Nanami Inoue
OVERVIEW
Nanami Inoue(born 1996, Aichi, Japan)graduated from the Western Painting Course, School of Fine Arts, Nagoya University of the Arts in 2019, and completed her master’s degree in Oil Painting at the Graduate School of Kyoto University of the Arts in 2021. Now based in Aichi, Japan.
Known for paintings and drawings generated through the repeated act of drawing a line, Inoue seeks to release painting from the constraint of the image, from the assumption that a painting must depict something. Shifting her materials from pen and ink to thread to beads, she has explored the way a different kind of line emerges each time, and a mode of painting that refuses to be fixed to any single meaning. In ‘SUHU’, lines are drawn and layered with a mapping pen and ink; in ‘A Drawing for the Frontside and Backside’, the drawing is made as thread passes through the front and back of tracing paper; in ‘Rim’, strung beads extend the line all the way onto the sides of the support. The materials change, yet the act remains one and the same. What Inoue attempts is not to settle on a single answer, but to keep the picture plane in a state where nothing is subordinated to anything else. The back is never discarded for the sake of the front; the point is never flattened for the sake of the line. Any number of viewpoints may be right at once. What is depicted is not a subject, but the very attitude of affirming all of them equally. In 2024, Inoue held solo exhibitions, ‘Wasuremizu(Forgotten Water)’, at anonymous studio, Aichi, and ‘Fish don’t know they’re in water’, at KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo. In 2025, her work was included in the group exhibition ‘Collectors VI: Trigger and Mirror’ at Fukuoka Art Museum. Her pieces are part of the collections at Shiga Museum of Art and the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection.
HISTORY
2024
‘Forgotten Water’, anonymous studio, AIchi, Japan
‘Fish don’ t know they’re in water’, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
2023
‘|||||||||||’, biscuit gallery karuizawa, Nagano, Japan
‘Achilles and the Tortoise’, M5 GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
2022
‘Maybe so, maybe not’, KOTARO NUKAGA, Tokyo, Japan
2021
‘EQUABLE’, ex-chamber museum, Tokyo, Japan
2026
‘Interwoven Chapters’, Kyoto TSUTAYA, Kyoto, Japan
‘”All My Favorites” by Toyama Masamichi Collection’, ARFLEX TOKYO, Tokyo, Japan
2025
‘Collectors IV: Trigger and Mirror’, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
‘Trash, Pencils, and Art’, UNKNOWN HARAJUKU, Tokyo, Japan
2024
‘Inaugural Group Exhibition’, niso gallery, London, UK
2023
‘Kansai Voice vol. 2’, nichido contemporary art, Tokyo, Japan
2022
‘over and over’, MOGANA, Kyoto, Japan
‘ARToVILLA MARKET’, FAB CAFE SHIBUYA, Tokyo, Japan
‘POLYPHONY’, Arario Gallery, Shanghai, China
2021
‘non-painting’, YEBISU ART LABO, Aichi, Japan
‘ART AWARD TOKYO MARUNOUCHI 2021’, Marunouchi Bldg. 3F corridor, Tokyo, Japan
‘young okazaki vol.1’, MtK Contemporary Art, Kyoto, Japan
‘perspective Koga Miura×Nanami Inoue two-person exhibition’, biscuit gallery, Tokyo, Japan
‘DAWN-EXPOSITION 2021.04-’, GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS GINZA ATRIUM, Tokyo, Japan
2020
‘S-2Ds’, ex-chamber museum, Tokyo, Japan
‘ARTISTSʼ FAIR KYOTO 2020’, The Museum of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Shiga Museum of Art, Shiga, Japan
Ryutaro Takahashi Collection, Japan
WORKS
NEWS
Nanami Inoue will participate in 'NEW STREAM', a Special Program at 'Art Collaboration Kyoto 2026'
Nanami Inoue will participate as one of the featured artists in ‘NEW STREAM supported by JINTEC Corporation’, a Special Program at the art fair ‘Art Collaboration Kyoto(ACK)2026’, held at the Kyoto International Conference Center(ICC Kyoto)from November 7 to November 9, 2026. ACK’s Special Programs are held at ICC Kyoto with the cooperation of the fair’s
KOTARO NUKAGA to participate in 'Art Collaboration Kyoto 2026'
KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce its participation in ‘Art Collaboration Kyoto(ACK)2026’, taking place at the Kyoto International Conference Center from November 7 to November 9, 2026. In the Gallery Collaborations section, KOTARO NUKAGA will host Almine Rech(Paris)at Booth GC12. For ACK, Almine Rech and KOTARO NUKAGA have closely collaborated to bring together two artists
KOTARO NUKAGA to participate in 'Tokyo Gendai 2026'
KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce its participation in Tokyo Gendai 2026, an international art fair held in PACIFICO Yokohama, Japan from September 11 to 13. At our booth, works by twelve artists of diverse international backgrounds — José Parlá, Stefan Brüggemann, Idris Khan, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Keita Morimoto, Annie Morris, Michael Rikio Ming Hee Ho,
Nanami Inoue will participate ‘Be here now’ at Blackbird Gallery
Nanami Inoue will participate in ‘Be here now’ at Blackbird Gallery from April 26 – May 23, 2026. This exhibition brings together artists connected to the Tokai and Nagoya areas. Through this project, it aims to introduce regionally rooted artists from a new perspective. Visitors can experience the “current position” of artistic practices emerging from this locality. 【Artists】
Nanami Inoue will participate ‘"All My Favorites" by Toyama Masamichi Collection’ at ARFLEX Tokyo
Nanami Inoue will participate in ‘”All My Favorites” by Toyama Masamichi Collection’ at ARFLEX Tokyo from March 19 – April 7, 2026. The exhibition traces the journey of Masamichi Toyama—a business owner, artist, and devoted art lover—who has walked alongside the world of art since the 1980s. Within this space shaped by the arflex philosophy, furniture and art resonate in a dialogue that
Nanami Inoue will participate ‘Interwoven Chapters’ at Kyoto TSUTAYA Gallery
Nanami Inoue will participate in ‘Interwoven Chapters’ at Kyoto TSUTAYA Gallery from March 6 – March 27, 2026. “Interwoven Chapters” is a group exhibition featuring artists who completed Daisuke Oba’s seminar at Kyoto University of the Arts. Nineteen artists who have shared time together—through mentor–student relationships, as well as bonds between across different graduating classes—will participate, each presenting one work, for a total
Nanami Inoue and Heidi Lau participates ‘New SMoA Collection’ at Shiga Museum of Art
Nanami Inoue and Heidi Lau participates in ‘New SMoA Collection’ at Shiga Museum of Art(SMoA) from December 4, 2025 – February 23, 2026. This exhibition features newly acquired works from the 2024 fiscal year, presenting purchased, donated, and deposited pieces that have recently joined the collection. Nanami Inoue’s work, SUHU_15(plus)was donated to SMoA by Mr. Hidekuni Kuroda and Mr. Hiroyuki Maki. Heidi Lau’s work, Ancestors was donated by Mr. Hiroyuki Maki. We sincerely appreciate their support. ■Exhibited work 【EXHIBITION DETAILS】 Title:
KOTARO NUKAGA to participate in 'KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa 2025'
KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce our participation in ‘KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa 2025’, Japan’s only art fair dedicated to crafts held in Hyatt Centric Kanazawa, Kanazawa, Japan from November 28 to 30. KOTARO NUKAGA will present works by four artists: Mariko Kobayashi, Nanami Inoue, Yohei Chimura and Teppei Miyake. Mariko Kobayashi employs textile-based methodologies,
Nanami Inoue will participate ‘Collectors IV: Trigger and Mirror’ at Fukuoka Art Museum
Nanami Inoue will participate in ‘Collectors IV: Trigger and Mirror’ at Fukuoka Art Museum from September 13 – September 28, 2025. Featuring 46 representative works from the collections of entrepreneurs Masamichi Toyama and Koichiro Yoshida, the exhibition will exhibit Inoue’s “SUHU_6” from Toyama’s collection. 【EXHIBITION DETAILS】 Title: Collectors IV: Trigger and Mirror Venue: Fukuoka
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