Soh Souen
Based in Fukuoka, Japan, Soh Souen creates works that explore human existence through bodily phenomena such as breathing, bellybuttons, and the egg. In recent years, Souen has approached breathing as a primal movement—both a form of resistance and a force capable of transforming the world—developing workshops, installations, and performances in Japan and internationally. Souen has also developed a distinctive collaborative practice, including a joint project with Sara Milio that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as performances using Agathe Naito's work at Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum.
Major exhibitions include Your Body is the Shoreline at √K Contemporary; MOT's 30th Anniversary Exhibition Choreographies of the Everyday at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo; and FATHOM—Shiota Chiharu, Kanazawa Sumi, Soh Souen at Kyoto Seika University Gallery Terra-S, among others. In 2022, Souen was invited to participate in the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum's Artist in Residence program. In 2024, the installation Bellybutton and Breathing was acquired by the Fukuoka Art Museum.
- Graduated from College of Art, Kyoto Seika University in 2019.
- Born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1995.
CV
Solo Exhibitions
2025
"Keep Me Together" / LURF GALLERY Tokyo
"Sometimes you hurt. Sometimes you get hurt. Yet still you keep looking for a tender relationship with the world." / YIRI ARTS Taipei
2024
"Now the air I breathe in is the air you once breathed out" / Fukuoka Castle Art Project Fukuoka
"Handle with Care" / HIRO OKAMOTO Tokyo
"Let us see what you see." / FOAM CONTEMPORARY Tokyo
2023
"Your Body is the Shoreline" / √K Contemporary Tokyo
"It's been breaking, still breaking (yet not broken)" / rin art association Gunma
2022
"Why do I have two hands, eyes, and nipples on my both sides?" / GALLERY SOAP Fukuoka
"Al Borde" / Taller Sangfer Oaxaca, Mexico
"Let it sway, like a ripple of agitation" / HIRO OKAMOTO Tokyo
2020
"A Modest Scream" / The Mass Tokyo
Group Exhibitions
2026
"VOCA 2026" / The Ueno Royal Museum Tokyo
"B→A" / AWASE gallery Tokyo
"Where the Tremor Goes" / Kyoto Art Center Kyoto
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2025
"MOT's 30th Anniversary Exhibition : Choreographies of the Everyday" / Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
"Embodied Perspectives" / WKM Gallery Hong Kong
"Beyond Reaching You, Beyond Feeling You." / TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY Osaka
2024
"The 2nd Fukuoka Art Award" / Fukuoka Art Museum Fukuoka
2023
"BABEL HA vol.1" / Osaka Municipal Art Innovation Center Osaka
"FATHOM- Chiharu Shiota, Sumi Kanazawa, Soh Souen" / Kyoto Seika University Gallery Terra-S Kyoto
2022
"WINDS OF ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2022 Tracing the Boundaries− Stone, Breathing, and Land Reclamation" / Artist Café Fukuoka, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Fukuoka
"(I see everything but you" / Ginza TSUTAYA Books ATRIUM Tokyo
Performances
2025
"Loitering Meeting" / Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Tokyo
2024
"The Egg" / Fukuoka International Center Fukuoka
"The Egg" /HIRO OKAMOTO Tokyo
Collaboration with Gabi Schillig "Do you think something soft can protect something?" /Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin
2023
"Eggsercise" / Kyoto Seika University Kyoto
"The Egg" / Fukuoka Art Museum Fukuoka
"Eggsercise", "The Egg" / √K Contemporary Tokyo
Collaboration with Agathe Naito "La Langue" / "Enamel and Body / Ceramics" Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum Tokyo
"Eggsercise" / Entrance at Science Museum Tokyo
2022
"Bellybutton and Breathing" / AJIBI Hall, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Fukuoka
"Eggsercise" / Entrance at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Fukuoka
2021
"We will sea (Performance with Sara Milio)"/ Ulotamlo Fukuoka
Awards
2026
VOCA Encouragement Prize, VOCA 2026 The Vision of Contemporary Art
2024
Mayer's Award, The 2nd Fukuoka Art Award
2022
Excellence Award, ARTISTS'FAIR KYOTO MYNAVI ART AWARD 2022
Public Collection
Fukuoka Art Museum – "Bellybutton and Breathing"