(L): Kaz Watabe, Exploding Light, 2023, oil on canvas, 16.1 x 12.5 x 0.7 in (41 x 31.8 x 1.8 cm); (R): Ami Yamashiro, Catalyst, 2013, P.P. Mezzotint, 8 x 6.3 in (20.3 x 16.1 cm), 15.4 x 13.8 x 1.2 in (39 x 35 x 3 cm) Framed

Kaz Watabe: Stray
and
Ami Yamashiro: Pragmatism
January 8 – February 7, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 8, 6–8pm
525 West 26th Street, NYC

Seizan Gallery is delighted to welcome the new year with two concurrent exhibitions: Kaz Watabe: Stray, the artist’s second New York solo show featuring twenty-four new oil paintings, and Ami Yamashiro: Pragmatism, Yamashiro’s debut solo exhibition in the United States, presented in the gallery’s project space.

Following his last solo exhibition in 2022, Watabe continues to depict imaginary figures drifting through dreamlike landscapes. Meticulously painted in muted tones, each canvas unfolds like a scene lifted from a fantasy film or role-playing game, populated by whimsical characters and anthropomorphic animals. The works are at once strange and yet intimately familiar, offering a quiet sense of comfort to the viewer.

Yamashiro works primarily in mezzotint, a traditional printmaking process. While studying oil painting in art school, she recalls being “afraid of the white canvas” and would begin each work by painting the entire surface black. This intuitive impulse eventually led her to mezzotint, a process that follows the same progression—beginning in darkness and gradually revealing light. The medium’s rich blacks, velvety textures, and subtle tonal gradations are especially suited to her Kafkaesque narratives, which often center on young girls who confront the viewer with a quiet intensity, inviting psychological engagement and narrative interpretation.

Mark your calendars – Seizan Gallery looks forward to welcoming you to their opening reception soon!

To learn more, click here.