Ryota Watanabe completed his master's degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts of Fine Arts in 2023 and is currently based in Tokyo. Watanabe’s works are a combination of the pure act of painting and the vandalistic act of applying and scraping off paint using self-made cutter knives and tools, creating a canvas which holds the traces of both disparate actions. While he pursues the essence of what painting can be, he also paints portraits and landscapes that serve as reflections of the times. His painting technique follows the existentialism of artists such as Lucian Freud, whose brushstrokes exude vividness and richness, and Alberto Giacometti, who stripped away elements in order to pursue the pure essence of things. Watanabe’s contemporary take on past artists is a challenge towards the post-cubist history of painting, as well as an attempt to update it. Recent exhibitions include "Reflection (Times)", SOM GALLERY (Tokyo, 2024); "Horizon", roidworksgallery (Tokyo, 2021); and the group exhibition "DRAW LINES & SHAPES IN MY MAPS", T&Y GALLERY (Los Angeles, 2024).