BIO
Kanako Namura is a multidisciplinary artist whose drawings, prints, collages, and installations explore the interplay between clarity and ambiguity, control, and happenstance. Known for bold colors, primal shapes, and inventive processes, she works methodically with self-invented rules that evoke a sense of creative play. Her recent work makes the subconscious tangible, allowing external conditions to shape the final outcome. Born in Osaka, Japan, she studied in both Japan and the U.S. and lived in Mexico from 2012 to 2019. She is represented by Galería Karen Huber (Mexico City) and has exhibited at Intersect Aspen in the United States, Zona Maco Contemporary Art Fair in Mexico City, and Odeón Contemporary Art Fair in Bogota Colombia. Her work is held in the Brookfield Properties Art Collection and various private collections in Japan, Mexico, and the U.S.
CV
Born in Osaka Japan. Currently based in Osaka Japan.
EDUCATION
2009-2012 MFA, Fine Arts, San Francisco State University, US
1989-1991 BFA, Fiber Arts, Kansas City Art Institute, US
1985-1989 BFA, Graphic Design, Osaka University of Art, JP
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 A Playground Somewhere Between a Dream and Everyday Life, Gallery04 gaiku, Osaka, JP
2023 The Game of Dissolution, Gallery Homage, Osaka, JP
2022 How to Play in the Park, Galería Karen Huber, Project room, Mexico city, MX
2020 How to Play in the Park, Gallery1616, Osaka, JP
2017 Like watching ice melt, Galería Karen Huber, Project room, Mexico city, MX
2015 Acumulación, Galería Karen Huber, Mexico city, MX
2015 Festive, Yebisu Art Labo Gallery, Nagoya, JP
2008 Edging away, Yebisu Art Labo Gallery, Nagoya, JP
2007 Strokes–weaving the body in and out of water, Yebisu Art Labo Gallery, Nagoya, JP
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 (gallery artists group show), Project Room, Galería Karen Huber, Mexico city, MX
2023 Microcosmos, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, US
2023 Alchemy: works on paper, Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, US
2023 Dualism, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, US
2022 Rokko Meets Art Art Walk 2022, Kobe, JP
2022 Focus, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, US
2021 50th Anniversary, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, US
2021 non-painting, Yebisu Art Labo Gallery, Nagoya, JP
2019 Watercolors, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, US
2016 (gallery artists group show), Project Room, Galería Karen Huber, Mexico city, MX
2016 Straight from Mexico City, Ruiz–Healy Art, San Antonio, US
2014 Extrapolación del Lenguaje, Galería Karen Huber, Mexico city, MX
ART FAIRS
2020 Intersect Aspen, represented by Galería Karen Huber, On-line
2017 Zona Maco Contemporary Art Fair, represented by Galería Karen Huber, Mexico city, MX
2016 Odeón Contemporary Art Fair, represented by Galería Karen Huber, Bogota, COL
2015 Odeón Contemporary Art Fair, represented by Galería Karen Huber, Bogota, COL
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
・MOCA OLIVE Hill Top Terrace, The Contemporary Art Museum of Shodoshima, Kagawa JP
・Brookfield Properties Art Collection, New York, US
In various private collections in Japan, Mexico and US
PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
The ten most outstanding works during art week (Bogota Colombia), Exclama, edición 33, 2016
Ángel.Inzunza O, Inspiración, La Cool Mexico, interview by, Sept. 2015 issue