what we told ourselves

KOTARO NUKAGA Tennoz is pleased to present Keita Morimoto’s solo exhibition ‘what we told ourselves‘ from January 17 to March 7, 2026. Keita Morimoto has continuously referenced baroque paintings and early 20th-century American realism in his work, depicting artificial sources of illumination, such as streetlights, neon signs, and the glow from a vending machine in dramatic chiaroscuro. His juxtaposition of light and shadow pins down the ephemeral narratives hidden within everyday landscapes of the contemporary city. After two and a half years since his previous solo exhibition at KOTARO NUKAGA, ‘A Little Closer’—in which the artist captured a more intimate atmosphere by tightening the distance between himself and his subjects—Morimoto’s gaze once again turns to the street corners of the city, transforming seemingly unremarkable locations into sites where the complexities of contemporary society intersect.