Tranquility
Hellen van Meene, Arisa Kumagai, Anna Nakazawa, Sho Kobayashi
Saturday, September 26－Saturday October 24, 2026
Opening hours: 12-7 pm Closed on Sundays, Mondays and National Holidays
［Opening Reception：Saturday, September 26, 2026, 5-7pm］
Gallery Koyanagi is pleased to announce the group exhibition “Tranquility,” on view from
Saturday, September 26, through Saturday, October 24, 2026.
Centered on the theme of “Tranquility,” this exhibition brings together four artists, each offering a distinct perspective on the nature of stillness. Tranquility refers to a state in which things are quiet, calm, and harmonious. However, the way it is perceived and manifested is by no means uniform. Intertwined with landscapes, memories, emotions, and the passage of time, tranquility assumes many forms, emerging from within. In this exhibition, we explore the forms of tranquility expressed in the artworks and contemplate the rich worlds that unfold from them. Featured are works by Hellen van Meene, whose distinctive staging and posing vividly capture the inner lives of young girls, where strength and fragility intersect, as well as new works by Arisa Kumagai, Anna Nakazawa, and Sho Kobayashi.
Dutch photographer Hellen van Meene (b. 1972) has been exhibiting photographic works
featuring primarily young girls since the mid-1990s. Working with acquaintances as well as girls she approaches on the street, van Meene herself spontaneously alters their clothing and hair and directs their poses, creating a fictional world. Captured in delicate colors and a quality of light reminiscent of the historic paintings of her native Netherlands, the girls stand with their eyes cast down. In these quiet moments of introspection, they offer glimpses of the uncertainty and vulnerability of adolescence, along with its imperfect beauty.
Arisa Kumagai (b.1991) has confronted her own complex upbringing and circumstances, expressing the contradictions and conflicts within them through painting. Rooted in her personal experiences, her works expand to encompass fundamental themes of human existence, such as life and death, love and hatred, and wealth and poverty. Combining beauty with a sense of unease, they evoke a range of associations and emotions in the viewer. In her new work “she,” Kumagai depicts a statue of the Virgin Mary that she encountered in a church in France. In portraying figures, Kumagai has repeatedly employed compositions that show only the figure below the eyes. In “she,” Kumagai portrays this figure, which has received people’s prayers over many years, not only as the symbolic figure of the Virgin Mary but also as an individual human being. Kumagai reflects on the layers of faith and human life accumulated over time, and on the ever-unfolding story itself.
Anna Nakazawa (b. 1988) creates stone and wood sculptures rooted in her life of faith as a Christian. Drawing on the words of the Bible and her experiences of grace, her work contemplates universal aspects of human existence in response to an unseen presence. In her signature “Garment” series, Nakazawa uses the presence of clothing to express human character and the way a person encounters God. In addition to a new work from the same series “Remove the Veils,” this exhibition presents a new work featuring a curtain motif, “In the Cool of the Day.” Evoking a breeze and a spiritual presence, the curtain symbolizes the boundary between what has been revealed by God and what remains hidden. With a quiet resonance, the work holds the promised hope that awaits after the veils are removed.
Drawing on the history of pictures, Sho Kobayashi explores the possibilities of visual expression through works centered on the theme of “the origins of images.” In addition, as an Ontake ascetic, he is involved in the practice of mountain worship as well as in rituals and ceremonies. The “dpi” series presented here draws inspiration from “dpi” (dots per inch), a unit used to indicate the resolution of printed and digital images. Based on the concept of “1 dpi,” where one dot is placed per inch (2.54 cm), he builds up the image dot by dot using a circular woodblock. Through the repetitive act of applying self-made charcoal ink, made from materials collected at the site where he works, to charcoal paper, Kobayashi attempts to liberate images from the uniformity and speed of modern automation. Within each dot, traces of the human hand quietly emerge.