# Naoya Inose

Naoya Inose (猪瀬 直哉, Inose Naoya, born 27 January 1988) is a Japanese visual artist. He lives and works in London and Tokyo.

## Early life and education

Naoya Inose was born and raised in Kanagawa. In 2012 he graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, where he specialised in oil painting. He lives and works in Tokyo and London. His works are included in the Takahashi Collection and in the Benetton Foundation.

## Work

Inose's work explores the tension between the natural world and its grasping appropriation by human influence. Inose uses oil painting techniques to create both meticulously realistic landscapes and abstract oil paintings on canvas. His works of art create an inquiry of our relationship and understanding of nature. Inose also creates a debate on the role of the original masterpieces and how this has changes in the contemporary postmodern world. His home country Japan, which is constantly threatened by natural disasters, is a source of inspiration for his work: "Japan is well-known for its disasters, the country is in fact still recovering from the latest tsunami. Japanese people are always afraid of when the next disaster will strike. This may be the reason why the fantastical is such a popular theme in famous film productions like Godzilla, which is widely thought to be a metaphor for the war. This is the reason why I think art goes beyond the immortalisation of reality. Art exists to portray a much deeper meaning. This also explains why my own art is a mixture of reality and the fantastic as I use the latter to expose the problems I see around me."

## Exhibitions
### Japan

* 2008 “THE SIX 2008”, Hillside Terrace, Tokyo
* 2009 “4 Winds 2009”, Gallery Toki no wasuremono, Tokyo
* 2009 “SLOGAN”, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo
* 2010 “G-tokyo2010” (art fair), Mori Arts Center Gallery, Tokyo
* 2010 “Season of Incubation 2”, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo
* 2010 “Takamatsu Contemporary Art Annual vol.1”, Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa
* 2011 “Melancholia”, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo
* 2012 “G-tokyo2012 - αExhibition” (art fair), Mori Arts Center Gallery, Tokyo
* 2012 “Walk in Asia”, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo
* 2013 “Drawings”,Gallery SIDE2, Tokyo
* 2015 “3331 Art Fair -Various Collectors”, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo
* 2016 “Crystal and landscape”, HARMAS GALLERY, Tokyo
* 2016 "3331 Art Fair - Various Collectors Prizes", 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo

### Europe

* 2013 “Imago Mundi”, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Italy
* 2015 “ARBITRARY DREAM”, Lacey Contemporary Gallery, London
* 2015 “That's all they did tomorrow But you finished yesterday”, Pjazza Teatru Rjal Valletta, Malta
* 2015 “Romancing Abstraction”, The Fitzrovia Gallery, London
* 2016 “Contemporary Art Exhibition ‘On the Threshold II: Formal Presence’”, Oriental Museum, Durham University Durham The UK
* 2017 "Entity of Truth", Lily Agius Gallery, Malta

### United States

* 2016 Imago Mundi exhibition at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NYC

### South Korea

* 2010 “KIAF 2010” COEX, Seoul
* 2014 “Daegu Art fair 2014”, EXCO, Daegu

### Hong Kong

* 2012 “ARTHK12”, Hong Kong Convention &Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) Hall1, Hong Kong

### United Arab Emirates

* 2012 “Abu Dhabi Art2012”, Saadiyat Cultural District, Abu Dhabi