Originally from Japan and based in New York since 1990, Ayane Kurai is an abstract painter who studied in her youth under Saburo Murakami of the Gutai group. Utilizing oil on canvas, she employs bold colors and textured layers to reflect the emotion and humanity found in everyday life.

Her work has been exhibited in Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, and New York, and was featured prominently at the Museu de Arte Moderna in Bahia, Brazil in 2003. She is also a recipient of the 1999 Joan Mitchell Foundation Grand Award and the Art Olympia in Tokyo, First-round Winner Award in 2015.

Ayane Kurai

1969 Born in Ashiya City, Hyogo, Japan

1988 Entered the department of paintings, College of Art and Design,
Musashino Art University in Tokyo

1990 Began living and working in New York City

Solo/Duo Exhibitions

2026 Solo Show, “Journey with the Stars”, Gallery Onetwentyeight, New York, NY

2007-2025 Bushwick Open Studio, Brooklyn, NY

2023 Duo Show, “Resonance of East and West Wind” by Tamaki Ozone and Ayane Kurai, Kobe, Hyogo

2018 Solo Show, Small Voyage by Ayane Kurai, CRS Gallery, New York, NY

2017 Solo Show, Pink Ribbon Project, Tree Haus Mima, New York, NY
2012 GO Brooklyn, A Community curated open studio project, Brooklyn, NY

2010 Solo Show, Yuko's Spring Has Come, CRS Gallery, New York

2006 Solo Show, Gallery IDF, Nagoya

2005 Solo Show, Tsubaki Modern Gallery, Shinjuku, Tokyo

2003 Duo Show, Museo de Arte Moderna, “Ayane Kurai and Garance Show”, Salvador, Bahia, Brazi2002 Gallery IDF, Nagoya
2002 Solo Show, Tsubaki Modern Gallery, Shinjuku, Tokyo

1996 Solo Show, Tsubaki Modern Gallery, Shinjuku, Tokyo

1995 Solo Show, SKYDOOR Gallery, Aoyama, Tokyo

1993 Solo Show, Laporte Hall, “Ayane Kurai: Contemporary Paintings at Laporte 7th Anniversary Music and Art Festival”", Ashiya City, Hyogo
1993 Solo Show, Tsubaki Modern Gallery, Shinjuku, Tokyo

1991 Duo Show, Soho Art House, “Rod Norman and Ayane Kurai”, New York City

 Group Show

2017-2025 SJAC 2023, Gallery Max, New york/Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, NY

2025 Musabi Ten, Gallery Onetwentyeight, New York, NY

2018-2025 Musashino Consortium , Gallery Onetwentyeight, New York, NY

2022-2025 NY Connection, Gallery Siacca, Ginza, Tokyo

2024-2025 JAA NY Annual Exhibition, Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, New York, NY

2023 Begger’s Banquet 2, Not For Them, Brooklyn, NY

2023 Peace 2023, International Center of CCCS

2017-2024, Special Project, Miniature Show, Gallery Shimada, Kobe, Hyogo

2022 Peace 2022, Gallery Max, New York, NY

2021 PEACE 2021, JAANY, New York, NY

2020 Fable Exhibition, M.A.D.S. the digital art gallery 7.0, Milano, Italy

2020 along the m train, The Yard, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

2020 Works Created During the Lockdown Period, WAH Center, Brooklyn, NY

2020 Quo Vadis? Van Der Plas Gallery, New York, NY

2019 New Japanese Horizon, WAH Center, Brooklyn, NY

2016 Musabi Ten, Gallery Max, New York, New York, NY

2015 Musabi Ten, Gallery MC, New York, NY 

2014 Purple Yam Restaurant - Stirring The Madd Brick, Brooklyn, NY

2012 La Mama International, New York, NY

2012 Musabi Ten, Musashino Art University Alumni Association, RESOBOX, LIC, NY

1995 Charity Art Exhibition-Auction for Victims of the Great Earthquake, Matsuzakaya Department Store Art Gallery, Japan

Awards

2015 Art Olympia in Tokyo, First-round Winner Award

1999 The Joan MItchel Foundation Grand Award, New York