Reo Kikuchi
Reo Kikuchi
Translation forthcoming
2026.3.10 – Mid-April, 2026
セルリアンタワー東急ホテル LBF | Shibuya
150-8512
東京都渋谷区桜丘町26-1
Works by Reo Kikuchi are currently on view in the lobby of the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel until mid-April 2026.
Kikuchi creates works that question the very act of “seeing” by referencing historical painting imagery and reconstructing it through processes of cutting and recomposition. By dismantling and reassembling the visual information and image structures we tend to accept as given, his works offer viewers new perspectives.
Rather than simply quoting historical images, Kikuchi reveals the meanings and structures embedded within them, drawing attention to what lies beyond what is immediately visible. This experience destabilizes our perception of familiar imagery and shifts our visual experience into a new dimension.
The works presented in this exhibition are from the Copy and paste series. In these pieces, historical images—including those of Katsushika Hokusai—are digitally collaged and then manually transferred by the artist onto canvas. Moving back and forth between digital technology and handcraft, this process raises questions about the conditions of painting today, as well as the relationship between image reproduction and originality.
Through the layering of historical imagery, digital manipulation, and physical handwork, Kikuchi’s practice creates a distinctive pictorial space that traverses the boundaries between past and present, digital and analog.
We hope that during your visit to the hotel you will take a moment to experience these works, which offer a new perspective on everyday visual perception. We warmly invite you to stop by and view the exhibition.
Works by Reo Kikuchi are currently on view in the lobby of the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel until mid-April 2026.
Kikuchi creates works that question the very act of “seeing” by referencing historical painting imagery and reconstructing it through processes of cutting and recomposition. By dismantling and reassembling the visual information and image structures we tend to accept as given, his works offer viewers new perspectives.
Rather than simply quoting historical images, Kikuchi reveals the meanings and structures embedded within them, drawing attention to what lies beyond what is immediately visible. This experience destabilizes our perception of familiar imagery and shifts our visual experience into a new dimension.
The works presented in this exhibition are from the Copy and paste series. In these pieces, historical images—including those of Katsushika Hokusai—are digitally collaged and then manually transferred by the artist onto canvas. Moving back and forth between digital technology and handcraft, this process raises questions about the conditions of painting today, as well as the relationship between image reproduction and originality.
Through the layering of historical imagery, digital manipulation, and physical handwork, Kikuchi’s practice creates a distinctive pictorial space that traverses the boundaries between past and present, digital and analog.
We hope that during your visit to the hotel you will take a moment to experience these works, which offer a new perspective on everyday visual perception. We warmly invite you to stop by and view the exhibition.
Reo Kikuchi
Reo Kikuchi
Completed his PhD at Tokyo University of the Arts.
Currently serves as an educational research assistant at the same institution.
His work reconfigures historical pictorial images,
examining the act of seeing itself.
Focusing on how painting is perceived and functions,
he explores the possibility of painting as something that emerges through its relationship with the viewer.
Reo Kikuchi
Completed his PhD at Tokyo University of the Arts.
Currently serves as an educational research assistant at the same institution.
His work reconfigures historical pictorial images,
examining the act of seeing itself.
Focusing on how painting is perceived and functions,
he explores the possibility of painting as something that emerges through its relationship with the viewer.
