AOTO Art is pleased to present House of Ice, Rite of Fire, a solo exhibition by Tomoko Inagaki, opening on October 10.
After studying fine art in London, Inagaki has continued to develop her practice through artist-in-residence programs in Japan and abroad. Working primarily with video-based installation, she creates situations in which the boundaries between self and other, life and death, nature and the artificial, and reality and fiction begin to blur. Since 2000, she has developed the Greenhouse series, using greenhouses made of two-way mirrors, and since 2016, the I lie series, which pairs mirrors with photographs.
For this exhibition, Inagaki presents House of Ice, Rite of Fire, a new installation in the Greenhouse series. A greenhouse is, in essence, a small, sheltered piece of nature made by human hands to nurture life. When its walls become mirrors, inside and outside, the seer and the seen, are reversed, and the space itself begins to drift away from reality. What appears in a mirror is never the truth itself. In the video, fire appears as itself, while ice emerges as a metaphor. Mourning, in turn, is presented as an act that brings an end to past deeds.
The exhibition also presents new developments in the I lie series. At Marukawa Space, next door to AOTO Art, the group exhibition Inside and Outside, featuring Inagaki, is held concurrently as a joint project with Eunoia, a gallery in Kobe, and the participating artists.
Exhibition Details
Dates: Oct 10 (Sat), 2026 – Jan 11 (Mon, holiday), 2027
Opening Hours: 13:00–17:00 (last day until 15:00)
Opening Days: Sat, Sun & Mon (by appointment)
OPEN DAY (no reservation required): Oct 26 (Mon), Nov 1 (Sun), Nov 7 (Sat), Nov 8 (Sun)
OPEN DAYs after Nov 8 will be announced once confirmed.
Venue: AOTO Art (20-8 Yamate-cho, Ashiya, Hyogo, Japan)
Admission: Free
Winter Closure: Dec 28 (Mon) – Jan 8 (Fri)
Reservations
Visits are by appointment (no reservation is needed on OPEN DAYs). Please book using the button or the form below. Your reservation is confirmed once you receive our reply.
The form is in Japanese. Please feel free to write in English in the message field (ご連絡事項).
Related Programs
Artist Talk
Date & Time: Oct 10 (Sat), 15:30–17:00
Admission: Pay what you wish, in support of the artists
Reservation: via our contact form
*Held jointly with the participating artists of Inside and Outside
Talk: Tomoko Inagaki × F. Atsumi (curator, editor/critic)
Date & Time: Nov 8 (Sun), 15:30–17:00
Guest: F. Atsumi (curator, editor/critic)
Artist: Tomoko Inagaki
Fee: 1,000 yen
Reservations: via the reservation form
Events at AOTO Art
SUGOSU (Spend Time)
Date & Time: Dec 27 (Sun), 15:00–17:00
Breath and Sky (in collaboration with Utsuwa Ku)
SUGOSU + TSUKURU (Spend Time + Create)
Date & Time: Jan 11 (Mon, holiday), 2027, 16:00–18:00
(in collaboration with café licht)
TSUKURU (Create)
A one-day course for drawing and making
Dates: Nov 21 (Sat), Dec 6 (Sun)
*Details for each event will be announced in News closer to the date. Reservations are accepted via our contact form.
Also on View
Joint Exhibition: Inside and Outside
A joint group exhibition by AOTO Art (Ashiya), Eunoia (Kobe), and the artists
Venue: Marukawa Space (next door to AOTO Art)
Dates: Oct 10 (Sat) – Nov 8 (Sun), 2026
Learn more
ARTS STUDY 2026: Field Trip @AOTO Art
Experience the TSUKURU course
Date & Time: Oct 17 (Sat), 14:00–18:00
Related Exhibition: Takeshi Kimura Solo Exhibition
Dates: Sep 27 (Sun) – Oct 24 (Sat), 2026
Venue: Eunoia
Visits are by appointment. Please make a reservation via the reservation form.
Biography
Tomoko Inagaki
Based in Osaka and Kobe. After graduating from an art university in London, she completed an MA in Art and Media Theory at Osaka University. Working primarily with video-based installation, she incorporates performance, mirrors, and time-based media to create situations in which documentation and staging intersect.
Selected solo exhibitions include OAG Art Center Kobe, Kobe (2025); The Third Gallery Aya, Osaka (2024); MAWA, Winnipeg (2022); CAS, Osaka (2021); Frise Künstlerhaus, Hamburg (2016); Kyoto Art Center (2013); Enghien-les-Bains Art Center, France (2007); and Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna (2003).
Selected group exhibitions include Kawakyu Museum, Wakayama (2022); the 3rd International Casablanca Biennale (2016); WROUGHT, Sheffield (2016); Kyoto City Museum of Art (2013); Transmediale.10, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2010); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (2005); and Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, Ibaraki (2003).
Selected residencies include Art Omi, New York (2023); MAWA, Winnipeg (2022); Vermont Studio Center, USA (2014); and ARCUS Project, Ibaraki (2004).
She is currently director of AOTO Art and ARTCA.