Tomoaki Ishihara

Tomoaki Ishihara was born in Osaka-fu in 1959 and completed graduate school at Kyoto City University of Arts. He presented his works, which utilized photographs, at solo exhibitions and group exhibitions such as “Yes Art” (1982, 1983, and 1984) while attending graduate school. From around 1983, he created works using his own nude form. Eventually, 3D boat-shaped canvases made an appearance in his work. He went on to release works combined with backgrounds at Gallery Haku, the Venice Biennale Aperto section in 1988, and more. He exhibited at “Art Now” in 1985, 1986 (special display), and 1990 (Kansai Contemporary Art of the 1980s). In 1998, he held a solo exhibition at Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, and in 1999 and 2004 he held solo exhibitions at Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City. Ishihara uses various mediums to create pieces which question art and the framework for how we view things. These include large, out-of-focus photographs, 3D objects stitched together with leather, paintings using Braille, and more. In recent years, he has been creating “self-portraits” wherein a part of his body is converted using digital technology.