Kaoru Okubo / 大久保 薫

Born in 1990.

Since his student days, Okubo has consistently explored the human body—particularly the male body—as his central motif. It is the most familiar and realistic subject for him, and the one he renders most naturally.
The artist usually picks figures from magazines, commercials, and Internet, or he uses photos of poses by himself. In other words, he does not directly depict human bodies, but only choses the motif of the body that has been mediated by some media. Rather than expressing the mass in the sculptural sense, or the human body anatomically, his work that features the well-shaped, masculine male body, has something to do with the artist’ conception of the body as an self-exploration and reflection.
According to Okubo, “Paintings come from the artist’s (inner) body.” The artist, therefore, considers the existence of the author’s “body,” namely, himself, to be present to the viewers through his work, as his goal of making art.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025
"Warm Place", Tatsuro Kishimoto Gallery, Tokyo

2014
"He", Kodama Gallery Project 42, Kyoto

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2025
“Memento Mori~Eros & Thanatos~”, Shirokane Art Complex 5th Anniversary exhibition, Kodama Gallery, Tokyo

2018
"Greenhouse", Kodama Gallery, Tennozu, Tokyo

2016
Watching Man from Hitomigaura Bay-」
Ignore your perspective 33, Watching Man from Hitomigaura Baa, Kodama Gallery, Tokyo