EXHIBITIONS
AUN: The Fleeting on Mind
Tokyo International Gallery presents “AUN: The Fleeting on Mind,”
a group exhibition by Banri Takada and Yuuta Takada
as part of the ongoing project “AUN”
Tokyo International Gallery (Shinagawa–Tennoz, Tokyo) is pleased to announce “AUN: The Fleeting on Mind”, a group exhibition by Banri Takada and Yuuta Takada, on view from Saturday, July 4 to Saturday, August 8, 2026, as part of an ongoing project “AUN.”
“AUN” started in 2022 as an ongoing project that seeks to rethink the “exhibition” through the flat collaboration of its players. Now in its second iteration, the project relaunches with an expanded vision — expanding its original concept of the flat collaboration between the players beyond a single exhibition to the art world at large— with the aim of serving as a point of entry into the art world for emerging artists.
This exhibition focuses on Banri Takada and Yuuta Takada, twin artists whose work is inspired by scenes that have left an impression on them in daily life. What is expressed in their work, however, is less the objective appearance of a scene than the subjective experience of encountering it. Even when looking at the same scene, the way it appears changes depending on the viewer’s state of mind and emotions, and the same impression is never formed twice. What these artists seek to capture, one might say, is precisely such unrepeatable moments.
Banri Takada creates landscape paintings with Mt. Fuji as his central motif. He has spoken of how, in his repeated encounters with Mt. Fuji, the same mountain “always looks different” to him. This sense of difference, he suggests, comes less from changes in the mountain’s appearance across seasons or times of day than from shifts in his inner state at each moment of looking.
Yuuta Takada, by contrast, paints intimate scenes of the people close to him. The images —capturing fleeting gestures and expressions — recall the candid snapshots we take every day on our smartphones. Yet unlike digital photographs, which are consumed as data one after another, these works are preserved semi-permanently on canvas, and it is precisely this permanence that throws the ephemerality of each moment into sharp relief.
Today, recording and sharing what catches our eye or stirs an emotion is hardly unusual. When something moves us, it has become second nature to reach for our phones, take a photo, and post it to social media with a caption. And yet most of these images are almost immediately swallowed up by the torrent of information, swept away, and forgotten. The act of preserving a fleeting moment on canvas through a time-consuming method of oil painting might be read as a small resistance to the ever-accelerating cycle of consumption and forgetting.
Banri Takada
Yuuta Takada
ARTIST PROFILE
Banri Takada
Born in the United States, he developed an interest in art from an early age, growing up playing in the garden of the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. During his high school years in Hawaii, he encountered Karen Lucas, a sculptor and art therapist, and went on to study under her. Drawing on his experiences in both Japan and the United States, he is currently studying and creating work at Otis College of Art and Design, where he continues to forge new connections.
Artist Statement
In the works of this exhibition, Mount Fuji appears to me not merely as a landscape, but as a presence that allows me to confront myself. Showing a completely different face depending on place, time, and my state of mind, this mountain is not only an outer landscape but also a kind of mirror reflecting my inner world. While I have long woven my own perception into my work by exaggerating the shapes, colors, and overall form of clouds and mountains, this body of work takes a further step — attempting an expression more fundamentally connected to my emotions and inner state. Even in the same place, the scenery I perceive when I am calm and quiet is vastly different from what I see when my heart feels warm and full. What I am striving for is to bring such a difference in the way of appearing itself more powerfully and deliberately onto the canvas.
Going forward, I intend to expand my perspective beyond Mount Fuji to encompass the scenes and moments of everyday life that subconsciously synchronize with my inner state. Whether the streetscape of a familiar neighborhood, images stirred by music, or the particular atmosphere that inhabits a place or event — I hope to express what naturally resonates with my spirit more directly and honestly, sometimes with drama, sometimes with intensity. The works in this exhibition mark a starting point: not a reproduction of what the eye sees, but an attempt to render the way of appearing itself transformed through the inner self.
On the other hand, the portraits made in the early phase of this project take as their subject people who have shaped who I am. If landscape is a mirror that reflects one’s inner world, then the people in these portraits are the forces that formed it. Though they exist as others outside of me, they are at the same time deeply bound up with who I am on the inside. Through these two subjects — landscape and portraiture — I move back and forth between inner world and outer world, exploring the question of how I, as a person, have come to be.
Yuuta Takada
Born in the United States, he spent his early childhood in Japan. He discovered his interest in art while attending high school in Hawaii, which led him to pursue a career as an artist. Since 2025, he has been studying at Otis College of Art and Design, where he continues to expand his artistic practice. Drawing on his experiences growing up between Japan and the United States, he aims to develop his practice with an international perspective.
In his artistic practice, he focuses on the irreplaceable moments and emotions that arise between people, seeking to explore the essence of human existence through his work. Working primarily in oil painting, he delves into the depths of emotion and memory, aiming to foster empathy and connection with others. This pursuit forms the core of his creative practice.
Artist Statement
At first, I did not know what I wanted to paint. So, I looked back through photographs I had taken in the past. There I found many photographs capturing joyful moments spent with friends. Though I had not often paused to reflect on them before, looking at the photographs made me smile without thinking, and I realized how precious memories are.
I decided to paint based on these photographs as a way of preserving those moments as works of art. I feel that by translating them into paintings, they become images reconstructed through my own memories and emotions — something more personal and deeply felt than a mere record.
Of course, since these are my own memories, they may appear to others as simply cheerful scenes. Yet I find that difference itself to be part of the work’s appeal — it leaves room for viewers to imagine what kind of time that was.
Today, smartphones allow us to capture everyday moments with ease, yet those moments remain somehow fleeting. I want to preserve those fleeting yet precious moments in the form of paintings.
OVERVIEW
- TITLE
- AUN: The Fleeting on Mind
- DATE
- Saturday, July 4 – Saturday, August 8, 2026
- Opening Hours
- 10:00 – 19:00
- CLOSED
- Sundays, Mondays, and Holidays (Tuesdays by appointment)
- By Reservation Only
- Tuesday 12:00-18:00 (1-hour slots)
【Reservation Form】 https://b-book.run/@tig0e37257563b82de3
* Please make a reservation at least three days in advance via the link.
* Reservations are required not only for exhibition viewing but also for artwork purchases and media inquiries.
* Please note that we may not always be able to accommodate all reservation requests. - Opening Reception
Date : Saturday, July 4, 2026 16:00 – 19:00 (No reservation required)
Venue : Tokyo International Gallery- VENUE
- Tokyo International Gallery
- ADDRESS
Tokyo International Gallery
TERRADA ART COMPLEX II 2F,1-32-8 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan