NORIMITSU KOKUBO

From primary school, Norimitsu Kokubo (b.1995) began to draw on notebooks that were normally dedicated to the study of Japanese language and maths, as well as on advertising paper and calendars he found. As he didn't mix well with other children, he was encouraged to draw to keep him in the classroom. The act of drawing provided him with a distraction from the often chaotic noise around him at school, and helped him to be peaceful around others. It was during high school that he met an art teacher who encouraged him to draw onto larger formats: watercolour paper rolls up to ten metres in length.

Kokubo draws freely on several pieces at once, that often contain: cities and buildings, satellites and cars, airplanes and ships... all themes from his childhood or from photos he has taken on trips. Next to a traditional Japanese castle we see Islamic or European architecture, or gleaming skyscrapers of the future. His complete disregard for traditional perspectives invites us into an entirely new world and a new sensation. Throughout the day he draws: in the morning, during breaks at his institution, and then at home.

Kokubo has received several awards in Japan and exhibited in his home country and in Europe in collective exhibitions of Japanese Art Brut.

2024 Ikigai, Dr. Guislain Museum, Belgium
2023 Why We Linger, Darbyshire, London
2022 To all the Kings who have no Crowns, Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate
2021 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2020 Outsider Art Fair (with Jennifer Lauren Gallery), Metropolitan Pavilion, New York
2019 Outsider Art Fair (with Jennifer Lauren Gallery), Metropolitan Pavilion, New York
2018 Art Brut Japonais II, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris
2017 Komorebi: Art Brut Japonais, Le Lieu Unique, Nantes
2016 Outsider Art Inaugral Show, Outsider Art Museum, Amsterdam
2013 Souzou: Outsider Art from Japan, Wellcome Collection, London
2012 Outsider Art from Japan, Museum of the Mind Haarlem, Amsterdam