Image: Kasama Nichidō Museum of Art
Kasama Nichidō Museum of Art has announced an autumn 2026 exhibition focused on the Japanese painter Kamoi Rei, presented under the title 'Kamoi Rei: The Painter’s Unseen Face Captured by the Camera'. The museum says the show will run from 3 October to 20 December 2026.
The exhibition is framed around Kamoi, who is referred to as 'the painter of self-portraits' in the museum’s announcement. Rather than concentrating only on the finished paintings, the presentation will examine the artist through both his work and photographic portraits, offering a view of the person behind the images that made his reputation.
According to the museum, the exhibition will bring together about 60 works by Kamoi and approximately 75 rare portrait photographs, many of which have not previously been made public. The combination of paintings and photographs is intended to assemble a broader picture of Kamoi Rei, with the photographs serving as documentary material alongside the artworks.
The announcement does not list a full curatorial statement or additional programming, but it makes clear that the exhibition is built around the relationship between Kamoi’s artistic production and his public image. By pairing a substantial group of works with an unusually large selection of portraits, the museum is positioning the exhibition as both an art-historical presentation and a closer look at the artist as a subject of visual documentation.
Kasama Nichidō Museum of Art shared the news in Japanese on social media, describing the project as a way to 'unravel' Kamoi Rei through the material assembled for the exhibition. The museum’s wording emphasizes the artist’s identity as seen through both self-portraiture and photography, suggesting a display that will move between biography, image-making and archival presence.
The exhibition 'Kamoi Rei: The Painter’s Unseen Face Captured by the Camera' is scheduled for 3 October to 20 December 2026 at Kasama Nichidō Museum of Art.
