Akira Otsubo
OVERVIEW
1979 Born in Hyogo Prefecture
2002 BA in Clinical Psychology, Kyoto Bunkyo University
2011 MFA in Intermedia Art, Tokyo University of the Arts
2013 MA in Department of Fine Arts (Photography), Academy of Arts,
Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM)
After studying clinical psychology as an undergraduate, Otsubo went to graduate school of fine arts. Later, as a government-sponsored student, she entered the Academy of Fine Arts in the Czech Republic, where she studied photography as a form of contemporary art.
The artist analyzes and researches found photographs, archive images, and official documents, and creates artworks by using these materials. By adding fictional manipulations to photographs and videos, she attempts to present historical facts as allegorical memories. In recent years, she also devotes herself to academic researching at the university and writing texts while working as an artist.
Awards
2017 Japan Photo Award (selected by Reiko Tsubaki), Japan
Grand Prix, 6th EMON AWARD, Tokyo, Japan
2016 KYOTOGRAPHIE KG+ public award (ozasahayashi_project_KYOTO ART HOSTEL kumagusuku), Kyoto, Japan
2015 Miki Jun Inspiration Award, Japan
2014 Special examiner Prize (selected by Shigeo Goto), TOKYO FRONTLINE PHOTO AWARD, Tokyo, Japan
2010 Special Examiner Prize (selected by Yasumasa Morimura), MIO PHOTO AWARD, Osaka, Japan
HISTORY
2020 “Grayscale” Bloom Gallery, Osaka, Japan
2019 “Shadow in the House” PORT ART&DESIGN TSUYAMA, Okayama, Japan
2018 “Shadow in the House” Bloom Gallery, Osaka, Japan
“Shadow in the House” Lights Gallery, Aichi, Japan
“Shadow in the House” Kyoto City University of Arts at KCUA, Archival Research Center, Kyoto, Japan
“Shadow in the House” organized by Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, Art Lab Aichi, Aichi, Japan
2017 “6th EMON AWARD EXHIBITION ‘Portrait and Crowd’”
EMON PHOTO GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
“Remembrance of Names” Bloom Gallery, Osaka, Japan
2016 “Memories and Records” ELEKTROKARDIOGRAMM, Okayama, Japan
“Code of Shadow” LADS GALLERY, Osaka, Japan
“Code of Shadow” ozasahayashi_project, ART HOSTEL kumagusuku, KYOTOGRAPHIE KG+, Kyoto, Japan
2015 “Shadow in the House #01/#02” Nikon Salon, Tokyo/Osaka, Japan
“Hidden Memories” MUNIKAT Gallery, Munich, Germany
2022 “HIBIYA OKUROJI PHOTO FAIR 2022” HIBIYA OKUROJI
(Bloom Gallery), Tokyo, Japan
2021 “Asama International Photo Festival” PHOTO KOMORO, Nagano, Japan
“Incheon Open Port International Photo & Film Festival, The 7th
International University Student & Professor Photo & Film Exhibition,”
Incheon, Korea
2020 “’Foreign Land, Same Sky’ Japan and Korea University Photography Invitational Exhibition” Shandong University of Art & Design Museum, Jinan, China
“’Daisy Chain’ TOKAS Creator-in-Residence 2020 Exhibition” TOKAS Hongo, Tokyo, Japan
2019 “Culture City of East Asia 2019 Incheon Photography and Film Festival” Wako University, Incheon, Korea
2018 “Sanctuary” LADS Gallery, Osaka, Japan
“JAPAN PHOTO AWARD 2017 Exhibition” KYOTOGRAPHIE KG＋
Hotel Anteroom Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
“NEW JAPAN PHOTO 5 & JAPAN PHOTO AWARD 2017 Exhibition”
Dubai, UAE
2017 “Red Brick Gallery Photography Exhibition”
Higashikawa International Photo Festival, Hokkaido, Japan
“Memories and Records”, ASHIYA SCHULE, Hyogo, Japan
“Showroom Collection” Bloom Gallery, Osaka, Japan
2016 “ISSP FINAL Exhibition” Kuldiga, Latvia
“Memory and Information” KNOWLEDGE SALON Creative Gallery,
Osaka, Japan
“Director’s choice #01” Bloom Gallery, Osaka, Japan
2015 “’Recollect, Gaze, Material in Common’ Czech-Japanese Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition” Zuiun-an, Kyoto, Japan, Czech Centre Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
“Spectrum” Bloom Gallery, Osaka, Japan
“Akira Otsubo×Hayato Nishimura Exhibition” M2 gallery, Tokyo, Japan
WORKS
NEWS
N project Renewal Opening Exhibition: Akira Otsubo “The Other Side of the Curtain”
NUKAGA GALLERY OSAKA will be renamed as N project. For our inaugural exhibition, we are thrilled to present Akira Otsuboʼs solo exhibition “The Other Side of the Curtain” from June 9 (Fri) to June 29 (Thu), 2023. Akira Otsubo studied clinical psychology and then studied photography as a form of contemporary art at the Academy
NUKAGA GALLERY OSAKA will reopen as N project!
NUKAGA GALLERY OSAKA has changed its name to N project and will hold Akira Otsubo’s solo exhibition ” The Other Side of the Curtain” as the renewal opening exhibition from June 9 (Fri.) to 29 (Thu.), 2023. Please take this opportunity to visit this new space.