Ryota Watanabe / 渡邊 涼太

Born in 1998 in Saitama, Japan.
Lives and works in Tokyo.

Education
2023. MFA, Oil painting, Tokyo University of the Arts.
2021. BFA, the Department of Fine Arts, Tohoku University of Art and Design.

Ryota Watanabe’s works are a combination of the pure act of painting and the vandalistic act of applying and scraping off paint using self-made cutter knives and tools, creating a canvas which holds the traces of both disparate actions.
Watanabe’s contemporary take on past artists is a challenge towards the post-cubist history of painting, as well as an attempt to update it.
His practice is characterized by a performative approach using self-made blades to scrape and layer paint, merging destruction and reconstruction. These gestures produce intense physical traces and a distinct rhythmic presence on the surface. At the core of Watanabe’s artistic exploration is the theme of “the destruction and rebirth of painting.” By scraping, cutting, and building up pigment with his handmade tools, he regards painting as an act that simultaneously embodies creation and annihilation.

Recent exhibitions include "Reflection (Times)", SOM GALLERY (Tokyo, 2024); "Horizon", roidworksgallery (Tokyo, 2021); and the group exhibition "DRAW LINES & SHAPE