING FLOWS – KENTARO SATO, Art Fair Tokyo, Japan

INFINI – Infinity in Material, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Tokyo, Japan

INFINI – Infinity in Material, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Tokyo, Japan

Taipei Dangdai, Taiwan

KAMIYAMA ART Quadriennale 2024, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan

9th HOSHINO SHINGO PRIZE, THE TRIENNIAL COMPETITION IN TOYOHASHI, SEEKING THE ARTISTS OF TOMORROW, Japan

FAB Paris, France (’25)
2025
BIG NATURE, Toki Art Space, Tokyo, Japan

ZONA MACO, Mexico (’26)

EXPO Chicago, Chicago, USA

Group Show of Contemporary Artists 2025, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Japan

OPENING CEREMONY II, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Tokyo, Japan

Frieze Seoul, Korea

Art Collaboration Kyoto, Japan

Awards

2015　Scholarship of Merit, Sato International Cultural Scholarship Foundation
　　　Scholarship of Merit, Kamiyama Foundation
2017　Scholarship of Merit, Tama Art University
　　　Selected, Next Art Exhibition, The Asahi Shimbun Social Welfare Organization, Japan
　　　Chairman’s Award, 3rd Annual Kamiyama Foundation Prize
2019　Miyagi Prefecture Art Society Award, Painting Section, Miyagi Prefectural Art Festival, Japan
2020　Selected, 9th Artist Group – Wind – Exhibition, Tokyo
　　　Exhibition Grant, The Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation
2023　Tohoku Epco Award, 84th Kahoku Art Exhibition, Japan
2024　Selected, 9th HOSHINO SHINGO PRIZE, THE TRIENNIAL COMPETITION IN TOYOHASHI, SEEKING THE ARTISTS OF TOMORROW

Public Collections

Long Museum, Shanghai, China
The Kamiyama Foundation, Yokohama, Japan

Selected Commission Works

Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi, Japan
Leben Yokohama Yamate ONE WARD COURT, Japan

佐藤健太郎 Kentaro
Sato Kentaro
Sato

Celeste Ⅳ (2020)

H182 × W364 (cm)

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Kentaro
Sato

Profile

1990 Born in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
2015 Tama Art University
2017 Tama Art University, MFA
Lives and works in Ishinomaki

01 Exhibitions More
02 Awards More
03 Public Collections More

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About
the ArtistAbout
the Artist

With evocative paintings that call to mind the luscious colours of Rothko, yet at the same time imbuing them with the intellectually dark timbre of Richter, the abstract canvases of the young Kentaro Sato (b. 1990 –) awaken emphatic memories of nature and the inner spirit. The genre of Nihonga (Japanese painting using natural pigments and minerals) in which he works in is an oft-archaic medium that has been unable to move on from the giants of the 20th century, with the majority of artists stuck in the quagmires of a staid conservatism dating back from the Bubble Economy of the 80’s, or simply creating works with subject matter and compositions of a plastic realism that are difficult to distinguish from Western oil painting.

It is within this context that one can see an emergence of a new generation of Nihonga artists who have pushed the genre in a new direction, garnering prominence and recognition within the eyes of Western collections by focusing on paintings that are filled with intriguing subject matter never before featured in Nihonga, while using techniques and motifs that brim with progressive innovation. Sato is one such youthful artist who is helping to propel Nihonga into vistas previously unseen, creating works that are painted using the oft-forgotten technique of “tarashikomi”, or pouring ink in layers over a canvas or screen. The resulting paintings are inner landscapes that call to mind the traditions of Western abstract expressionism, yet with a uniquely Japanese aesthetic.