Koji Kamoji
Koji Kamoji, photo: Konstanty Szydlowski
Koji Kamoji (born 1935 in Tokyo). Between 1953 and 1958, he studied at the Musashino Academy of Fine Arts in Tokyo. In 1962, he graduated from the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw under the guidance of Prof. Artur Nacht-Samborski. Since 1959, he has been living and working in Poland, creating in Warsaw. His exhibition inaugurated the activities of Galeria Szydłowski.
Kamoji is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and distinctions, including the Jan Cybis Award (2015) for lifetime achievement. His art, positioned at the intersection of painting, sculpture, and installation, is characterized by minimalistic means of expression and profound reflection on space, time, and transcendence. Particularly significant in his artistic practice are references to nature, Zen philosophy, and the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which emphasizes the beauty of imperfection and the transience of life. The artist often works with simple materials such as paper, wood, stone, and metal, combining them in ways that create contemplative spaces and encourage the viewer to reflect on the fundamental aspects of existence.
Exhibitions
Selected solo exhibitions:
2025 Paving Slab, a Metal Rod and the Sky, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
2025 Koji Kamoji. Don’t Let the Unnecessary Overshadow the Whole, Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2023 Koji Kamoji, May I Become This Stone, aTAK Gallery, Warsaw
2022/23 Koji Kamoji, Jacek Sempoliński, Still Life, Monopol Gallery, Warsaw
2021 Koji Kamoji. The Meaning of Place, Nadwiślańskie Museum in Kazimierz Dolny
2020 Pebbles / Koishitachi, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw
2019 Koji Kamoji. Silence and the Will to Live, Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Krakow
2018 Koji Kamoji. Silence and the Will to Live, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw
2016 Koji Kamoji: River. Words and Images. Jan Cybis Award for 2015, House of the Artist of Fine Arts, Warsaw
2004 Water 1978-2004, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
2002 Water, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
2001 Small Pains, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
1999 Taoist Drawings, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
1997 Koji Kamoji, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
1996 Koji Kamoji, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
1994 Haiku Water, Biblioteka Gallery, Legionowo (curator: Stefan Szydłowski)
1993 Haiku Rain, Biblioteka Gallery, Legionowo (curator: Stefan Szydłowski)
1992 Koji Kamoji: Showing Insects, Biblioteka Gallery, Legionowo (curator: Stefan Szydłowski)
Other
Selected group exhibitions:
2026 Sunrise in the West: Koji Kamoji, Yoshio Nakajima and Keiji Uematsu, National Museum in Wroclaw, Wroclaw
2018 Among Friends: Wojciech Fangor, Stefan Gierowski, Zbigniew Gostomski, Aleksandra Jachtoma, Koji Kamoji, Edward Krasiński, Edward Narkiewicz, Jan Tarasin, Tomasz Tatarczyk, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
2014 À propos painting: W. Fangor, K. Kamoji, S. Krygier, W. Strzemiński, M. Stangret-Kantor, T. Tatarczyk, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
2006 Jan Dobkowski, Wojciech Fangor, Koji Kamoji, Stefan Krygier, Edward Narkiewicz, Kacper Ziółkowski: "Her Portrait", Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
2003 White Paintings, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
1998 Ciecierski, Gierowski, Jachtoma, Kamoji, Ługowski, Owidzka, Sienicki, Starczewski: Initial Movement, Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw
