Profile
Shoma Kimura (木村 翔馬)
Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1996.
Education
2018 Graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts, Department of Fine Arts, Oil Painting Specialization.
2020 Completed Master’s Program at Kyoto City University of Arts Graduate School, Department of Fine Arts, Painting Specialization.
Awards
2018 Mayor’s Prize, “Kyoto City University of Arts Exhibition of Works / Volunteer Exhibition 2017”
2017 Grand Prize, “4th CAF Award”
Solo Exhibitions
2020 “The Triangle Shoma Kimura: Underwater Spec” Kyoto Municipal Ceramics Museum The Triangle (Kyoto)
2019 “Crystal☆Polygon” ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO 2019: BLOWBALL, KYOTO ART HOSTEL kumagusuku (Kyoto)
2018 “After the Dream (Floating Painting and VR Uncertainty)” ninetytwo13gallery (Tokyo) Group Exhibition
2020 “Techniques of Optimism” BnA Alter Museum SCG (Kyoto)
2019 ignore your perspective 49 “Thinner than Paper, Thicker than Image” Kodama Gallery | Tennozu (Tokyo)
2019 “Technology of Tacit Knowledge” FabCafe Kyoto/MTRL KYOTO (Kyoto)
2019 “Something Like a Piercing Rod” TALION GALLERY (Tokyo)
2019 “The Comfort of Virtual Reality” genron Chaos* Lounge Gotanda Atelier (Tokyo)
2018 “Kyoto City University of Arts Exhibition of Works / Volunteer Exhibition 2017” Kyoto City University of Arts (Kyoto)
2017 “4th CAF Award Exhibition” Daikanyama Hillside Forum (Tokyo)
Other Activities
2020 Related Program for Shoma Kimura: Underwater Spec Shoma Kimura “Painting on Transparency” (Program for “Night with Art 2020”) (Live Painting, Kyoto)
The Triangle “Shoma Kimura: Underwater Spec” Artist Talk “Semi-transparent Body and Non-flat Painting” (Kyoto Municipal Ceramics Museum/Kyoto)
2020 “Fruit Drawing Instant Sales Event” (Kyoto)
2020 Hiroyuki Nisomegi Solo Exhibition < Happy Hour Streaming Event 1 > Opening Talk “Pixel Reality” (Kyoto)
2019 PERFORMANCE EVENT VR Painting Workshop by Shoma Kimura, –FLOATING STUDIO– (Düsseldorf/Germany) Guest Lecture Series, Pool River “How to Talk About ‘Painting'” (Kyoto)
2019 Performance Event, “VR Drawing Tournament☆ @kumagusuku” (Kyoto)
2018 Small-group Artist Workshop “Floating Atelier vol.1” (Kyoto)
Art Fairs
2020 ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO 2020, Kyoto Shimbun Building Printing Factory Site (Kyoto)
2019 Art Düsseldorf 2019, CAF+TALION GALLERY (Düsseldorf/Germany) ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO 2019: BLOWBALL “Crystal☆Polygon”, KYOTO ART HOSTEL kumagusuku (Kyoto)
Artist Statement
Assuming the present to be “an era when digital and analog do not collide,” I create paintings in both virtual and real space. Paintings change their appearance according to the times and environment, with changes due to scientific and technological advancement being particularly significant. While this is true in contemporary times, in the past, there were perhaps more changes driven by fears of technology, such as “eventually, through the evolution of science, human creations will……”
Today, cyberspace (virtual space) that once appeared in science fiction and AI have become commonplace. I notice that the spread of digital technology, which differs from the internet that people dreamed of decades ago, is now overlapping with the analog physical world. Sometimes I want to paint in the air or underwater. It may seem like a child’s dream, but when this is done through VR painting tools, “digital and analog overlap without colliding, at least for now.” The space itself becomes the support, the paint does not drip, the stroke is fixed in the air, and the artist, viewer, and artwork are all positioned in the same dimension (play area).
Apart from such experiences, when I try to paint on a canvas in the real world, I notice that my internal rules for painting have been somewhat reset, and I understand that I was “colliding” with something at that moment. Since painting is originally virtual, when viewing an image with the eye, I believe we bring our thoughts to a place that is neither three-dimensional nor flat, and we see only the image accurately.
Then suddenly, digital and analog regain their qualities, and perhaps that is why we view paintings over time. In the acquisition of new visuality and embodiment, I question what painting is.