Gallery Naruyama
WANTO “Thoughts on the road”
2024 June 14th (FRI) – July 10th (WED)

TOGA AOYAMA the second flagship store in Tokyo, has launched a new exhibition project TOGA TRIANGLE.
For the fourth TOGA TRIANGLE project with Gallery Naruyama, we will be exhibiting the works of graffiti artist WANTO.

WANTO is a graffiti artist that wanders the city streets.
In order to capture the culture of the city as is, to then bring it into a gallery, creating a metal support system was his devised method.
WANTO uses oil paint on a steel canvas to portray certain scenery that speaks to him as he roams the streets.

This exhibition will feature paintings that WANTO himself has revisited and rearranged, including “KAWASAKI NINJA”, a series that captures the cityscape of Kawasaki with a sentimental perspective.

CORPSE OF STOLEN SCOOTER／2023／H227×W158 mm／Oil on steel

FALLING ASLEEP IN THE CAR／2023／H227×W158 mm／Oil on steel

“There are various places within the streets that I have once walked past. Someone is there, or something is there. They each have their own shapes and colors, and I feel the many emotions that emanate from them. This is a series of paintings that use oil paint to express the loneliness, the laughter, the shine and dampness of each.”

WANTO

Gallery Naruyama

Gallery Naruyama opened in 1997 with a collective exhibition of photographer Wilhelm von Gloden. Since then, the gallery has continued to question ‘new value’ and collects works based on science, medicine and anthropology. From Atsushi Suwa who depicts the deepest inner sides of his subjects through meticulous interviews, Cosima von Bonin who is unique at first glance but possess a sense of irony, the gallery has also introduced young talents from Japan such as sculptor Kosuke Ikeshima, painter Yugo Kohrogi, photographer Momo Okabe and graphic writer WANTO. The gallery also has a collection of surrealists Pierre Molinier, Hans Bellmer, Cecil Beaton, Tamotsu Yato, medical photographs from the Meiji period, and photographs of Conan Doyle’s former possessions of psychical research material.

WANTO

Graffiti artist based in Tokyo and New York.
Past solo exhibitions at Naruyama Gallery include “PLAYBALL” (2020), “METAL SYNDROME” (2021), “KAWASAKI NINJA” (2023). “BOMBING LIFE” a compilation of his oil paintings was published in 2022.