"アートかビーフンか白厨 (Paichu)," the Taiwanese restaurant and art gallery in Roppongi produced by The Chain Museum, is holding a group exhibition titled "Why, and How?" from Friday, September 4 through Saturday, October 10, 2026. The show brings together three artists — Aiko Yamamoto, Ai Degaito, and Akihiro Hsegawa — and works in the exhibition are available for purchase exclusively through ArtSticker. An opening reception is planned for Friday, September 4, from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
About the Exhibition
Aiko Yamamoto draws on fieldwork conducted across Asia and beyond to explore the relationship between the natural environment and people, working mainly with dyeing techniques.
Ai Degaito burns materials that hold varying degrees of closeness to people — household waste, cremated ashes, and anonymous personal effects — and refines them into glaze made purely from their own ash. Drawing out a one-of-a-kind color from the differences in each material's metallic composition, she records traces of existence and the memory of change as color.
Akihiro Hsegawa's work reflects an outlook shaped by Buddhist thought, questioning views of life and death and the nature of human existence itself. Drawn since childhood to "light," both visually and philosophically, he channels that formative experience directly into his work.
The exhibition considers color from two angles at once: the "why" behind the motivation to create, and the "how" of the process that gives it form.
Exhibition Statement: "Why, and How?"
Color, as a visual phenomenon, is the trace of cause and effect that emerges where materials, environment, technique, and thought intersect. Today, people encounter an enormous range of color daily through displays and printing technology. Yet color has always been tied to specific materials and processes, cultivated through the technologies and social practices of each era. The colors used in Buddhist sculpture and architecture, too, were sustained not only by belief and worldview but by the techniques and labor that made them possible.
This exhibition reconsiders color from both angles — the "why" of motivation and the "how" of the process that generates it. In the long-standing techniques of dyeing and glaze-making, color emerges from within materials and processes. At the same time, behind that emergence lies each artist's own way of engaging with the world — views of nature, faith, memory, and relationships with others. Color is a phenomenon that arises from the relationship the maker forms with the world. Through these three practices, the exhibition questions the thinking and methods behind that choice.
Artist Profiles
Aiko Yamamoto, reference work, 《あわいのはた − 円と星屑》, 2021
Aiko Yamamoto
Born in 1991 in Kanagawa Prefecture. Completed the graduate program in the Department of Inter-Media Art at Tokyo University of the Arts (2017). Trained in China as an overseas research fellow of the Pola Art Foundation (2019). Through fieldwork across Asia and abroad, she creates works — mainly using dyeing techniques — themed on the relationship between the natural environment and people. Major exhibitions include 「こたえは風に吹かれている」(Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art, MonET / Niigata, 2025), 「往古来今／見えない泉をさまよいさがす」(Yokosuka Museum of Art / Kanagawa, 2024), 「Fragrance Scenery」(SHIRO Jiyugaoka / Tokyo, 2022), and 「BankART Under 35」(BankART KAIKO / Kanagawa, 2021).
Ai Degaito, reference work, 《鏡》, 2026
Ai Degaito
Born in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture. She grew up in a region dotted with ancient kiln sites and Jomon-era pottery excavation sites, where ceramics were part of everyday surroundings, leading her to study materials thermochemistry, applied chemistry, and ceramics at university.
While researching ceramics-producing regions across Japan, she gained technical knowledge but also witnessed enormous volumes of discarded ceramics.
That experience led her to take up, as her central theme, giving objects the choice of whether or not to leave a trace of their existence. She blends materials that hold varying degrees of closeness to people — plants, bones, household waste, and personal effects — using only the ash of the material itself, refining it into glaze. She pursues an "archive" that fixes the memory of a material as color and texture.
Major exhibitions include the group show 「battery」(2026, KANAKAWANISHI, Tokyo), 「BankARTアライブ！展 推薦枠」(2025, BankART Station, Kanagawa), and the solo exhibition 「誠実な記憶、釉薬」(2025, Suzusan Galerie Raum, Aichi). In recent years, she has also worked on collaborative projects with companies centered on glaze and materials.
Akihiro Hsegawa, reference work, 《untitled》, 2024
Akihiro Hsegawa
Born in 1997 in Mie Prefecture. He is a contemporary artist currently based in Tokyo.
Born into a temple of the Tendai sect, he was ordained as a monk in 2009 and completed the Shido Kegyo training at Saikyo-ji Temple of the Tendai Shinsei sect in 2019. In 2016, he entered the Department of Design at Tokyo University of the Arts directly from high school, and in 2024 he completed the master's program in Design at the university's Graduate School of Fine Arts.
Hasegawa's body of work takes a bird's-eye view of emotion, thought, the body, and the existence of life itself, revealing a distinctive stance rooted in the Buddhist thought that underlies his practice, and questioning views of life and death and the nature of human existence. Drawn since childhood to "light," both visually and philosophically, he channels that formative experience directly into his work.
Selected as a fifth-term fellow of the Kuma Foundation, he exhibited in "KUMA EXHIBITION 2022" and held his first solo exhibition, 「よもぎとコンプ」(√K Contemporary, Tokyo), the same year. He has since taken part in numerous exhibitions, including "Meet Your Art Festival 2023, 'Time to Change,'" "VOCA Ten 2025" (The Ueno Royal Museum), the high jewelry brand Chaumet's exhibition "THE ART OF COLOUR" (Tokyo, 2025), and the group exhibition 「再生と未来」, curated by Miwa Kutsuna (ASTER Curator Museum, Kanazawa, 2025). In 2024, he held a large-scale solo exhibition, 「長谷川彰宏展」, at √K Contemporary (Tokyo), and the same year presented the solo exhibition 「無量光」at N&A Art SITE (Tokyo) as the sixth installment of the Nanjo Selection series. In 2025, he exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2025, held in Fujiyoshida City (Director: Fumio Nanjo; Curator: 丹原健翔).
Information
"Why, and How?"
Dates: September 4 (Friday) to October 10 (Saturday), 2026
※ Reception: Friday, September 4, 7:00 PM–10:00 PM
Artists: Aiko Yamamoto, Ai Degaito, Akihiro Hsegawa
Hours: Tue–Fri 5:00 PM–11:00 PM; Sat 1:00 PM–11:00 PM; Sun 1:00 PM–5:00 PM
Closed: Mondays (please check the gallery's Instagram calendar before visiting)
Admission: Free
Venue: アートかビーフンか白厨 (Paichu)
Address: 2F Asahi Life Roppongi Building, 5-2-4 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032 (take the stairs on the left side of the elevator to the 2nd floor)
Access: 4-minute walk from Roppongi Station (Hibiya Line); 7-minute walk from Roppongi Station (Oedo Line); 13-minute walk from Nogizaka Station (Chiyoda Line); 13-minute walk from Roppongi-itchome Station (Namboku Line)
Phone: 03-6434-9367
Organizer: ArtSticker (operated by The Chain Museum)
Exhibition Page: https://artsticker.app/events/149492
About アートかビーフンか白厨 (Paichu)
Produced by The Chain Museum — the company behind ArtSticker — Paichu is an art gallery where visitors can also enjoy Taiwanese cuisine. Located in a mixed-use building slated for redevelopment, the venue hosts new art projects every month. True to its name "アートかビーフンか (Art or Rice Vermicelli)," guests are welcome to view artworks in the gallery space or enjoy a meal in the dining area — or even both at once, drink in hand. The name "白厨 (Paichu)" is a coined term combining respect and admiration for the white cube gallery format with the warmth and comfort of a kitchen.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paichu_artsticker/
