{"id":2380,"date":"2025-11-15T19:01:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T10:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/?p=2380"},"modified":"2026-02-05T18:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T09:22:15","slug":"motoyoshikuni_en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/exhibition\/en\/motoyoshikuni_en\/","title":{"rendered":"Moto Yoshikuni \u201cDEEP RIVER\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\uff3bJP<\/a>\uff3d<\/p>\n

PAST EXHIBITION<\/p>\n

Moto Yoshikuni \u201cDEEP RIVER\u201d <\/h1>\n

Friday, November 21 \u2013 Saturday, December 13<\/del>\u3000Saturday, December 20, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

\u00a9 Moto Yoshikuni<\/p>\n

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Moto Yoshikuni \u201cDEEP RIVER\u201d
\nFriday, November 21 \u2013 Saturday, December 13<\/del>\u3000Saturday, December 20, 2025, 13:00\u201319:00
\nClosed on Sundays, Mondays and Holidays.
\nVenue\uff1aLAG (LIVE ART GALLERY)
\nDaiwa Jingumae Bldg. 1F, 2-4-11 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001
\nTALK EVENT\uff1aSaturday, November 22, 16:30\u201318:00 <\/strong>
\nOPENING RECEPTION\uff1aSaturday, November 22, 18:00\u201319:00 <\/strong>
\nPlanning Cooperation\uff1aChinatsu Shimizu\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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LAG is pleased to announce the solo exhibition \u201cDEEP RIVER\u201d by Moto Yoshikuni, on view from Friday, November 21 to Saturday, December 20, 2025. <\/p>\n

Born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1986, moving to Japan in 1996, Yoshikuni depicts his personal experiences and takes in the stories of others, in a practice dominated by paintings and publications. In 2020 he launched MOTO magazine, which brings together the experiences of Africans living in Japan, in their own words, in 2025 publishing the third issue of the magazine (Live Art Books). In March 2026 Yoshikuni will also take part in the exhibition \u201cBlow Like a Monsoon\u2014Contemporary Afro-Asian Arts with Great Journey and Exchange\u201d at The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu. <\/p>\n

DEEP RIVER will present new work by Yoshikuni, based on projects since 2023\u2019s \u201cArrival\u201d series. Though conscious of the limitations occasioned by overarching frameworks like the nation state, and national borders, \u201cDeep River\u201d will offer, as paintings, ideas and emotions that are universal. Many of Yoshikuni\u2019s works portray people, and taking as their departure point these people and their relationships to the artist, reverberate with history, society, and the memories etched on that place, highlighting multilayered circumstances and conjuring up myriad thoughts and images for the viewer. <\/p>\n

During the exhibition period, on Saturday, November 22, we will host a talk event titled \u201cTracing the DEEP RIVER,\u201d featuring writer and translator Sora Enomoto. The event will be limited to 40 participants and requires advance registration.
\nWe warmly invite you to join us for this special occasion. <\/p>\n

 
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\u2014Artist Statement\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Deep River, Lord, I wanna cross over into campground <\/p>\n

\u2014Negro spiritual <\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nFrom 2023 or so, less busy with the production and exhibition of my colored pencil series \u201cArrival,\u201d I decided it was time to revisit where I myself had come from. Around this time I started talking to Zimbabweans who had moved to Japan, and writing down their words. These were eventually compiled into MOTO magazine Vol. 003 (June 2025), and here is what I wrote in the afterword: <\/p>\n

\u201cConsider the trajectories of human migration, like coins dropped and scattered on the ground. What is it that governs our lives? Can we never escape control by the state, money, passport? Is there no choice but to conform? Yet still each of us finds ingenious ways to be ourselves, whatever our station in life; our thoughts far away, hoping those precious to us are living their own best lives.\u201d <\/p>\n

There are people whose lives remain rooted in their place of birth (not necessarily by choice), and people forced to leave their home for a life elsewhere. I gave the magazine the subtitle in Japanese of konkyochi meaning \u201cbase,\u201d but chose \u201cDeep River\u201d for the title of this exhibition of drawings from 2025 out of a desire to connect to others by touching on consciousness and emotion as undercurrents of history. <\/p>\n

\u201cDeep River\u201d refers to the tranquil flow of time in the manner of an ancient river, and to the anticipation of convergence with distant places and people. I too wanna cross that river.
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Moto Yoshikuni <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n

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PROFILE<\/h2>\n

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Moto Yoshikuni <\/b><\/p>\n

\nArtist. Born in 1986 in Harare, Zimbabwe. Moved to Japan in 1996. Graduated from the Department of Oil Painting, Faculty of Art and Design, Tama Art University in 2015. In 2020, launched MOTO Magazine, a publication featuring interviews with Africans living in Japan. Selected for the VOCA Exhibition 2021. MOTO MAGAZINE vol.003 for publication in June 2025. <\/p>\n

Selected Solo Exhibitions
\n2023 \u2014 \u201cBase of Operations: Gathering at the AWAZU HOUSE\u201d \/ AWAZU HOUSE ART CENTER, KANAGAWA
\n2020 \u2014 “Arrival” \/ Cafe & Space NANAWATA, SAITAMA
\n2018 \u2014 \u201cAfrican Urban Experiences in \u201cPost\u201d Colonial Zimbabwe A Story in Harare after 1981\u201d \/ OGUMAG, TOKYO <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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BOOKS<\/h2>\n

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 \n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\u2013
\nTitle\uff1aMOTO MAGAZINE vol.003 -Between Zimbabwe and Japan
\nArtist\uff1aMoto Yoshikuni
\nPublished on 1st June, 2025
\nPrice\uff1a2000JPY\uff08tax included\uff09
\nInterviews\uff1aKudakwashe Chekera “Every day I wake up in the morning and just thank life”
\nLauren Magaso “Much calmer, much kinder, much humble”
\nText, artwork, photos, translation, edit and publication\uff1aMoto Yoshikuni
\nEditing and proofreading assistance\uff1aChinatsu Shimizu
\nDesign\uff1aKeita Kozaru
\nEdition \uff1a150 copies
\nPrinting\uff1aLIVE ART BOOKS <\/p>\n

–\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\uff3bJP\uff3d PAST EXHIBITION Moto Yoshikuni \u201cDEEP RIVER\u201d Friday, November 21 \u2013 Saturday, December 13\u3000Saturday, December 20, 2025 \u00a9 Moto Yoshikuni Moto Yoshikuni \u201cDEEP RIVER\u201d Friday, November 21 \u2013 Saturday, December 13\u3000Saturday, December 20, 2025, 13:00\u201319:00 Closed on Sundays, Mondays and Holidays. Venue\uff1aLAG (LIVE ART GALLERY) Daiwa Jingumae Bldg. 1F, 2-4-11 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 TALK […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2380"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2664,"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380\/revisions\/2664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.live-art-books.jp\/lag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}