Almine Rech has announced the representation of Keita Morimoto in New York and Paris, alongside a series of recent institutional acquisitions of the artist’s work.
Following his inaugural solo exhibition with Almine Rech New York in 2025, Morimoto’s work will be presented by the gallery at Art Basel in Switzerland this June, ahead of a solo exhibition at Almine Rech Paris in 2027.
“I have long been intrigued by the scenes depicted in Keita’s paintings, which are invariably set at night. Illuminated by the glow of the contemporary city, his figures belong to a generation born in the 1990s. They are part of an urban youth that discovers a sense of freedom after dark. Light has been a central subject for several artists from earlier generations represented by the gallery, and Keita brings a singular vision to it, one deeply rooted in the realities of the present day and conveyed through an exceptional command of painting.”
— Almine Rech
About the artist
Keita Morimoto (born 1990, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese artist renowned for his cityscapes and portraits. He immigrated to Canada in 2006, earned his BFA from OCAD University in 2012, and returned to Japan in 2021. Now based in Tokyo, Morimoto engages deeply with the techniques and themes of Baroque lighting, early 20th-century American Realism, and pre-modern Genre Painting. By referencing these historical movements, he reimagines contemporary urban life, transforming ordinary streets into extraordinary narratives. Through the symbolic use of light, he merges its sacred and natural connotations with the stark realities of consumerism and industrial culture, creating works that resonate with both historical depth and modern complexity.
Morimoto’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, K11 Musea, Powerlong Art Museum, Art Gallery of Peterborough, The Power Plant, and Fort Wayne Museum of Art. His pieces are part of the permanent collections at the Shiga Museum of Art, Arts Maebashi, High Museum of Art, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and ICA Miami. @morimotostudio
