[Kyoto Tsutaya Books] Group Exhibition 'Sens of Shiro' by Ryo Shinagawa, Aya Wakino, Asuka Kaneko, Sayaka Takabatake, and Karin Norimatsu Opens July 4. Exploring the Multi-faceted Nature of White and the Sensation of Margins Through Artists' and Curator's Perspectives.

Kyoto Tsutaya Books (Kyoto Takashimaya S.C. [T8] 5F/6F, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto) will host a group exhibition titled "Sens of Shiro" by five artists: Ryo Shinagawa, Aya Wakino, Asuka Kaneko, Sayaka Takabatake, and Karin Norimatsu. The exhibition will be held in the 5th-floor exhibition space from Saturday, July 4, 2026, to Monday, July 20, 2026.

Special Feature Page | https://store.tsite.jp/kyoto/event/t-site/54970-1301530612.html

Overview
We are pleased to present the group exhibition "Sens of Shiro," featuring five artists and one curator originating from "SHINAGAWA STUDIO," a studio set up in Kyoto by painter Ryo Shinagawa. At SHINAGAWA STUDIO, the artists routinely share time and space through collaborative work such as making panels covered with Japanese paper, boiling glue, and cutting the paper. The "white (Shiro)" in the exhibition's title symbolizes the light, air, scent, and texture cultivated within this unique creative environment, as well as multi-faceted sensations like "margin" and "pause (Ma)."

The exhibition features Ryo Shinagawa; Aya Wakino, who explores abstract expression through the flow of water; Asuka Kaneko, who draws traces of a "world that never happened" based on architectural thinking; Sayaka Takabatake, who transforms the halos of religious paintings into modern devices; and Karin Norimatsu, who depicts plants transformed by science and technology in the form of natural history illustrations. The exhibition is curated by Yuki Taniguchi, an independent curator who has managed numerous exhibitions centered in Kyoto. Despite their different approaches, the works are presented with an underlying connection to the pan-sensory experiences shared in the studio.

Statement
The "studio," a place that precedes the gaze of others in an exhibition, begins at SHINAGAWA STUDIO with the collective act of pasting white paper that Shinagawa draws on. The boiling of glue, the cutting of Japanese paper, the handling of brushes, the destination of tension when pasting. The oblique lines of light pouring in through the window facing the garden illuminate the water-pasted screens, praising the brightness of the entire room. Is this "white" reflected on the retina a color? As a result of modern colorimetry by Munsell and Ostwald, colors are clearly systematized today, but in reality, we do not always understand colors in accordance with this. They are received as pan-sensory things that include scents, textures, light, humidity, and relationships with others who happen to share the room. "White" is full of ambiguity and potentiality, carrying concepts such as margins and pauses along with the sensitivity to such colors. It inherently connects, albeit with differences, the white Japanese paper panels created in the studio and the works of Shinagawa, Kaneko, Takabatake, Norimatsu, and Wakino. Where are they heading? The French word "Sens" encompasses both "meaning" and "direction." From the studio to the exhibition. In other words, the meaning becomes visible only because it faces you. (Yuki Taniguchi)

Yuki Taniguchi
An independent curator born in Kyoto in 2001. He practices generating and describing a single, unique space in harmony with nature.

Artwork Sales
The artworks featured in this exhibition will be sold at the venue and partially online. Depending on the pre-sales situation, in-store sales may end before the exhibition begins.
In-store Sales: Artworks by Aya Wakino, Asuka Kaneko, Sayaka Takabatake, and Karin Norimatsu will be available for purchase at the store starting from 11:00 AM on Saturday, July 4.
Lottery Sales: All artworks by Ryo Shinagawa will be sold exclusively via lottery. Lottery entries will only be accepted at the venue during the exhibition period and are excluded from pre-sales.
Online Sales: Select artworks by Aya Wakino, Sayaka Takabatake, and Karin Norimatsu will be sold on the art EC platform "OIL" from 10:00 AM on Friday, July 10 to 8:00 PM on Monday, July 20.

Artist Profiles

Ryo Shinagawa
Ryo Shinagawa "White camellias" H375×W500×D40mm, Japanese paper, mineral pigments, gofun (chalk), Chinese ink, animal glue, gold leaf, gold paint, wooden panel, 2026.
Painter. Based in Kyoto. He challenges himself to create a wide range of expressions, from traditional styles to modern spaces. He also explores new ways of practice as an artist, such as open studios and publishing art books. Major solo exhibitions include "Toward the Crowd" (Kyoto National Museum Teahouse Tan'an / Kyoto), "A Painting has No Shadow" (GALLERY CURU / Bangkok), and "Re:Action" (Fukuda Art Museum Panorama Gallery / Kyoto). He has also worked on commissions for temples such as Tenreizan Shorin-in (Kyoto) and Kenninji Tatchu Ryosokuin (Kyoto), as well as corporate commissions.
*For the full text of "Message for this Exhibition" by Ryo Shinagawa, please check the special feature page below.

Aya Wakino
Aya Wakino "work(S)202508-02" H727mm×W606mm×D77mm, pigments, hemp paper, wooden panel, 2025 *Image is not the exhibited artwork.
Painter. She creates abstract paintings using pigments and other materials on suki-washi (handmade Japanese paper). She works using a technique called "Tarashikomi," which draws with the flow of water using materials like ice and sponge as tools. Major exhibitions include solo exhibitions "Faint Heat" (TENSHADAI, Kyoto, 2025) and "Color of Fog" (INNOCENTURE, Hyogo, 2022), and group exhibitions "Flow Glow Blow Bubbles" (UNION SODA, Fukuoka, 2025) and ASYAAF (DDF, South Korea, 2019). She is the 27th scholarship recipient of the Sato International Cultural Scholarship Foundation.

Asuka Kaneko
Asuka Kaneko "In Katsura River, Kyoto" 273mm×220mm×21mm, acrylic, canvas, wooden panel, 2026.
Graduated from the Department of Architecture and Environmental Design, Faculty of Design and Engineering, Tohoku University of Art and Design in 2013. Based in Kyoto since 2024. Drawing from her experience in architectural design and project direction, she creates works with an interest in the processes before a form is realized. Using traces of thought and hesitation found in drawings and unbuilt architecture drafted by architects as clues, she continuously questions what the landscape of a "world that never happened" looks like while exploring the discrepancies, noises, and sense of incongruity that arise in the translation process from image to form.

Sayaka Takabatake
Sayaka Takabatake "Golden chariot" 90mm×90mm×30mm, canvas, Bologna gesso, rabbit skin glue, hakushita-tonoko (clay powder), edge-attached gold leaf in gomoshoku color, 2020-present *Image is not the exhibited artwork.
Born in Kagawa Prefecture in 1995. Currently based in Kyoto. Inspired by the halos depicted in religious paintings, she creates devices that induce questions for living consciously. In 2018, she held her first solo exhibition "Ivory Tower" at the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art Studio. Major exhibitions include "Fluctuate Rui Mito / Sayaka Takabatake" (Duo exhibition / TIME & STYLE / Amsterdam), "Never, Never Forget" (Solo exhibition / Tofukuji Tatchu Komyo-in / Kyoto), "Words Might Be Lying About Something" (DiEGO Omotesando / Tokyo), and participations in overseas art fairs. She is a 3rd-generation scholarship recipient of the Kuma Foundation.

Karin Norimatsu
Karin Norimatsu "Tipasenta Peninsula /