Keisuke Kagetsu“ A Stroke Next To ”

 

◯ Opening Reception：2026.06.06 Sat. 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

 

LOKO GALLERY is pleased to present “Find the Nearby”, a solo exhibition by Keisuke Kagetsu.

Kagetsu’s artistic practice begins with the fundamental act of constructing the canvas itself. The linen that serves as the support is dyed using plant-based pigments such as shikon (gromwell), kariyasu (Amur cork tree), and suou (sappanwood). From these raw materials, the artist extracts color through multiple processes, developing a range of nuanced tones.

The dyed linen is then carefully stretched over a custom-made wooden frame, ensuring that the warp and weft threads are evenly aligned. Over this surface, an extremely thin layer of Tosa washi is adhered using animal glue, giving rise to a new support while retaining a subtle sense of the woven texture beneath.

The “gaps” between the threads of the linen remain present within the picture plane, even through the washi. Within these “intervals,” Kagetsu draws fine lines in colored pencil, both vertically and horizontally, as if weaving new threads into the fabric.

In this way, the softly dyed tones of the linen and the added colored lines resonate with one another, transforming the picture plane into a layered field reminiscent of textile. The naturally derived colors evoke faint suggestions of landscape, while entering into a quiet dialogue with the hues introduced by the artist. This exchange continues to unfold within the space of the work.

We warmly invite you to take this opportunity to view the exhibition.

 

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What comes to mind when you hear the word “next to”?

The dictionary defines it as “the closest among things arranged side by side.”
Yet this relation is not limited to physical proximity; it also appears between inside and outside, before and after in time, and within the continuities of materials and events.

For instance: you and I. A room and light. A painting and a wall.
By simply turning our attention, everything begins to relate to one another, expanding as forms of “next to.”

These relations shift over time, extending into the processes of making, the materials themselves, and the events that surround us.
With even a slight change in perspective, entirely different relationships come into view.

I, too, am shaped by countless instances of “next to”: encounters with people, memories of places, what I have learned, what I like, and what I struggle with.
These layers accumulate to form who I am now.

In my work A Stroke Next To, a “stroke” is not merely a drawn line.
It encompasses each act involved in making—the construction of the wooden frame, stretching the fabric, mounting the washi paper, and adjusting light.
Next to each of these strokes lie colors and colors, materials and supports, painting and light, as well as air and temperature.

To attend to what is “next to” is to observe relationships.
By reconfiguring these relationships aesthetically, subtle shifts and latent poetics within the everyday begin to emerge.

What lies “next to” you?

Keisuke Kagetsu

 

Keisuke Kagetsu  CV

b. 1998, Kagoshima, Japan
Lives and works in Tokyo
MFA in Fine Arts

▪︎Education
2025   MFA, Oil Painting Techniques and Materials, Tokyo University of the Arts
2022   BFA, Oil Painting, Tokyo University of the Arts

▪︎ Selected Exhibitions
2026　Find the Nearby , LOKO GALLERY, Tokyo
2026　Shiori , VALLOON STUDIO, Tokyo
2026　Futurama vol.2 , FOAM CONTEMPORARY, Tokyo
2025　ART SESSION , Ginza Tsutaya Books, Tokyo
2025　Second Signal , biscuit gallery, Tokyo
2025　The 73rd Tokyo University of the Arts Graduation Works Exhibition, Tokyo
2024　Beside a Stroke, POP UP ART GALLERY “MOKUMOKU”, Kanagawa
2024   grid3 , biscuit gallery Karuizawa, Nagano / biscuit gallery, Tokyo
2023　Painting Seeds , gallery10[TOH], Tokyo
2022　The 70th Tokyo University of the Arts Graduation Works Exhibition, Tokyo

▪︎ Awards
2025    O Prize (Tokyo University of the Arts)
2022    Mori Prize (Tokyo University of the Arts）