The narrative environmental scenes painted by Ken Matsubara (b. 1948) combine natural pigments and materials on delicate washi paper, constructing immersive and multidimensional atmospheres from classical Buddhist imagery. Matsubara's works have exhibited by the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he won the museum's top award in 1977. Exhibitions of Matsubara's scenes have traveled throughout Japan, Europe, and the United States. His pieces are included in esteemed collections such as the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Matsubara was born in 1948 in Kamiimachi, Toyama Prefecture in Japan.
Solo Exhibitions
1980 ‘Ken ‘80’, Kunugi Gallery (Tokyo)
Chigasaki Citizens Cultural Center (Kanagawa)
1982 Athens Gallery (Tokyo)
1984 ‘Chaos’, Kunugi Gallery (Tokyo)
1986 Sairin Gallery (Kanagawa)
1988 Gallery MOVE (Kanagawa)
Gallery CenterPoint (Tokyo)
"Sounds in the Air" at Sairin Gallery (Kanagawa)
1989 Gallery Moe (Tokyo)
1991 Ceratopia Toki Ceramic Wall Solo Exhibition, Gallery Shiranue (Gifu)
1992 Gallery Shiél (Tochigi)
Gallery Quattro Cats (Tochigi)
Gallery SICOH (Tokyo)
Gallery Freedom Space (Kanagawa)
Shinsakuramachi Gallery (Toyama)
1993 Gallery Art Robe (Tokyo)
Itamuro tourist hotel Daikokuya (Tochigi)
Gallery Hirose (Kagawa)
Gallery Shiēl (Tochigi)
Shinsakuramachi Gallery (Toyama)
1994 Gallery Kan (Fukushima)
Gallery Hiratsuka (Kanagawa)
Shinsakuramachi Gallery (Toyama)
Gallery SICOH (Tokyo)
1995 Gallery Freedom Space (Kanagawa)
Gallery Art Robe (Tokyo)
1996 Kitanihon, Northern Japan Monthly Art at Kitanihon Shinbunsha Gallery
1997 The Special Event at Shoo Museum of Arts (Okayama) Meiji-no-Yakata (Tochigi)
G. WING Gallery (Ishikawa)
Milestone . Artworks/ Shinsakuramachi Gallery (Toyama)
1998 Gallery Kan (Fukushima)
Sampôji Temple Hanamidō (Kanagawa)
1999 Gallery Shiranui (Gifu)
2000 Salon de Vamhou (Okayama)
Hotel Hilton Tokyo (Tokyo)
2001 Gallery Tas Tas (Tochigi)
Milestone . Artworks (Toyama)
2002 THE HOUSE VOL. 12 ‘Ken Matsubara Art Exhibition’, Office K2 (Tokyo)
2003 Salon de Vamhou & Art Garden (Okayama)
2005 ‘WABI Exhibition’, Gallery MA (Tochigi)
‘WABI Exhibition’, Milestone Artworks (Toyama)
Gallery Tas Tas (Tochigi)
Gallery Chikuonki (Tochigi)
2006 ‘Ken Matsubara Technique Mixte,’, Espace Culture Bertin Poirée (Paris)
‘Ken Matsubara Exhibition’, Cologne Gallery TKW20 (Germany)
2007 Gallery Sho (Osaka)
‘Water-Earth’, Milestone Artworks (Toyama)
2008 ‘Earth-Water,’ Gallery SICOH (Tokyo)
‘Shoujyou-Ruten – Metempsychosis,’ Toyama Museum of Modern Art
Taikōyama Furusato Gallery (Toyama)
2011 Milestone Artworks (Toyama)
Gallery Ueda (Tokyo)
2012 Kakiden Gallery (Tokyo)
Gallery Tas Tas (Tochigi)
Gallery Chikuonki (Tochigi)
Salon de Vamhou / Naramura Gallery (Okayama)
2013 Gallery SICOH (Tokyo)
2014 ‘TAMAYURA’, GALLERY IN THE BLUE (Tochigi)
G. WING Gallery (Ishikawa)
2015 Ohno House (Tokyo)
Ginza Ippodo Gallery (Tokyo)
2016 Kakiden Gallery (Tokyo)
Ippodo Gallery New York (New York)
Salon de Vamhou (Okayama)
Gallery NOW (Okayama)
2018 Kakiden Gallery (Tokyo)
2019 Wako Hall (Tokyo)
‘KUKAI: Sun and Moon’ at Ippodo Gallery New York (New York)
2020 Genra Art (Ishikawa)
‘Jitsu Getsu Kukai-zu’ at Ginza Ippodo Gallery (Tokyo)
Group Exhibitions
1973 Dokuritsu Bijyutsu exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Tokyo)
1977 Dai-ichi Bijyutsu Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Tokyo)
1979 Japan and France Modern Art Exhibition, Grand Palais National Museum of Art
(Paris), Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Kyoto City Museum of Art
Kanagawa Prefecture Art Exhibition, Kenmin Hall Gallery (Kanagawa)
1987 Grand Prize Exhibition, Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo)
INF International Art Exhibition (Peoples’s Republic of China / Kobe)
Tokyo Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Tokyo)
1988 Japanese Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Tokishi Bunka Plaza (Gifu)
Maquette Exhibition, Tokishi Bunka Plaza (Gifu)
1989 Spanish Art Award Exhibition, Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (Spain)
1990 Leading Artist of the Next Generation, Hakone Open-Air Museum (Kanagawa)
1991 Art of Toyama, Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design (Toyama)
1994 Super Project Ichrio Hosoya and Ken Matsubara Kuroiso Cultural Hall (Tochigi)
1995 Art of Toyama ’95, The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama (Toyama)
1996 Saka-no-Machi Art Festival YATUO (Toyama)
1997 Japan and Korea Art Exchange Exhibition (Seoul)
1998 Performing Arts – Chikako Ogura Concert, Casals Hall (Tokyo)
Roadside Station Aoki (Tochigi)
1999 Korea and Japan Painting Exchange Exhibition (Tokyo / Seoul)
Open Studio ART WALK ’99 (Tochigi)
Performing Arts – Gagaku Evening (Gifu)
Saka-no-Machi Art YATUO (Toyama)
2000 Milestone Artworks (Toyama)
Asian Art Now, Metropolitan Gallery Las Vegas Art Museum, (Las Vegas)
Performing Arts – Terumasa Hino Quartet, Kuroiso Cultural Hall (Tochigi)
2004 Performing Arts / Katengetchi – Flowers Blooming in Moonlight (Toyama)
2007 Ken Matsubara and his Friends, Salon de Vamhou (Okayama)
2009 Schule im Berg, Nasu Niki Club (Tochigi)
2018 ‘Ken Matsubara and Toshiya Shimozawa’, Ginza Ippodo Gallery (Tokyo)
2020 Salon de Vamhou (Okayama)
Awards
1977 Dai-ichi Bijyutsu Award, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Tokyo)
1979 Prefectural Assembly Chairman’s Award at the Kanagawa Prefecture Art
Exhibition, Kanagawa Kenmin Hall Gallery (Kanagawa)
1987 Special Award, INF International Art Exhibition (PRC/Kobe)
1988 Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition Award at the Japanese Contemporary
Ceramics Maquette Exhibition, Tokishi Bunka Plaza (Gifu)
Outstanding performance Award at the Japanese Contemporary Ceramics
Exhibition, Tokishi Bunka Plaza (Gifu)
Public Collection
1980 Chigasaki Cultural Center (Kanagawa)
Fukugonji Temple (Fukui)
1987 Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo)
1988 Toki Municipal General Hospital (Gifu)
1990 Sengokuhara Chōanji Temple (Kanagawa)
1991 Tōheki – Ceramic Wall, Ceratopia Toki (Gifu)
The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama (Toyama)
1992 Headquarters of the National University Co-op. (Tokyo)
1993 Utsunomiya City Shiroyama District Civic Center (Tochigi)
1994 Ota City Funeral Home (Gunma)
1995 Kasama Inari Jinja, Sanshū-den Gathering Hall (Ibaraki)
Toyama City Hall (Toyama)
1996 Aubade Hall (Toyama)
1997 Kuroiso Municipal Office (Tochigi)
1999 Amabiki Sanraku Hôji Temple (Ibaraki)
Tokishi Bunka Plaza (Gifu)
Satake Memorial Hall, Hiroshima University (Hiroshima)
2001 Tono City Community Center, Aeria Tono (Iwate)
2006 JA Kyosai Makuhari Business Support Inc. (Chiba)
Soto sect Ryukokuzan Shogakuji Temple (Ibaraki)
2012 Nasu Res Cross Hospital (Tochigi)
2016 Fujiyama Museum (Yamanashi)
2020 “Gengetsu – Crescent Moon”, Philadelphia Museum of Art (Pennsylvania)
Corporate Collection
1989 Nippon Life Insurance Company (Chiba)
1992 KDD Golf Country Club (Tochigi)
Mitsubishi Corporation, Bangkok branch (Thailand)
Art Hotel Osaka Bay Tower (Osaka)
1993 NTT Urban Development Otemachi 1st Square (Tokyo)
JR Hotel Clement (Tokushima)
Resort Trust XIV Yamanakako (Shizuoka)
Hotel New Otani Makuhari (Chiba)
Hotel Agora Regency Osaka Sakai (Osaka)
1994 Itamuro Tourist Hotel Daikokuya (Tochigi)
1995 Okura Akademia Park Hotel (Chiba)
Hotel Okura JR Huis Ten Bosch (Nagasaki)
Izu Ginsui (Shizuoka)
1996 Hotel Atollemerald Miyakojima (Okinawa)
Japanese Restaurant Nada Man Beijing Exhibition (Beijing)
1997 Komatsu MEC Corporation (Tochigi)
Nihon Propolis Corporation (Tokyo)
ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel (Hokkaido)
Karatsu Seaside Hotel (Saga)
Okinawa Harborview Hotel (Okinawa)
Hotel Granvia Kyoto (Kyoto)
Hotel Hamamatsucho (Tokyo)
Kobe Laguna Garden Hotel (Kobe)
Nihon Sports Academy (Nagasaki)
Kaga Mansion (Tokyo)
1998 Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba (Tokyo)
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts (Singapore)
ANA Intercontinental Ishigaki Resort (Okinawa)
Asahi Shinkin Bank
Yomogino Ryokan (Fukushima)
1999 Hotel Okura Hakata (Fukuoka)
Resort Trust XIV Tateshina (Nagano)
Hotel Okura Tokyo (Tokyo)
Seaside Hotel Asuka (Niigata)
2000 Sun Members Saga (Kyoto)
Atami Resorpia (Shizuoka)
Fuji Film Health Insurance (Shizuoka)
2001 Resort Trust XIV Naruto (Tokushima)
UOKI CO., LTD (Kanagawa)
ANA Crowne Plaza Shanghai (Shanghai)
2002 Hotel Marinoa Resort Fukuoka (Fukuoka)
Komatsu Ltd. Mo-oka Factory (Tochigi)
2003 LUMINE Ogikubo (Tokyo)
2004 Hotel Villa Fontaine Grand Shiodome (Tokyo)
La Tour Shiodome (Tokyo)
2006 JA Kyosai Makuhari Business Support Inc. (Chiba)
Noble Court Hirakawacho (Tokyo)
Oriental Hills Okinawa (Okinawa)
Gran Creer Fujigaoka (Kanagawa)
2007 KPEC (Tochigi)
2008 Village Kyoto (Kyoto)
2009 KPEC (Tochigi)
2010 La Tour Shibuya (Tokyo)
2015 Fairmont Jakarta (Indonesia)
2016 Minaguchiya Gallery (Shizuoka)
2018 Hotel Mystays Premier Sapporo Park (Hokkaido)
Hakodate Kokusai Hotel (Hokkaido)
KOBELCO Mo-oka Shinko Ryo (Tochigi)
2019 Brillia Ichibancho Entrance Hall (Tokyo)
2020 Fusaki Beach Resort Hotel and Spa Ishigaki
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Cosmic Sound
Master Paintings by Ken Matsubara 14 Mar - 4 Apr 2024Exhibition opens March 14, 2024 coinciding with Asia Week 2024. Opening Reception: March 14, 5 PM to 8 PM. All visitors are welcome: Thurs.—Sat. 11 AM to 6 PM. Gallery...Read more -
Extreme Surfaces: Cutting Edge Kogei
Ippodo Gallery's Premiere at Design Miami 2022 + New Year Exhibition 30 Nov 2022 - 16 Feb 2023Ippodo Galleryis a pioneering kogei-focused gallery based in Tokyo and New York. Our mission is to honor the living tradition of Japanese fine art in the contemporary world by cultivating...Read more -
Chaos to the Cosmos: White Road between Two Rivers
Paintings by Ken Matsubara 10 Mar - 14 Apr 2022White Road The echo of the wind, the sound of water, a full moon floating in a mysterious blue sky, the cries of wild beasts that agitate the ripples of...Read more -
Moonlit Night
A selection of crafts that celebrates this Otsukimi season 2 Sep - 5 Oct 2021The Moon and Japan The moon can be seen faintly against the blue sky as the sun goes down. The waxing and waning of the moon have long appealed to...Read more -
Kogei: The Art of Japanese craft
Summer Selections from Ippodo Gallery, New York 5 - 27 Aug 2021The Japanese festival of Obon ( お盆) traces back to ancient Chinese and Buddhist rituals that honor one’s ancestors. It is believe that this time every year, the ancestor’s spirits...Read more -
Kukai : Sun and Moon
Paintings by Ken Matsubara | Grand Opening Exhibition at 32 E 67th street gallery 10 Oct - 22 Nov 2019Benevolent Painting The Kuroshio Current that flows along Japan’s south-eastern coastline creates powerful eddies around the sunken rocks while the raging waves thunder against the coast, raising fine spray. The...Read more -
Distillation
Paintings by Ken Matsubara 12 May - 10 Jun 2016“When the ability to express emotion was acquired, that is when man became human. I would like to get back to this starting point. If my paintings strike a...Read more
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Opening Reception, Asia Week 2024
Cosmic Sound: Master Paintings by Ken Matsubara, featuring Nō drummer Shonosuke Okura 14 Mar 2024SPECIAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE Shonosuke Okura will perform an otsuzumi drum accompaniment during the opening reception. The acclaimed Nō musician is the 15th generation...Read more -
Design Miami 2022
Extreme Surfaces: Cutting Edge Kogei 30 Nov - 4 Dec 2022Design Miami 2022Read more -
Opening Reception - Wednesday, March 16, 5 - 9pm
Chaos to Cosmos: White Road between Two Rivers 16 Mar 2022Special Opening Reception NEW YORK- Ippodo Gallery welcomes you to Chaos to Cosmos: White Road between Two Rivers, Paintings by Ken Matsubara. Please join...Read more
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Chaos (1983) at Minneapolis Institute of Art
Ken Matsubara's Buddhist Masterwork August 30, 2023Ken Matsubara (1948-present), Chaos - 屏風「カオス」(A23380) Ippodo Gallery is pleased to announce the forthcoming opening of Chaos: Ken Matsubara's Buddhist Masterwork at the Minneapolis Institute...Read more -
Year in Review
Reflecting on the Exhibitions of 2022 January 4, 2023Yukiya Izumita, “Stream of Time” 2022 began with Yukiya Izumita’s “Layers of Time,” an impressive showing of the artist’s newest works. The ceramicist began...Read more -
Matsubara's White Road
An Essay by Shoko Aono March 18, 2022The echo of the wind, the sound of water, a full moon floating in a mysterious blue sky, the cries of wild beasts that agitate...Read more