미나미타니 리카

Rika Minamitani was born in 1998 in Kanagawa, Japan. She graduated with a BFA in Oil Painting from Tama Art University in 2021, and completed her MFA in Oil Painting at the Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Fine Art in 2023. She currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. Minamitani’s works serve as a platform for her to depict the reality that she seeks. While initially deciding on the composition through a preliminary drawing, as she actually paints on the canvas, she intuitively changes the colors and motifs by means of a repeated process of trial and error and experimentation to ultimately arrive at the completion of the work. As the artist herself states, “I like depicting human facial expressions,” the figures in her work convery a rich range of emotions – surprise, fear, laughter and more. While their faces themselves are painted in a very simple manner, yet in contrast to them are the strangely realistic large hands and long, thin, sparse strands of hair that flow in a variety of colors, creating a unique sense of movement and dynamism despite the flatness of the figures. In addition to being influenced by the early foreign animated short films she loved as a child, Minamitani mentions drawing inspiration in recent years from scenes and expressions depicted in ukiyo-e prints, as well as the dynamic movements of Bunraku (traditional Japanese puppet theater) and the mysterious nature of the puppeteers being in full view of the audience—the distinct storytelling and uncanny elements of which unfold into the unique world of her work. As if following the traces of Minamitani’s thoughts in experimentation, viewers will find themselves captivated by the facial expressions, robust bodily movements, and flowing hair of the figures, and will enjoy engaging in a dialogue with the painting, which by nature of its medium, would ordinarily be that which speaks no words. Major awards include being selected as a finalist for the 2022 CAF Award, and her receipt of the Tomio Koyama Award at ART AWARD TOKYO MARUNOUCHI 2023. Solo exhibitions include “Silent Play” (Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, 2023) and major group exhibitions include “Plastic Love” (Galerie Marguo, Paris, 2025), “TOKYO” (EACH MODERN, Taipei, 2025) and the forthcoming exhibition at Linseed, Shanghai, 2025, among others.