Born and raised in Niigata, Japan (now based in Maine) Ryosuke Kumakura’s conceptual painting practice examines the ways we organize our surroundings and lives. Each intimate work is an observational meditation on the essencethe essence within everyday objects and the patina of daily. Through his acute attention to an object’s textural, tactile quality, Kumakura teases and blurs the boundaries between object and canvas as well as painting and viewer. Each work he creates is rendered with a tender precision capturing the stains on the t-shirt of a past lover, the hole in the sole of a worn sock, or the frayed edge on a bathroom towel. These imperfections gesture towards the true spirit of a thing, not only holding the existence of those who have used and loved the objects, but also giving the painting an essence in and of itself.

Born 1981, Niigata, Japan
Lives and works in Rockport, Maine

EDUCATION
2011    National Academy School of Fine Arts, New York, NY 
2004    BFA, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan

SELECTED SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2024
towels, socks, cats, windows, Maine College of Art & Design, Portland, ME

2023
Habituation, Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai, China


2020
Hold, PATRON, Chicago, IL.

2017
Belongings, PATRON Gallery, Chicago, IL
Andrej Dúbravský and Ryosuke Kumakura, Rozsnyo Mining Museum, Rožňava, Slovakia

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026
a person chosen, named, or honored…, PATRON, Chicago, IL

2025
Made You Look, William Shearburn Gallery, St.Louis, MO

2024
Ten Thousand Sprats to Apprehend a Whale, Pascal Hall, Rockport, ME
When We Become Us², Capsule Venice, Venice, Italy

2023
Neo Chicago, curated by Laura Dvorkin and Maynard Monrow,  The Peninsula Chicago, Chicago, IL

2022
Even a Cat can Look at the Queen, Mrs. Gallery, Queens, NY


2019
Small Painting, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL
Remnants of Things Left Behind, Band of Vices, Los Angeles, CA

2016

Half Away From Home: The Alumni Association of Tama Art University, Fort Lee Public Library, NJ
Tama Art University Alumnus and Friends, Fort Lee Public Library, NJ


2014
Exchange Rate: Arts in Bushwick, Brooklyn Fire Proof, Brooklyn, NY
Small Works, Main Street Arts, Clifton Spring, NY

2012
2012 National Juried Exhibition, First Street Gallery, New York, NY
Sweet, Studio Place Arts, Barre, VT

2011

Half Away From Home: The Alumni Association of Tama Art University, New York Club 7th Annual Exhibition, Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY
Art Rescue Team for Japan, Williamsburg Art and Historical Canter, Brooklyn, NY
Gathering Hope: Charity Exhibition for Japan, The Japanese American Association of New York, New York, NY

We are One, Gallery61 at New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY
Charity Exhibition for Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Japan, National Academy School of Fine Arts, New York, NY
Emaki for Tomorrow: The Alumni Association of Tama Art University New York Club 6th Annual Exhibition, NYCoo Gallery, New York, NY

2010
National Academy School of Fine Arts Annual Juried Exhibition, National Academy Museum, New York, NY

2009
Half Away From Home: The Alumni Association of Tama Art University New York Club 5th Annual Exhibition, NYCoo Gallery, New York, NY
TriBeCa Open Art Studios Tour, Toshiko Nishikawa Studio, New York, NY
National Academy School of Fine Arts Annual Juried Exhibition, National Academy Museum, New York, NY

2008
Art, Me and World, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY

2007
Half Away From Home: The Alumni Association of Tama Art University New York Club 4th Annual Exhibition, NYCoo Gallery, New York, NY

AWARDS AND GRANTS
2010
The Valerie Delacorte Scholarship
2nd Prize in Drawing, National Academy School of Fine Arts Annual Juried Exhibition

2009
2nd Prize in Drawing, National Academy School of Fine Arts Annual Juried Exhibition
The Lucrezia Bori Foundation Scholarship

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Long Museum, Shanghai, China