10-11 Sat. – 10.26 Sun., 2025

PAGIC Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Joji Shimamoto.
Widely known as a photographer with a devoted following in skateboarding and mural culture, Shimamoto’s practice reveals many different facets. Among them, the element of travel serves as a vital axis—perhaps even the very foundation—of his artistic vision.
The true flavor of the “moments” he captures lies in their fleeting vibrancy: the pulse and allure of an instant that dazzles before quickly slipping away. On his journeys, chance and encounter converge around him as if guided by fate, crystallizing into dramatic fragments of everyday life.
The landscapes and scenes he has witnessed during his travels unfold with striking intensity inside the intimate white cube of Hatsudai. We warmly invite you to experience them.

I love traveling in search of worlds yet unseen.
In the Philippines, Vietnam, and India, the everyday life I encountered was unlike my own stimulating, and filled with new perspectives.
It might be a fleeting light, an unguarded expression, or a trace carved into the city. The camera acts as a guide to these “other sights,” leading us beyond the surface of the familiar.
This exhibition shares images captured in those travels and urban moments, inviting you to experience what it means to be guided without intention, yet led to another sight seen.
Within each fleeting moment lies an infinity of stories.
Perhaps one of them will add a subtle color, or spark a new awareness, within your own journey.

Joji Shimamoto

Artist

Joji SHimamoto

Studied photography in high school and graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Department of Photography, in 2007. Since then, he has organized and presented numerous photography exhibitions. His works evoke the atmosphere of a place and the passage of time, awakening the sensibilities of those who encounter them.

09-13 Sat. – 09.28 Sun., 2025

PAGIC Gallery is pleased to present “White Paradise”, a solo exhibition by Ayaka Nakagawa.
Drawing inspiration from the energy of ecosystems woven by living organisms, Nakagawa creates works that iconically depict motifs from nature using vibrant paints and embroidery. In addition to her artistic practice, she also provides illustrations for books and advertisements.
For this exhibition, she forgoes the use of fabric as a base material, instead employing white threads and ribbons to intricately express the delicate details of living ecosystems. These works are created using a freestyle machine embroidery technique, where forms emerge through the intertwining of threads. Through this act, she extracts the very elements of life—the way plants transport nutrients through their veins, and how living beings circulate life within their cells—resulting in a method that resonates with the artist as both delicate and powerfully life-affirming.
Bathed in sunlight, absorbing rainwater, drawing nourishment from the soil—plants grow alongside strangely shaped mushrooms peeking out from the fungal networks spreading deep underground. Each plant and creature is carefully formed and multiplied through the intertwining of threads, constructing a singular ecosystem: “White Paradise”. We invite you to immerse yourself in this world, as if stepping into a mysterious paradise of pure white.

Artist

Ayaka Nakagawa

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture. Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Design, specializing in Textile Design. Began working as an illustrator while still a student. After graduation, worked as a bag designer, lecturer at a design vocational school, product planner, and designer, while continuing creative activities as a freelance illustrator.

She primarily creates works using her original technique—painting on canvas fabric in place of paper with acrylic paints, and adding freehand machine embroidery in place of pen lines. Actively engaged in a variety of fields, including advertising, magazines, logos, and design projects.

Photo by Yojiro Kuroyanagi

08-09 Sat. – 08.31 Sun., 2025

PAGIC Gallery is pleased to announce Sachiko Miki’s solo exhibition, “Anyway the Wind Blows.”

Miki has long been drawn to the human form—not merely its outward appearance, but also the invisible realms intertwined with it: consciousness, memory, and experience.

Through her attentive observation, she explores the ways in which the visible and invisible aspects of humanity intersect. At times they harmonize as a unified presence; at other times, they reveal a gap between the physical body and the intangible essence it contains. Yet even those elements that appear distant at first glance often reveal deep, intrinsic connections beneath the surface.

In this exhibition, Miki presents a series of multifaceted sketches and works that consider the human form as part of the broader current of life. Incorporating new materials and perspectives, this body of work strongly resonates with the theme of “Flow” in the upcoming BIWAKO BIENNALE 2025, and serves as an ongoing inquiry into the human condition as it shifts through time.

Artist Profile

Sachiko Miki
Born in Gunma, Japan, in 1974. Completed postgraduate studies in sculpture at Tokyo Zokei University in 2001.

Selected solo exhibitions:

• Hoshi wo Maku Hito (Seed Sowers of the Stars), Gallery Tsubaki, Tokyo, 2024
• Overcoming, Gallery Tsubaki, Tokyo, 2022
• TWINS?, Gallery Tsubaki, Tokyo, 2020
• Boundary Zone, CASHI, Tokyo, 2017
• The Visitor, Transmission Gallery, California, 2017

Group exhibitions:

• Tamashima Collage, Yubikobo, Okayama, 2023
• BIWAKO BIENNALE 2022 – Origin, Omihachiman and Hikone, Shiga, 2022
• BIWAKO BIENNALE 2020 – Cosmic Dance, Omihachiman and Hikone, Shiga, 2020
• The 5th Japan-U.S. International Exchange Exhibition – Crosscurrent, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 2019

Residency programs:

• SECRET ROOMS, Finland, 2024
• Fresh Winds #6, Iceland, 2020

This exhibition is held as part of:
Pre BIWAKO BIENNALE 2025 × PAGIC Gallery

Organized by:
BIWAKO BIENNALE Executive Committee
Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan / Japan Arts Council
PAGIC Gallery