Toru Hayashi is a conceptualist based in New York who creates endearing images. After studying mathematics and art in Japan, Hayashi moved to Brooklyn in 1990. He was enrolled in the AIM program at the Bronx Museum and was included in a group show, "Artist in the Marketplace Exhibition," there in 1994. Since then, he has participated in several group exhibitions, including Momenta Art (1996), White Columns (1999), Japan Society (2007), and WhiteBox (2018) in New York. His first residency at CAMAC in France in 2004 led him to other residencies, including a one-year in the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin from 2009 to 2010, granted by Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, at Confederation Gallery in Prince Edward Island in 2006, at Sanskriti Kendra Foundation in New Delhi in 2007, at Millay Arts in Austerlitz, NY, at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, VA, and Spring Workshop in Hong Kong in 2016. His solo exhibitions include "Memory Lane" at Nairs Lab in Scuol, Switzerland (2023), "WHERE I AM" at Store Front in Tokyo, and "Savorscape" at The Gallery, New York (2021).
Lives and works in New York
Education
1990 Setsu Mode Seminar, Tokyo, Japan
1988 B. S. Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
Solo Exhibition
2023 "WHERE I AM," Store Front, Tokyo, Japan
"Memory Lane," Nairs Lab, Fundaziun Nairs, Scuol, Switzerland, curated by Stefanie
Proksch-Weilguni
2021 "Savorscape," The Gallery, New York
2017 "Equivocal Landscape – The Color Annotation," Reid Hall, Paris, France, curated
by Jean-Yves Coffre
2001 "Travel Agency Garden: A MANHATTAN TOUR," Ise Foundation, New York, curated
by Reiko Tomii
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 “A Colossal World: Japanese Artists and New York, 1950s – Present,” WhiteBox, New York, curated by Kyoko Sato
2017 "Full House," White Columns Online, White Columns, New York, curated
by Elizaveta Shneyderman
2012 "Views of Life," hpgrp gallery, New York, curated by Reiko Tomii
2010 "We are the islands," Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
"almost the same, but not quite," 48 Stunden Neukölln 2010, Damen Salon, Berlin, Germany
"Landscape and Solitude," KUMUKUMU Gallery, New York, curated by Mako Wakasa
2007 "Making a Home: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York," Japan Society Gallery,
New York, curated by Eric C. Shiner (catalogue)
2006 "Perceiving Beauty: art, science and human nature," The Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Prince Edward Island, Canada, curated by Alexandra Keim
2005 "Influence," Centre d’Art. Marnay Art Centre, Marnay-sur-Seine, France
2003 "Japan: Rising," Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, Florida, curated
by Dominique Nahas and Michael Rush (catalogue)
2001 "Pioneering Spirit: Colbert Art Walk 2001," Hermès, New York, curated by Simon Watson
1999 "Outer Boroughs," White Columns, New York
1998 Asian American Arts Alliance’s 15th anniversary gala, St. Peter’s Church, New York
"Big Art in small places ’98," Downtown Arts Festival 1998, Charas/El Bohio Cultural and
Community Center, New York
1997 "First Look," Downtown Arts Festival 1997, Lucky Strike, New York
1996 Momenta Art, Brooklyn, New York
1994 Artist in the Marketplace Exhibition, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York (catalogue)
Performance
2022 Participation in the session “Got an Art Problem?” by Nayland Blake, June 10, 2022, Whitney
Biennale 2022 ("Quiet as It's Kept"), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1997 "T*A*K*A* out of BUSINESS," Taka, New York
Artist Residency
2023 Fundaziun Nairs, Scuol, Switzerland
2017 CAMAC (Centre d'Art. Marnay Art Centre), Marnay-sur-Seine, France
2016 Spring Workshop, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, Virginia, USA
The Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY, USA
2014 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, USA
2009 Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany
2007 Sanskriti Kendra, Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi, India
2006 The Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Parks Canada, Prince Edward Island, Canada
2004 CAMAC (Centre d’Art. Marnay Art Centre), Marnay-sur-Seine, France
Grants
2021 Grant. City Artist Corps Grants, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York
2017 Grant. Ténot Foundation, France
2016 Fellowship. Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, Virginia, USA
2016 Fellowship. The Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY, USA
2009 Fellowship. Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan
2006 Fellowship. The Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Prince Edward Island, Canada
2004 Grant. Ténot Foundation, France
1999 Grant. Change, Inc., New York
1999 Grant. The Wheeler Foundation, Brooklyn, New York
Publication
2008 "Nectar's root as far as its Resonance reaches," Poetry by Mari Kashiwagi, Shichosha,
the book cover image. Tokyo
2007 "Making a Home: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York," the exhibition catalogue,
Japan Society, New York, pp. 86-89. New York
2001 "Equivocal Landscape," Open City #12, Equivocal Landscape, pp. 43-48. New York
Public Collection
The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia →
Bibliography
2006 "Perceiving beauty." The Guardian. C4. Prince Edward Island, Canada, July 18
2002 Wesley, Jay. "travel agency garden." Dutch 37, pp. 17. The Netherlands
2001 Smith, Roberta. "Art in Review." The New York Times. July 6
1994 Cotter, Holland. "A Showcase for Artists Learning Their Business." The New York Times. August 19