Kazuhito Kawai
OVERVIEW
Kazuhito Kawai（b. 1984, Ibaraki, Japan）graduated in 2007 from BA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts（UAL） and in 2018 from Kasama College of Ceramic Art（Ibaraki）. The artist is currently based in Ibaraki. After studying contemporary art in London, encountering the medium of ceramics became a breakthrough experience that liberated the artist’s creativity. Characterized by dynamic colors and forms, the ceramic works multilayeredly express the artist’s inner world, where beauty and ugliness, humor, and discomfort intersect in a state of disorder. The clay masses, stacked in seemingly melting and collapsing formations, retain traces of contemplation carried out within the limited time before the clay loses its plasticity. The works embody two intertwined aspects: a heavy yet fragile longing for the pop culture that imprinted itself on Kawai during his teens and twenties, and a sense of existential dissonance toward it. They carry both a candy-like sweetness and an underlying unease.
At KOTARO NUKAGA, the artist has held solo exhibitions including “Hold me close, a grain at a time”（2022） and “Precious Time”（2025）. Other exhibitions have been held at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art （Tokyo, Japan）; Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art（Tochigi, Japan）; Steve Turner Gallery （Los Angeles, USA）; and Newchild Gallery（Antwerp, Belgium）. The artist’s works are included in the collections of the National Crafts Museum （Ishikawa, Japan） and the V&A Museum （London, UK）.
HISTORY
2025
‘Precious Time’, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
2024
‘Today’s Close-Up Ceramics – Even If I Be:come an “Ojisan”’, ZeroBase Jingumae, Tokyo, Japan
2022
‘Hold me close, a grain at a time’, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
‘I Gotta Feeling’, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2021
‘Riding for a fall’, Sokyo Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
‘Like a Virgin’, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2019
‘The Kitsch’, t.gallery, Tokyo, Japan
‘Or Impressionism’, rusu, Tokyo, Japan
2018
‘Naughty Loneliness’, SOZO Salon, Tokyo, Japan
2017
‘Freaks’, House in Kasama, Ibaraki, Japan
2026
‘Tsuitayo: Becoming by Making‘, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
‘Ethnography of the Body and Material — Slowness and Depth in an Accelerated Society’, Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina, Venice, Italy
2025
‘Picturesque Pottery Ceramics Enjoying Art from Mingei to the Present‘, Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
‘Trash, Pencils, and Art‘, UNKNOWN HARAJUKU, Tokyo, Japan
2024
‘Love Dream‘, Ken Nakahashi, Tokyo, Japan
‘Electric Disorder‘, Andrea Festa Fine Art, Roma, Italy
‘When I Kiss You, I Can Taste Your Soul‘, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
‘Fellow Travelers of the Canvas A Perspective on Contemporary Art of Japan from the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection‘, Yamagata Museum of Art, Yamagata, Japan
2023
‘ “MEMORIES 02” selected by Tomio Koyama‘, CADAN YURAKUCHO, Tokyo, Japan
‘Go for Kogei 2023 Hokuriku Crafts Festival‘, Multiple venues along the Fugan Canal, Toyama, Japan
‘FOOLISH FIRE‘, Newchild Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2022
‘UNIVERSE 5‘, The Hole, New York, USA
‘The Fourth Dimension: To the Future of Vessels,‘ Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, Tochigi, Japan
2021
‘FLUX‘, Odem Atelier, Sotheby’s, Stockholm, Sweden
2020
‘HCN‘, Tokyo International Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
‘Full Freon Tal nude‘, MITSUKOSHI CONTEMPORARY GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
‘”SHOW ME” [TSUCHIKURE] with “LOOP FEELING”‘, Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
2019
‘±8 – A Group Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics‘, SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery, Hong Kong
‘Life as Present‘, L’Arbre à Plumes, Brussels, Belgium
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
National Crafts Museum, Ishikawa, Japan
Ryutaro Takahashi Collection
LOEWE COLLECTION
WORKS
NEWS
Kazuhito Kawai & Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka 'ついたよ: Becoming by Making'
KOTARO NUKAGA Roppongi is pleased to present ‘ついたよ : Becoming by Making’, a two-person exhibition by Kazuhito Kawai and Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka, from March 14 to April 10, 2026. Known for ceramics marked by pop, dynamic colors and forms, Kawai works in dialogue with the plasticity of clay and the contingencies of firing. Through dyeing,
Kazuhito Kawai will participate ‘Ethnography of the Body and Material — Slowness and Depth in an Accelerated Society’ at Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina in Venice, Italy
Kazuhito Kawai will participate in ‘Ethnography of the Body and Material — Slowness and Depth in an Accelerated Society’ at Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina in Venice, Italy from May 9 – November 22, 2026. This exhibition aims to restore a different sense of time and physical perception inherent in the act of “making” back into today’s world of ever-accelerating information and consumption. Here, “ethnography”
Kazuhito Kawai’s artwork to be collected in the National Crafts Museum
KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce that Kizuka-song, a major work by Kazuhito Kawai will be collected by the National Crafts Museum. After studying contemporary art in London, Kawai encountered his new medium which was ceramics and experienced the liberation of his creativity allowing him to find a breakthrough. His ceramic works, characterized by dynamic colors and shapes, show various expressions of ugliness and beauty, grotesqueness and pop appeal, and express his
Kazuhito Kawai will participate in ‘GO FOR KOGEI 2025 Symposium‘ at V&A Museum
Kazuhito Kawai will participate in ‘GO FOR KOGEI 2025 Symposium‘ at V&A South Kensington on July 24, 2025. 【DETAILS】 Title: GO FOR KOGEI 2025 Symposium Venue: V&A South Kensington Date: July 24, 2025 Hours: 10:00 – 17:30（GMT） *Kazuhito Kawai will give a talk from 15:45 to 17:20. Speakers: Yuji Akimoto, En Iwamura, Shige Fujishiro,
Kazuhito Kawai will participate in the exhibition ‘Picturesque Pottery: Ceramics Enjoying Art from Mingei to the Present‘ at Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art
Kazuhito Kawai will participate in ‘Picturesque Pottery: Ceramics Enjoying Art from Mingei to the Present‘ at Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art starting from July 12 – September 15. The Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art has continued to showcase exhibitions themed around modern and contemporary ceramics. This exhibition explores its appeal as art, placing emphasis
anonymous art project to exhibit at art fair 'Taipei Dangdai 2025'
Nanami Inoue, Kazuhito Kawai, Rei Kizumoto, Tomona Matsukawa, and Keita Morimoto will participate in the art fair “Taipei Dangdai 2025” from Friday, May 9 to Sunday, May 11, 2025 at the booth of anonymous art project curated by Miwa Kutsuna. ◾️EXHIBITION DETAILS May 8 VIP Preview 14:00-19:00 May 9 Public View 11:00-18:00 May 10 Public
Kazuhito Kawai ‘Precious Time’
KOTARO NUKAGA Tennoz is pleased to present ‘PRECIOUS TIME‘, a solo exhibition by Kazuhito Kawai, on view from May 17 to June 28, 2025. Known for his vividly glazed ceramic works that carry a palpable sense of emotional tension, Kawai has received growing recognition both in Japan and abroad, with recent highlights including his participation
KOTARO NUKAGA to participate in 'ART FAIR TOKYO'
KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce our participation in Japan’s largest art fair “ART FAIR TOKYO”, to be held at the Tokyo International Forum from March 7 to 9 with a lineup of 9 international artists including Gentaro Ishizuka, Nanami Inoue, Kazuhito Kawai, Tomona Matsukawa, Keita Morimoto, New York based artist Esmaa Mohamoud, Nir Hod,
KOTARO NUKAGA to participate in 'KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa 2024'
KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce our participation for the first time at KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa 2024, an art fair held in Hyatt Centric Kanazawa, from November 29 to December 1, 2024. In this art fair, KOTARO NUKAGA will present works by 4 artists: Nanami Inoue, Kazuhito Kawai, Yuki Tawada and Fuku Fukumoto, and
Works by Kazuhito Kawai to be collected in a Victoria & Albert Museum, LONDON
KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce that Kazuhito Kawai’s work “Heart on Wave” is now in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. It is currently on display at the museum, so if you are in the neighborhood, please stop by and take a look. ■Collected work 《Heart on wave》｜2023｜Ceramic｜H59.0 x 45.0