Shinpei Kusanagi: It is not far to the sea

The older I get,

the closer I get to the end,

the more my body becomes transparent,

the lighter it becomes.

That process. That journey.

The sea is not so far away.

 

There is still a road ahead of me,

and there is a road behind me.

There are still things I must do,

and there are things I no longer need to do.

I will die along the way anyway.

 

April 14, 2020

I was unable to be with my father in his final moments.

I have been thinking about that ever since.

The shape of his toes was just like mine.

What was all that commotion about?

 

I will not forgive you.

I will not forgive myself.

Engrave it on your heart.

I will not board any train.

I will not move from here.

That is the thing.

 

I was waving my hands vigorously.

Someone was supposed to wave back at me vigorously.

But

I just wanted you to see the scene before your eyes.

I just wanted to catch the words that fell from your lips.

But even that has lost its meaning now.

We will never know the truth.

I know very well that the bridge has been burned.

I know it very well!

I wanted to believe in a small fantasy.

 

The sea is not so far away.

A mirage.

An illusion.

A sandy beach.

-ish

painting.

 

–Shinpei Kusanagi, Untitled, 2025

 

 

 

Friday, October 17, 2025

6–8pm

 

Altman Siegel is pleased to present It is not far to the sea, an exhibition of new paintings and watercolors by Shinpei Kusanagi.

 

Shinpei Kusanagi’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery, Hong Kong, China; Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Gallery Sora, Tokyo, Japan; Bankart Studio, Yokohama, Japan; Makii Masaru Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan; and Janjanble, Tokyo, Japan. Group exhibitions include Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan; Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan; Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, IL; Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan; and Palace Pocia, Vienna, Austria; among others. The artist’s work can be found in the collections of the LOEWE Foundation; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan; The Rachofsky Collection, Dallas, TX; and the UBS Art Collection, London, UK.

 

For more information please contact Altman Siegel at info@altmansiegel.com or 415-576-9300.