Tatsuo Kawaguchi Solo exhibition “Future Person’s Scribble”
session：2025.11.28fri - 2026.1.17sat 13:00 - 19:00
*closed on Sun, Mon, Tue and public holidays.
*winter holidays: 2024.12.28sun - 2026.1.6tue venue：SNOW Contemporary / 404 Hayano Bldg. 2-13-12 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
opening reception : 2025.11.28fri 17:00 - 19:00
SNOW Contemporary will present Tatsuo Kawaguchi's “Graffiti of Future Humans,” his 10th solo exhibition at our gallery, from Friday, November 28, 2025, to Saturday, January 17, 2026.
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1940, Tatsuo Kawaguchi creates works centered on the ‘relationships’ between various elements such as energy, time, life, and the universe. His body of work has been presented through unique methods, unconstrained by existing media or forms of expression. This includes combining natural materials like plants, water, and air with metals such as lead and iron, or employing techniques like heating and corrosion during the creative process.
Beginning his public exhibitions in the 1960s, he formed the group “i” with other Kobe-based artists in 1965. He has exhibited internationally, receiving high acclaim at shows such as “Between Man and Matter” (1970), the 8th Paris Biennale (1973), and the “Magiciens de la Terre [Magicians of the Earth]” exhibition at the Centre Pompidou (1989). In 1982, he began the “Relation - Seed” series. Initially, Kawaguchi created works encasing plant seeds in copper.
However, following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, he replaced copper with lead, which blocks radiation. That same year as the Chernobyl accident, Kawaguchi sealed over 170 types of seeds in lead within “Relation - Seed” (1986).
In 1995, during the creation of ““Relationship - Lead Greenhouse, Dandelion of HIROSHIMA,” exhibited at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art for the “After HIROSHIMA: Message from Contemporary Art” exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombings, Kawaguchi began focusing on non-human beings—cats, dogs, wild birds, and plants—exposed to the atomic bomb created by humans.
The origin of the works in this exhibition, the “Future Person’s Scribble” series, dates back to 1973—52 years ago—when Kawaguchi's son, then one year old, picked up a pencil on drawing paper and began drawing something.
“A future person, not yet able to write, drew something on a sheet of paper. I could not judge or understand what that drawing was, yet I felt captivated by an inexplicable charm. So, for now, I decided to call what was drawn a scribble. Thus, ‘Future Person's Scribble’ was born.” (Tatsuo Kawaguchi “Future Person’s Scribble”)
Thus, captivated by the lines drawn by his one-year-old child, and seeking answers to the questions that arose, Kawaguchi confronted “Future Person’s Scribbles.” Then, in 2010, when Kawaguchi's first grandchild turned one, his exploration of this work reignited. Across two generations, the artist continued to challenge himself and ask questions.
Over and over, he placed tracing paper over “Future Person's Scribbles” and traced the lines drawn by the one-year-old. Through this process, Kawaguchi arrived at an answer to a certain question. “As I traced sheet after sheet, it struck me that the child wasn't actually drawing ‘something’ at all. Rather, the very act of ‘drawing’ itself seemed to be the primary purpose. Nothing more, nothing less. It was the most fulfilling expression of being alive, directly connected to life itself. That act was ‘living’ itself. In other words, the scribbles seemed directly connected to being ‘alive.’” (Tatsuo Kawaguchi “Future Person’s Scribble”)
This exhibition features eight two-dimensional works and one three-dimensional work. A catalog, including texts written specifically for this exhibition by Tatsuo Kawaguchi, Noi Sawaragi, and Yoko Watanabe, will be available for purchase.
We warmly invite you to view these works that stem from Kawaguchi's lifetime of work, created through the artist’s perspective and inquiry.
session：2025.11.28fri - 2026.1.17sat 13:00 - 19:00
*closed on Sun, Mon, Tue and public holidays.
*winter holidays: 2024.12.28sun - 2026.1.6tue venue：SNOW Contemporary / 404 Hayano Bldg. 2-13-12 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
opening reception : 2025.11.28fri 17:00 - 19:00
SNOW Contemporary will present Tatsuo Kawaguchi's “Graffiti of Future Humans,” his 10th solo exhibition at our gallery, from Friday, November 28, 2025, to Saturday, January 17, 2026.
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1940, Tatsuo Kawaguchi creates works centered on the ‘relationships’ between various elements such as energy, time, life, and the universe. His body of work has been presented through unique methods, unconstrained by existing media or forms of expression. This includes combining natural materials like plants, water, and air with metals such as lead and iron, or employing techniques like heating and corrosion during the creative process.
Beginning his public exhibitions in the 1960s, he formed the group “i” with other Kobe-based artists in 1965. He has exhibited internationally, receiving high acclaim at shows such as “Between Man and Matter” (1970), the 8th Paris Biennale (1973), and the “Magiciens de la Terre [Magicians of the Earth]” exhibition at the Centre Pompidou (1989). In 1982, he began the “Relation - Seed” series. Initially, Kawaguchi created works encasing plant seeds in copper.
However, following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, he replaced copper with lead, which blocks radiation. That same year as the Chernobyl accident, Kawaguchi sealed over 170 types of seeds in lead within “Relation - Seed” (1986).
In 1995, during the creation of ““Relationship - Lead Greenhouse, Dandelion of HIROSHIMA,” exhibited at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art for the “After HIROSHIMA: Message from Contemporary Art” exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombings, Kawaguchi began focusing on non-human beings—cats, dogs, wild birds, and plants—exposed to the atomic bomb created by humans.
The origin of the works in this exhibition, the “Future Person’s Scribble” series, dates back to 1973—52 years ago—when Kawaguchi's son, then one year old, picked up a pencil on drawing paper and began drawing something.
“A future person, not yet able to write, drew something on a sheet of paper. I could not judge or understand what that drawing was, yet I felt captivated by an inexplicable charm. So, for now, I decided to call what was drawn a scribble. Thus, ‘Future Person's Scribble’ was born.” (Tatsuo Kawaguchi “Future Person’s Scribble”)
Thus, captivated by the lines drawn by his one-year-old child, and seeking answers to the questions that arose, Kawaguchi confronted “Future Person’s Scribbles.” Then, in 2010, when Kawaguchi's first grandchild turned one, his exploration of this work reignited. Across two generations, the artist continued to challenge himself and ask questions.
Over and over, he placed tracing paper over “Future Person's Scribbles” and traced the lines drawn by the one-year-old. Through this process, Kawaguchi arrived at an answer to a certain question. “As I traced sheet after sheet, it struck me that the child wasn't actually drawing ‘something’ at all. Rather, the very act of ‘drawing’ itself seemed to be the primary purpose. Nothing more, nothing less. It was the most fulfilling expression of being alive, directly connected to life itself. That act was ‘living’ itself. In other words, the scribbles seemed directly connected to being ‘alive.’” (Tatsuo Kawaguchi “Future Person’s Scribble”)
This exhibition features eight two-dimensional works and one three-dimensional work. A catalog, including texts written specifically for this exhibition by Tatsuo Kawaguchi, Noi Sawaragi, and Yoko Watanabe, will be available for purchase.
We warmly invite you to view these works that stem from Kawaguchi's lifetime of work, created through the artist’s perspective and inquiry.
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