EXHIBITIONS

Tokyo International Gallery is pleased to present the solo
exhibition “3/4oz and the Chocolate Factory” by Shinnosuke Tojo

Tokyo International Gallery (Shinagawa, Tennoz) is pleased to present the solo exhibition“3/4oz and the Chocolate Factory” by Shinnosuke Tojo, opening on Saturday, July 5, 2025.

Tojo’s practice spans painting, sculpture, and installation, but consistently revolves aroundthe question of “what it means to exist.” Rather than limiting his inquiry to what is physicallypresent, he often turns his gaze toward “non-existent existences,” such as oneʼs ownreflection in a mirror̶entities that lack substance yet compel introspection.

Through theexercise of imagination, Tojo attempts to perceive his own invisible presence. Following his participation in the 2022 group exhibition Have you ever seen a ghost?, this will be his firstsolo exhibition at Tokyo International Gallery. Caught between the material reality of theworld and his own transient self, Tojo invites viewers to step into a landscape of uncertainty.

―Artist Statement―

My work centers on the theme of “existence,” using a variety of materials with a focus onmetal. In my series 10, I scratch metal surfaces to create three-dimensional expressions,layering drawings, paintings, and photographs to explore a coexistence between reality and illusion along the same visual plane.

In 11, I draw lines on the serrated edges of triangularaluminum supports the lines that reflect off the surface appear as echoes or memories of the drawn lines. When viewed from the front, the real and reflected lines complement one another to form a single image. BOYa is an imaginary friend I created as a doll inchildhood̶my very first sculptural creation.

According to my mother, I used to talk to it constantly, though I have no memory of those conversations. When the doll was unearthed at my family home in 2018, its reappearance̶something that had only existed in memory until then̶profoundly shook my understanding of what it means to exist. Since then, BOYa has become an indispensable motif in my work, prompting me to break away from material limitations. At the same time, turning it into a physical form paradoxically seems to obscure its very existence, making it a motif that continually torments me through the act of creation.

There was once a doctor who claimed that 3/4oz is the weight of the soul. I canʼt help but wonder if that weight might also be the weight of imagination. I wish to immerse myself in the space that lies between the reality created through imagination and the reality constructed as matter.