

Motoi Yamamoto
B. 1966 in Onomichi, Hiroshima,
Exclusively represented in India
Motoi Yamamoto is a Japanese artist known for his poignant explorations of memory, time, and commemoration. Using salt, a symbol of purification and memory in Japanese culture, he creates intricate labyrinths that symbolize the gathering of departed souls’ memories. His process is ritualistic and meditative, inviting contemplation on life’s transience and collective memory.
Graduating from Kanazawa College of Art in 1995, Yamamoto currently resides in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. In addition to his salt installations, he produces detailed acrylic and pencil works and collaborates with various companies.
Yamamoto’s work has been exhibited globally in renowned venues such as MoMA P.S.1 in New York, The Hermitage State Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and the Setouchi Triennale.
His solo exhibitions have toured extensively across the United States, reflecting his profound exploration of memory and ritual through art.
- /Education
- /Solo Exhibitions
- /Group Exhibitions
- /Collaborations
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Education
Kanazawa College of Art
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Solo Exhibitions
2023.
/ 'Shrouded in Time', Izura Institute of Art & Culture, Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan/ 'Staying in Time', YUKIKOMIZUTANI, Tokyo, Japan
2022.
/ 'Shrouded in Time', Former Morikawa Residence, Takehara, Hiroshima, Japan
/ 'Staying in Time', PLACE, Portland, Oregon, USA
/ 'STRAIT', galleria PONTE, Kanazawa, Japan2021.
/ 'LABYRINTH -WHITE DIARY-', eN-arts, Kyoto, Japan
/ 'Sakura Shibefuru -Falling cherry petals-', Setouchi City Art Museum, Okayama, Japan2018. 'Floating Garden', Ierimonti Gallery, New York, USA
2015. 'Return to the Origin', Pola Museum Annex, Tokyo, Japan
2014.
/ 'Return to the Sea', Weber State University, Ogden, USA
/ 'Return to the Sea', Westminster College, Salt Lake City, USA
/ 'Floating Garden', La Galerie Particulière, Paris, France2013.
/ 'Floating Garden', Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
/ 'Floating Garden', Ernst Barlach Haus, Hamburg, Germany
/ 'Return to the Sea', Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, USA
/ 'Return to the Sea', The Mint Museum, Charlotte, USA
/ 'Floating Garden', Setouchi City Museum, Okayama, Japan
/ 'Floating Garden', Inga Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel2012.
/ 'Return to the Sea', Laband Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
/ 'Return to the Sea', Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, USA2011. 'To the White Forest', Hakone Open-Air Museum, Kanagawa, Japan
2010.
/ 'Floating Garden', eN-arts, Kyoto, Japan
/ 'Labyrinth', Jesuitenkirch Sankt Peter, Cologne, Germany
/ 'Floating Garden', Art-O-Rama, Marseille, France2009.
/ 'Sakura', Mikiko Sato Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
/ 'Labyrinth', Grosse Bleichen Bilder, Hamburg, Germany
/ 'Labyrinth', L MD Gallerie, Paris, France2005.
/ 'Reinigen', Mitsubishi Estate Art Gallery Artium, Fukuoka, Japan
/ 'To the White in White', Nizayama Forest Art Museum, Toyama, Japan
/ 'White Salt', Ierimonti Gallery, Milan, Italy
/ 'Labyrinth', CAI, Contemporary Art International, Hamburg, Germany -
Group Exhibitions
2024.
/ 'Medium as the Muse', India Art Fair, India
/ 'Sudhaus – Art with Salt and Water', Sudhaus, Bad Ischl, Austria2023.
/ 'Shin Japanese Painting: Revolutionary Nihonga', Pola Museum of Art, Kanagawa, Japan
/ 'Oku-Noto Triennale 2023', Ishikawa, Japan
/ 'Arts and Crafts that Brighten Spring', Kanazawa Yasue Gold Leaf Museum, Ishikawa, Japan
/ 'Rethinking the Japanese Tea Ceremony', Kitaro Nishida Museum of Philosophy, Japan2022. 'WALL ART PROJECT 2045 NINE HOPES', Hiroshima, Japan
2021. 'Oku-Noto Triennale 2020+', Ishikawa, Japan
2020.
/ 'Fantasy Galaxy –Motoi Yamamoto x Yoshimasa Tsuchiya', The Ginza Space, Tokyo, Japan
/ ________'SHIKANSUIYO - Art of the one hundred year forest', Meiji Shrine Museum, Tokyo, Japan2018. 'Altering Home - Culture City of East Asia 2018 Kanazawa -', Gencyan-House + 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
2017.
/ 'Takamijima-Kyoto: On the Far Side of Daily Life', Gallery Fleur, Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto, Japan
/ 'A Corridor of Art through the Mountain and Seas', Momo-shima island, Hiroshima, Japan2016.
/ 'UNIVERS' sel', Aigues-Mortes, France
/ 'Roppongi Art Night 2016', Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan
/ 'Setouchi Triennale 2016', Takami-jima Island, Kagawa, Japan
/ 'Biwako Biennale 2016', Omi-hachiman, Shiga, Japan2015. 'Salone del Giappone', Palazzo delle Stelline, Milan, Italy
2014. 'La Nuit Blanche', Hôtel de Ville de Paris, Paris, France
2013.
/ 'Mono no Aware - The Beauty of Things', The Hermitage State Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
/ 'Narrow Road to the Interior', Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona, USA2012.
/ 'Making Mends', Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, USA
/ 'Reliefs', Fondation espace _ecureuil pour l’art contemporain, Toulouse, France2011. 'City Net-Asia 2011', Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2010. 'MOT Annual 2010', Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
2009.
/ 'Togo Murano x Motoi Yamamoto', Kanazawa Artgummi, Ishikawa, Japan
/ 'Hundred Stories about Love', 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan2008. 'Brack, White and Gray', MA2 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2007. 'Artist in Residence, Onomichi', Izumi’s House, Hiroshima, Japan
2006.
/ 'C.A.R.K.2006', Ishikawa International Salon, Ishikawa, Japan & Patras, Greece
/ 'Force of Nature', Van Every -Smith Gallery, Davidson College, North Carolina, USA & Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, South Carolina, USA2005.
/ 'hoch hinaus', Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun, Switzerland
/ 'Rising Sun, Melting Moon-Contemporary Art from Japan-', The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel2004.
/ 'Gwangju Biennale 2004 - EcoMetro Project -', Gwangju, Korea
/ 'The Encounters in the 21st Century: Polyphony - Emerging Resonances', 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan2003.
/ 'The First Steps; Emerging Artists from Japan', MoMA S.1, New York, USA
/ 'Mutated Zen: The Art of Surviving', The Nunnery, London, UK
/ 'respiri', Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, Italy2000. 'Installation', Garden of the Sculptures, Veracruz, Mexico
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Collaborations
2020. 'Fantasy Galaxy – Motoi Yamamoto x Yoshimasa Tsuchiya', The Ginza Space, Tokyo, Japan
2019. 'Press Releases for New Products of Royal Copenhagen', 21_21 Design Sight, Tokyo, Japan
2018. 'OFX CM – Tracing Memory', Kanazawa College of Art, Ishikawa, Japan
2005. 'Display for Ginza Komatsu', Tokyo, Japan

Staying in time, 2024
Acrylic on wooden panel
162 x 130.3 x 3 cm

Staying in time, 2024
Acrylic on wooden panel
174 x 52 x 3 cm