ver. Japanese
Daigo Kobayashi (b.1990, Japan) is a Tokyo-based visual artist whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses Nihonga painting, picture books, and installation. Born in Japan,
Kobayashi has cultivated a unique approach to image-making that draws from traditional Japanese techniques while engaging with contemporary materials and themes. His studio in Tokyo serves as a site of both preservation and innovation, where historical sensibilities are reimagined through tactile experimentation.
Kobayashi is best known for his depictions of living creatures—ranging from real animals to folkloric beings such as yokai—rendered with a sensitivity to presence, absence, and the unseen. His work frequently explores the subtle traces of life, the spiritual aura of biological forms, and the cultural memory embedded in Japan’s historical values and artistic materials.
Employing Nihonga techniques alongside repurposed or discarded objects, Kobayashi constructs visual narratives that evoke both intimacy and myth. His installations and picture books extend these inquiries into immersive environments, inviting viewers to engage with layered histories and speculative ecologies. Kobayashi’s work has been featured in notable exhibitions including the Teshikaga Extreme Cold Art Festival, where his integration of environmental context and mythological subject matter received critical attention.
His works are held in the collections of Charm Care Corporation, the Ekin Museum in Kōchi Prefecture, and Hotel ARTINN. In 2023, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the Ainu Picture Book Competition, recognizing his contribution to cultural storytelling through visual art. Kobayashi has also participated in international artist residencies, notably the exchange program between the University of Veracruz in Mexico and Sokei Art School in Japan,
further enriching his cross-cultural approach to material and myth.
EDUCATION
2014 BFA in Japanese Paintings ,Fine Arts, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITION
2024 Hapon e Mexico, Machida Pario, Tokyo, Japan
2023 Picture Scroll of 100 Years Ago: Earthquakes, Namazu, and Tsukumo-gami, State University of Veracruz Art Institute Gallery, xalapa, Mexico
2023 Quiet echo, Gallery Binosya, Tokyo, Japan
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
2025 Teshikaga Gokkan Art Festival, Kawayu Onsen Museum, Hokkaido, Japan
2024 Jomon Contemporary Art, Tobinodai Historical Park Museum, Chiba, Japan
2024 THE ART FUCHU 2024 -Life and Expression Arts Festival-, Charm Care Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
2022 One pebble in the pool, Akiba Tamabi21, Tokyo, Japan
Selected AWARD / PRIZE
2025 Contemporary Art Exhibition, Longlisted, Art House Oyabe, Toyama, Japan
2023 Ainu Picture Book Contest,Ainu Cultural Foundation,Winner, Hokkaido, Japan
2020 RUBIK'S CUBE 40 AWARD, Winner, Hungarian Embassy, Tokyo, Japan
2020 Kaya Art Competition, Honorable Mention, Kaya Art Assosiation, Nagano, Japan
RESIDENCIES
2023 Exchange between University of Veracruz and Sokei Art School, xalapa, Mexico
2012 Hot Sandal Project, Kagawa, Japan
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Ekingura, Kochi, Japan
Charm Care Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
Hotel ARTINN,Hokkaido, Japan