Keiichi Baba, an artist represented at YUGEN Gallery, has been awarded the "Toshiko Okamoto Award" of the Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (TARO Award).
The winning work, "Initiation of Death and Rebirth," was presented at a solo exhibition held at YUGEN Gallery (Tokyo and Fukuoka).
The Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (commonly known as the TARO Award) honors artists who inherit the spirit of Taro Okamoto and pose fundamental questions to modern society through their free perspectives and bold ideas.
This year marks the 29th time the awards have been held, and 21 teams were selected from a total of 644 entries, exceeding the previous year's total. Among these, Baba Keiichi was awarded the Okamoto Toshiko Award.
Keiichi Baba is a painter born in Tokyo in 1974. In the past, he has portrayed the sorrow and resignation of the socially vulnerable, such as oppressed ethnic groups and women who were the targets of sexual exploitation, through the use of wounds.
The series that won this award is a group of works that Baba began creating after he himself experienced depression three years ago. He positions the act of creating as an "act of self-healing," and is experimenting with new and different methods of expression.
While Baba's previous work has resonated personal pain with social issues, in this series he takes as his starting point the pain and wounds he has experienced himself, reconstructing them as a personal myth. His inner experiences emerge as narrative forms, inviting the viewer into the artist's deep inner world.
The Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (TARO Award) Exhibition will be held until March 29th. Please come and experience the overwhelming world of Baba Keiichi's work.
We at YUGEN Gallery are extremely pleased with this award, and we look forward to seeing even more of Baba Keiichi's future endeavors.
Overview of the 29th Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (TARO Award) Exhibition
◼️Period: January 31st to March 29th, 2026
◼️Venue: Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki
◼️Address: Ikuta Ryokuchi, 7-1-5 Masugata, Tama Ward, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture
◼️Telephone number: 044-900-9898
◼️Opening hours: 9:30-17:00 *Last admission 30 minutes before closing
◼️Closed: Mondays (open on February 23rd), February 12th, February 24th, and other temporary closures
◼️Prices: Monthly (except February 23rd), February 12th, February 24th, and other temporary closures
