HAGIWARA PROJECTS | Paris Internationale

HAGIWARA PROJECTS

HAGIWARA PROJECTS is a contemporary art gallery founded in Tokyo in 2013. We focus on emerging and mid-career Japanese and international artists.
The gallery believe in the unique ability of art to express ideas and insights that words alone cannot fully capture, and we aim to share this depth through our exhibitions. We also invite guest curators to organize thematic shows, contributing to the broader Japanese art scene.
At HAGIWARA PROJECTS, we value the creative drive of artists—a force that may be imperfect, yet deeply valuable. In a world increasingly shaped by both diversity and division, we strive to be a place where universal expressions connect people across boundaries.

1-13-6-1F Tokiwa, Koto-ku
Tokyo 1350006 Japan

Yohei Watanabe - © ©Yohei Watanabe Courtesy of Hagiwara Projects, Paris Internationale

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair
2024

Yohei Watanabe
*Ideal Chair #28* 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25020 - © ©Yohei Watanabe Courtesy of Hagiwara Projects, Paris Internationale

Watanabe presents his inquiry into the ways we perceive the world through a diverse range of media, including photography, painting, sculpture, and occasionally performance. His works investigate how we visually organize and interpret things by fragmentarily arranging various elements—such as phenomena of reflection, transparency, light, and shadow, as well as traces of dripping paint, stains, or gestures of hanging.

The theme of his practice is the “segmentation of seeing.” The act of dividing the world is, by nature, subjective and fragmentary, interwoven with spatial and temporal awareness through coordinates and multiple viewpoints. Each fragment expands, forming new connections in the process.

The presentation includes a series of paintings employing the glaze technique. By layering transparent pigments, Watanabe creates deep, complex hues. In this series, Watanabe depicts his own chair from an angle where only three of its four legs are visible. The colors of the lower layers overlap with the transparent leg, oscillating between presence and invisibility. Watanabe’s practice offers viewers a multilayered sensory experience through the active engagement of seeing.

Selected exhibitions include 7-2-3-9-6-12 (solo), CADAN Yurakucho, Tokyo, 2024; spoon (solo), HAGIWARA PROJECTS, Tokyo, 2023; Lavender Hair, imlabor, Tokyo, 2021; The Mug Blues, LAVENDER OPENER CHAIR, Tokyo, 2020; Giant Chorus (solo), HAGIWARA PROJECTS, Tokyo, 2019; 4 boxes and pyramids, 4649, Tokyo, 2018; Ultramarine, Kodama Gallery, Tokyo, 2017; The Cat’s Texture, the Light that Turns Clouds Inside Out (solo), KomagomeSOKO, Tokyo, 2017

Yohei Watanabe
*Ideal Chair #24* 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25016 - © ©Yohei Watanabe Courtesy of Hagiwara Projects, Paris Internationale

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #9 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25001

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #10 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25002

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #11 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25003

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #12 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25004

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #13 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25005

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #14 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25006

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #15 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25007

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #16 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25008

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #17 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25009

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #18 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25010

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #19 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25011

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #20 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25012

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #21 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25013

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #22 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25014

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #23 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25015

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #24 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25016

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #25 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25017

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #26 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25018

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #27 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25019

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #28 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25020

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #29 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25021

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #30 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25022

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #31 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25023

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #32 2025
oil on canvas
27.5 x 35.3 cm, 10.8 x 13.9 inches
HP-YW25024

Yohei Watanabe
Ideal Chair #33 2025
oil on canvas
22.5 x 27.3 cm, 8.8 x 10.7 inches
HP-YW25025

2019 HAGIWARA PROJECTS

2023 HAGIWARA PROJECTS

2024 CADAN Yurakucho