TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY is pleased to present “Never-ending,” a solo exhibition by Naosuke Wada.

Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1983, Wada completed his MFA at Kyoto University of Art and Design (now Kyoto University of the Arts) in 2013. After several years of working from Kyoto, he is currently based in Osaka, where he continues to develop his practice with remarkable energy and precision.

What distinguishes Wada’s work is his distinctive pictorial language that revisits the classical glazing technique — the method of layering thin, translucent coats of pigment — to explore the phenomena of light and space. His use of highly transparent mediums produces layers of color imbued with subtle depth and luminosity, creating a unique sense of clarity that seems to contain light itself. Depending on the viewer’s distance and perspective, the forms and hues subtly shift, evoking a visual experience of fluidity reminiscent of drifting glaciers. By incorporating the layered structures of memory and time and sublimating them into painting, Wada invites viewers to reconsider the very act of seeing.

In his first solo exhibition in 2022, Wada developed this pictorial structure further by introducing physical transformations — such as material loss, absence, contraction, and distortion — into the surface of the work, expanding his painting practice into a new dimension. In 2023, he co-organized and exhibited in the duo exhibition “Sessa – Evidence of Painting IV” with Atsuo Suzuki, where both artists oversaw the exhibition concept and installation to articulate their respective approaches to painting through the format of the show itself. More recently, Wada participated in “Intervals,” a three-gallery joint project launched in 2024 between Tokyo, Osaka, and Seoul, and is scheduled to present new works in Seoul next year — drawing increasing attention to his evolving practice.

In this exhibition, his first in approximately three years, Wada turns his focus toward the notion of “trimming,” an element that has intersected with his process over time, and examines it with renewed awareness. In his previous solo exhibition, he incorporated physical absences and ruptures along the borders of the pictorial plane — “disappearances” and “voids” — to generate tension and distortion, leaving the act of visual completion to the viewer’s imagination. This time, by referencing existing images and extracting partial fragments from them, he explores how new images can proliferate infinitely from a single source, aligning this generative process with his own established methods of creation.

Reflecting on his approach to this exhibition, Wada notes:

“I wanted to focus on the sensory aspects that arise during the process of creation itself. Rather than concentrating solely on conceptual reflection, I wished to engage with painting through the very actions and intervals that bring a work into being.”

While many painters pursue originality, none are entirely free from the influence of art history. Wada’s practice in this exhibition can be understood as an attempt to recalibrate his relationship with that historical lineage. At the same time, it offers a self-reflective inquiry into his own understanding of painting, proposing a critical lens through which to reconsider the act of painting itself.

We invite you to take this opportunity to experience Wada’s ever-evolving exploration of the possibilities of painting.