OVERVIEW

Keita Morimoto(born 1990, Osaka, Japan)is a Japanese artist renowned for his cityscapes and portraits. He immigrated to Canada in 2006, earned his BFA from OCAD University in 2012, and returned to Japan in 2021. Now based in Tokyo, Morimoto engages deeply with the techniques and themes of Baroque lighting, early 20th-century American Realism, and pre-modern Genre Painting. By referencing these historical movements, he reimagines contemporary urban life, transforming ordinary streets into extraordinary narratives. Through the symbolic use of light, he merges its sacred and natural connotations with the stark realities of consumerism and industrial culture, creating works that resonate with both historical depth and modern complexity. Morimoto’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, K 11 Musea, Powerlong Art Museum, Art Gallery of Peterborough, The Power Plant, and Fort Wayne Museum of Art. His pieces are part of the permanent collections at the Shiga Museum of Art, Arts Maebashi, High Museum of Art, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and ICA Miami.

HISTORY

2025
‘Quiet Light’, Kunsthal n, Copenhagen, Denmark
‘what has escaped us’, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
‘To Nowhere and Back’, Almine Rech, New York, USA
2024
‘KEITA MORIMOTO Illuminated Solitude’, GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS, Tokyo, Japan
‘FADING MOMENTS’, Long Story Short Paris, Paris, France
‘WORK IN PROGRESS’, anonymous collection, Tokyo, Japan
2023
‘as we didn’t know it’, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
‘A Little Closer’, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
2022
‘In Between Shadows’, ATM Gallery, New York, USA
‘Contrasting Memories’, Nicholas Metivier Gallery,
Toronto, Canada
2021
‘After Dark’, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
2020
‘Garden of Lights’, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2018
‘Light Passage’, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2016
‘Strange Guild’, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2014
‘Oasis’, Galerie Youn, Montreal, Canada
‘The Nightwatchers’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada

2025
‘Stories of Your Lives’, curated by Artuner, Galerie Max Hetzler,
Berlin, Germany
2024
’36 PAINTINGS’, Harper’s East Hampton, New York, USA
2023
‘Focal Point 2’, LONG STORY SHORT NYC, New York, USA
‘Stories After Extinction’, MtK Contemporary Art, Kyoto, Japan
‘Quiet Storm’, LONG STORY SHORT PARIS, Paris, France
‘The Midnight Hour’, The Hole, New York, USA
‘Dieci’, ARTUNER, Palazzo Coardi di Carpeneto, Torino, Italy
‘The Descendants’, K11 MUSEA, Hong Kong, China
2022
‘Crossing’, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
‘Under Current’, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China
‘Seasons in the City’, Palazzo Capris by Artuner, Turin, Italy
‘What It Could Be’, Theaster Gates Stony Island Arts Bank,Chicago, USA
‘Escape From New York’, Another Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
‘Romancing Relevance’, WOAW Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2018
‘These things I have seen’, Art Gallery of Peterborough,
Peterborough, Canada
2016
‘RBC Canadian Painting Exhibition’, The Power Plant
Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada
‘About Face’, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2015
‘Invisible College’, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, USA
2014
‘Superhuman’, Plus Gallery, Denver, USA

Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, USA
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, USA
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, Italy
Urban Nation Museum, Berlin, Germany
Bell Trinity Square Permanent Public Installation, Canada
Shiga Museum of Art, Shiga, Japan
Arts Maebashi, Gunma, Japan
Infor Financial Group, Toronto, Canada
Ninepoint Partners LP, Toronto, Canada
Stikeman Elliot LLP, Toronto, Canada
Loyalty One, Canada
The Bora Family Collection, Turkey

After Dark

WORKS

NEWS

Keita Morimoto will present new limited edition prints with AVANT ARTE

Limited edition prints by Keita Morimoto, Jewel Box and Evening Embers, will be available exclusively through AVANT ARTE for 48 hours from 19:00(JST)on December 9, 2025.   Through the symbolic use of light, Morimoto merges its sacred and natural connotations with the stark realities of consumerism, creating works that resonate with both historical depth and modern complexity.  Evening Embers, one of the

Keita Morimoto's solo exhibition ‘Quiet Light’ will be held at Kunsthal n in Copenhagen, Denmark

Keita Morimoto’s solo exhibition ‘Quiet Light’ will be held at Kunsthal n in Copenhagen, Denmark from August 27, 2025 – January 15, 2026. Keita Morimoto paints the small stories of the big city—people who appear and disappear in the same breath, caught in the flickering light of vending machines and shop windows. At first glance,

KOTARO NUKAGA to participate in 'Tokyo Gendai 2025'

KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce our participation in ‘Tokyo Gendai 2025’, an international art fair held in PACIFICO Yokohama, Japan from September 12 to 14. KOTARO NUKAGA will showcase works by twelve internationally diverse artists, including Tomokazu Matsuyama and Rember Yahuarcani. Featuring a dynamic range of practices across painting and glass art. And also

Keita Morimoto's solo exhibition ‘Aperto 19: MORIMOTO Keita what has escaped us’ × BEAUTY & YOUTH UNITED ARROWS launch limited collaborative collection

Keita Morimoto’s solo exhibition ‘Aperto 19: MORIMOTO Keita what has escaped us’ × BEAUTY & YOUTH UNITED ARROWS  launch limited collaborative collection. The collection, which includes five items – T-shirt, bag, cap, umbrella, and magnet – will be available at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa  Museum Shop starting August 10, 2025. For more

Keita Morimoto will participate in ‘Three Hot Springs of Mimasaka Art Temperature 2025’

Keita Morimoto will participate in ‘Three Hot Springs of Mimasaka Art Temperature 2025’ from August 29 to December 7, 2025. The ‘Three hot springs of Mimasaka Art temperature’ is a once-every-three-years art event that takes place in Yunogo, Okutsu, and Yubara hot springs in the Mimasaka region of northern Okayama Prefecture. For the forth time

The artworks of Tomokazu Matsuyama, Tomona Matsukawa and Keita Morimoto will be shown in ‘ARTS MAEBASHI RECENT ACQUISITIONS/Collection + Women Artists, Each Her Own World‘ at Arts Maebashi

The artworks of Tomokazu Matsuyama, Tomona Matsukawa and Keita Morimoto will be shown in ‘ARTS MAEBASHI RECENT ACQUISITIONS/Collection + Women Artists, Each Her Own World‘ at Arts Maebashi starting from July 19 – August 26, 2025. 【EXHIBITED WORKS】 Tomokazu Matsuyama, Turn Up Remember Tomona Matsukawa, It’s good once in a while Keita Morimoto, Unspoken Sentiments

Keita Morimoto's solo exhibition ‘Aperto 19: MORIMOTO Keita what has escaped us’ will be held at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce that Keita Morimoto solo exhibition ‘Aperto 19: MORIMOTO Keita what has escaped us’ will be held at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa from May 20 to October 5, 2025. Morimoto moved to Canada at the age of 16 and has exhibited his oil paintings outside of Japan,

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

KOTARO NUKAGA to participate in 'Art Basel Hong Kong'

KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce its participation in Art Basel Hong Kong 2025. We are presenting a group exhibition curated around the theme of “Landscape Becomes Abstract”. Through its participation in Art Basel Hong Kong over the last several years, the gallery has continued to cultivate discourse that draws connections between modern, postwar, and

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,