gallery UG Tennoz is pleased to present “One Brief Memory,” a solo exhibition by gallery artist Ryosuke KAWAHIRA, on view from Friday, October 9 through Saturday, October 31, 2026.
Ryosuke KAWAHIRA
1991 - Born in Aichi Prefecture
2014 - Graduated from Nagoya University of the Arts
Since 2020, Kawahira has been working at gallery UG as a represented artist.
One of his starting points was his childhood memories of “the things that scared him for no reason”.
In the dark night, the ghosts or monsters that appeared in his dreams, even after waking up he felt their lingering presence in the corner of the room and couldn’t even go to the washroom alone.
Using those bedwetting memories from his childhood as a starting point, Kawahira reimagines those feelings of fear, worry and helplessness that are engraved into a young child’s body from his own unique perspective and transforms them into art.
Kawahira doesn’t focus on the act of bedwetting itself.
But rather the memories of apologizing to his wet underwear in the morning after the accident. Alongside the guilt of making such a mistake, there is a pure, almost affectionate feeling towards something so close to him.
“What if my underwear had a will of its own?”
From this childlike imagination, gave birth to Pants-kun.
Created as something who could face the scary things in his place and protect him, Pants-kun would evolve and become a symbol in Kawahira’s world of art.
Originally, he used actual briefs as his canvas to represent a child’s heart but in 2021, he would repurpose that theme into the form of a character. Drawn with thick clear lines and vivid colors, at first glance Pants-kun looks like a comical and friendly character but behind that lies a child’s loneliness, guilt and the sincere wish to be protected by someone.
Pants-kun is in no way an invincible hero.
In the face of monsters, he would fight back with axes, bats and even a crowbar in hand but he can be captured, hurt and even tortured at times.
He is both a protector and the injured.
His appearance doesn’t simply capture that of strength and righteousness but portrays the contradictions and invulnerability humans have.
Humor and worry, youth and violence, to fight and to get hurt all of these opposing elements coexist in a single frame. Behind the pop and humorous expression, the feelings of worry, loneliness as well as the distance between us and reality for when things don’t go the way we planned them; feelings which anyone has start to surface.
In recent years, he included his perspective as a father into his art. The fear he felt as a child overlaps with his current perspective as he watches his child grow, expanding his art in new ways.
The ghosts and monsters that used to scare him now seem to have disappeared as he became an adult. But the worry and wavering feeling they represented didn’t disappear with them. For Kawahira, creating art is an act of digging up those feelings remaining deep in those memories and changing into something different. Rather than just nostalgically looking back at his personal childhood experiences, he reimagines the weakness and confusion in those moments from a contemporary perspective, while combining humor and satire.
Pants-kun isn’t a hero who overcame fear.
He is a hero who still stands against the monsters while holding onto fear and weakness.
Somewhat ridiculous in a way, slightly worrying but at the same time is strangely familiar. While his appearance was born from the memories of a child, it has become a reflection of the feelings everyone feels.
The desire to be protected and the will to face challenges even while being hurt.
Through the humorous theme of “Pants”, Kawahira brilliantly illustrates both the weakness and humor of people.
ーgallery UG
