EVENT: ART BIT MATRIX – TOKUSATSU TO VIDEOGAME (AUGUST 29 - OCTOBER 19 2025, SINGAPORE)
ART BIT MATRIX -TOKUSATSU to VIDEOGAME
29 August to 19 October 2025
Mizuma Gallery
22 Lock Road #01-34 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108939
Mizuma Gallery will present ART BIT MATRIX – TOKUSATSU to VIDEOGAME, a group exhibition running from 29 August to 19 October 2025. Curated by Daichi Nakagawa, Takakurakazuki, and Yasutaka Toyokawa, the show brings together 12 Japanese artists whose practices draw connections between contemporary art, independent video games, and tokusatsu, Japan’s long-standing tradition of cinematic special effects.
The exhibition is a fusion of two existing platforms: art bit – Contemporary Art & Indie Game Culture, Hotel Anteroom Kyoto’s annual survey of contemporary art and indie games, and Character Matrix, a project by artist Takakurakazuki focusing on character design within Japanese popular culture. Together, these frameworks set the stage for a broader examination of how games and tokusatsu influence artistic production in Japan.
Participating artists include contact Gonzo, Daisuke Nishijima, Hayaki Nishigaki, Kenji Yanobe with BAN8KU and the YANOKEN PROJECT, Romana Machin Tanimura, Sawako Kageyama, Shun Okada, Takakurakazuki, Takumi Hirayama, Tomoya Kuki, Yoshihiro Takeuchi, and Yume Aoyama. Their works span painting, animation, performance, sculpture, and playable games.
A central focus is Kenji Yanobe’s reinterpretation of Taro Okamoto’s Tower of the Sun, originally created for Expo ’70 in Osaka, as part of his long-running SHIP’S CAT series. The artist’s new collaboration with pixel artist BAN8KU and student designers from Kyoto University of the Arts, Osaka Electro-Communication University, and Soai University incorporates interactive gameplay into a sculptural installation. Documentation of its development process will also be on view.
Other contributions range from reimagined game glitches translated into painting by Yoshihiro Takeuchi and Shun Okada, to Hayaki Nishigaki’s Godzilla-inspired critiques of urban development. Yume Aoyama and Romana Machin Tanimura explore hybrid creatures through two- and three-dimensional media, while Takumi Hirayama and Tomoya Kuki produce ceramic figurines that conjure environmental spirits. Sawako Kageyama contributes an animated television show populated by hybrid human characters.
Performative and interactive works include contact Gonzo’s six-metre-long coin game installation and Daisuke Nishijima’s reworking of a Super Famicom title into what he calls a “non-shooting shooter,” echoing the mechanics of Space Invaders. Takakurakazuki himself reframes video games as ritual devices by embedding them within Buddhist altars.
Beyond individual works, ART BIT MATRIX – TOKUSATSU to VIDEOGAME situates both tokusatsu and video games within postwar Japanese cultural history, from the nuclear anxieties of the mid-20th century to the global expansion of gaming as a mass medium. The curators position the show as an expansion of Takashi Murakami’s Superflat movement, shifting attention from otaku subculture toward a dialogue with global art histories.
The exhibition opens with programmes on 29 August, followed by a dedicated Games Day on 30 August at Mizuma Gallery.