Masanori Tomita
Masanori Tomita (b. 1989, Kumamoto, Japan) lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.
Known for his abstract paintings which consist of densely-layered surfaces and opulent accretions of imagery, Tomita’s work is intimately connected to the intense materiality of Japanese postwar art while forging new ground for contemporary abstraction. The paintings are often crafted with resin, oil, and ink, the aggregate of which is liable to invest the surfaces with a textured and coruscating bijou-like quality. Variously stark, atmospheric, and saturnine, they can read, at times, like some kind of toxic urban excrescence, and at others, like the improbable synthesis of Gustave Moreau, Alberto Burri and manga.
Current solo exhibition includes project N 100, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2025.
Recent solo exhibitions include manner, Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, 2024; Lamella, High Art, Paris, 2023; Usen, KAYOKOYUKI, Tokyo, 2022; and Snail Traces, KAYOKOYUKI, Tokyo, 2018.
Recent group exhibitions include Condo London 2024, Sadie Coles HQ, London, 2024; LE BISCUIT À SOUPE, High Art Arles, Arles, 2022; LA CONSTITUANTE, Parliament, Paris, 2021; and In their shoes 1, KAYOKOYUKI, Tokyo, 2021.
manner, 2024. Oil and resin on canvas, 89 1/2 x 71 5/8 in (27.3 x 181.8 cm)
manner, detail
Installation image, manner, Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, 2024
tag, 2024. Oil, resin, and ink on cotton mounted on panel, 63 3/4 x 51 3/8 in (162 x 130.5 cm)
tag, detail
paddle, 2024. Oil and ink on cotton mounted on canvas, 17 7/8 x 15 in (45.5 x 38 cm)
paddle, detail
mallet, 2024. Oil, resin, and ink on cotton mounted on panel, 31 3/4 x 25 3/4 in (80.5 x 65.3 cm)
mallet, detail
Installation image, manner, Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, 2024
mound, 2024. Oil, resin, and ink on cotton mounted on panel, 28 5/8 x 24 in (72.7 x 61 cm)
crease, 2024. Oil on canvas, 76 3/8 x 63 3/4 in (194 x 162 cm)
crease, detail
peal, 2024. Oil on canvas, 16 1/4 x 12 3/4 in (41.3 x 32.5 cm)
peal, detail
Installation image, manner, Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, 2024
red bean, 2024. Oil, resin, and ink on canvas, 35 1/2 x 26 7/8 in (90.2 x 68.4 cm)
seat, 2024. Oil, resin, and ink on canvas, 17 3/4 x 14 1/2 in (45.1 x 36.7 cm)
seat, detail
buoy, 2024. Oil, resin, and ink on cotton mounted on panel, 20 7/8 x 18 in (53.1 x 45.6 cm)
Horn, 2023. Oil on canvas, 76 1/2 x 51 3/8 in (194.3 x 130.5 cm)
Chestnut Head, 2023. Oil and resin on canvas, 64 x 51 3/8 in (162.5 x 130.5 cm)
Prop, 2023. Oil and resin on canvas, 51 5/8 x 38 5/8 in (131 x 98 cm)
Hemicorpus, 2023. Oil and resin on canvas, 36 x 28 7/8 in (91.5 x 73.4 cm)
Lamella, 2023. Oil, resin and ink on cotton mounted on wood panel, 31 5/8 x 25 5/8 in (80.3 x 65.2 cm)
Lamella, detail
tail spine (table), 2022. Paper, tape, screen tone, plastic board, ink, oil on Chabudai (table), variable size
gill, 2022. Oil, ink on canvas, 16 1/8 x 12 1/2 in (41 x 31.8 cm)
gill, detail
gill, 2022. Oil, ink on canvas, 16 1/8 x 12 1/2 in (41 x 31.8 cm)
RECENT EXHIBITIONS
project N 100
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo
Solo Show
July 11 - October 2, 2025
manner
Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles
Solo Show
April 20 - May 25, 2024
Condo London
KAYOKOYUKI, London
Group Show
January 20 - February 17, 2024
Lamella
High Arts, Paris
Solo Show
June 08 - July 22, 2023
Usen
KAYOKOYUKI, Tokyo
Solo Show
February 12 - March 20, 2022