Solo Exhibition 'Tide pool' by Artist Ryo Uchida Opens May 1, 2026, at 'Otherwise Gallery' in Omotesando

Otherwise Gallery, an art gallery located along Kotto-dori in Omotesando and operated by H.P. FRANCE S.A. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo), will hold a solo exhibition titled 'Tide pool' by artist Ryo Uchida from May 1 (Friday) to June 6 (Saturday), 2026.

Since his solo exhibition at the same gallery in 2024, Uchida has actively embraced chance and change in his production process while exploring new developments. This exhibition allows viewers to see the current position of the artist, who aims to capture the very process of images emerging from such overlapping coincidences and to create paintings that continuously waver in instability.

Current Production: Embracing Chance and Change

Uchida has historically struggled with the fact that colors and shapes appearing on the canvas evoke specific things or are subsumed into broader meanings. In recent years, his stance has shifted to collaborating with such images and sensations, developing his work while accepting elements born of chance. His brushwork appears more prominently than before, and there is an expansion in how symbolic forms manifest.

These practices connect his winning of the Meruro Washida Jury Prize at the 2020 'Haruhi Painting Triennale' to his solo exhibition at the Kiyosu City Haruhi Art Museum (2024), continuing into his current production.

[Kiyosu City Haruhi Art Museum Exhibition View]
[Kiyosu City Haruhi Art Museum Exhibition View]

'Tide pool' - Signs Dwelling in a Small World

The exhibition title 'Tide pool' refers to small ecosystems created by water left behind in rocky areas by the ebbing and flowing sea. There exists a state where entities gathered by chance from different environments coexist while measuring their distance from one another. While it is unclear exactly what exists there, something is certainly breathing—this ambiguous and uncertain presence is contained in the word. For Uchida, this phenomenon overlaps with memories of spending time at the seaside in his childhood and has become an important image in his current production.

The act of pouring water and paint onto the canvas is repeated like waves, creating unexpected shapes and relationships within the picture plane. There, the boundary between the painting subject and the painted object wavers, and images continue to generate and change as if the figure and ground are swapping places. This exhibition presents the very process of images emerging through such overlapping coincidences. It is painting not as a completed form, but as a state where relationships continue to be born. You can see the new works that indicate this current position.

'Two (Five) Birds' / acrylic on canvas / 1120ｘ1621mm / 2025
'Diamond container #2' / acrylic on canvas / 727ｘ606mm / 2024
'Dolphin (iruka) #1' / acrylic on canvas / 455ｘ380mm / 2024
'Dolphin (iruka) #2' / acrylic on canvas / 455ｘ333mm / 2024

Comment from Artist Ryo Uchida

[Artist Ryo Uchida]

'When I see a puddle after the rain, I stare at it, feeling like something is swimming inside. Every time, memories of playing on the beach as a child come back. When the seawater that rushed in at high tide recedes, tide pools are formed in the hollows of the rocky shore. Peering inside, the left-behind creatures are wriggling. In a small space separated from the sea, things that happen to be there coexist, measuring their distance from each other. On one hand, it looks like a beautiful microcosm of the sea, but on the other, it also felt somewhat disjointed and fake. When I pour plenty of water and paint onto a pure white canvas, I am the repeating waves, the hollows in the rocks, the wriggling creatures, the observer watching gleefully, and the endlessly continuing sea. That transformation is not done to depict something preconceived, but for unexpected expressions and unforeseen encounters. It is re-enacted over and over, waiting for the time when figure and ground swap like sea and land.' (Ryo Uchida)

Event Information

Ryo Uchida Solo Exhibition 'Tide pool'

Dates: May 1 (Friday) - June 6 (Saturday), 2026
Opening Reception: May 1 (Friday) 18:00-20:00
Days artist will be present: May 1 (Fri), 2 (Sat)
Location: Otherwise Gallery (Ohara-ryu Kaikan B1F, 5-7-17 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Phone Number: 03-3797-1507
Business Hours: 12:00-19:00 (Closed Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays)
Exhibition Info: https://otherwise-gallery.com/jp/tokyo/859/

Ryo Uchida Profile

Born in Shizuoka Prefecture. Graduated from Musashino Art University, Department of Oil Painting in 2015. Dripping paint