Frieze Los Angeles Booth F12
For the 2026 edition of Frieze Los Angeles, Bel Ami presents new paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Soshiro Matsubara.
When Matsubara arrived in Vienna as a student enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts, he immersed himself in Western European art from the early 20th century and became fascinated by the figures of the Vienna Secession and Symbolist movements, namely Oskar Kokoschka and Fernand Khnopff. All forms of romanticism seemed at once irresistible and outlandish to Matsubara—which may be why his paintings and sculptures of tragic heroes and entwined lovers seem elegant at first, and slyly satirical upon closer inspection. Infused with cultural commentary, his creations preserve the beguiling luster of romanticism, and evade the grime of realism despite their verisimilitude. Even when Matsubara depicts extreme acts of obsession and longing, the work retains a cool beauty.
Matsubara’s compositions both privilege and mock human subjectivity, offering compact material metaphors for codependency, kinship, introspection, and dandyism. A nuanced view of objectification is central to his project. Especially in his sculptures—which often resemble, or in fact repurpose, found mannequin heads—the boundaries between inanimate objects and living bodies are softened. Busts and statuettes are endowed with identity, spirit, and an organic sense of wholeness, even as they are supported by improvised armatures that betray their inertia.
Soshiro Matsubara (b. 1980, Hokkaido, Japan) lives and works in Vienna. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna (2014 – 2016), and received a BFA from Tama Art University, Tokyo (2005). Selected solo and two-person exhibitions include Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund (2025); Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam (2025); Croy Nielsen, Vienna (2024); Phileas, Vienna (2024); Aspen Art Museum (with Ulala Imai, 2023); Croy Nielsen, Berlin (with Joanna Woś, 2023); Martina Simeti, Milan (2022); Union Pacific, London (2022); Bel Ami, Los Angeles (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art (MACRO), Rome (2021); XYZ collective, Tokyo (with Naoki Sutter-Shudo, 2019); and Schiefe Zähne, Berlin (2018). Matsubara’s work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including The Impermanent: Four Takes on the Collection, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (2025); Unknown Familiars: The Vienna Insurance Group Collections, Leopold Museum, Vienna (2024); A Reflection on the Sublime, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (curated by Kazuna Taguchi, 2024); Presque Partout, Fonds régional d'art contemporain (FRAC) de Lorraine (2024); Bruno Pélassy and The Order of The Starfish, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin (2023); Cupid’s Bow, Bel Ami, Los Angeles (curated by Milano Chow, 2023); Another Surrealism, Den Frie, Copenhagen, traveled to Museum Sønderjylland, Tønder (2022); Sweet Home, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York (2021); Winterfest, Aspen Art Museum (2020); The Sentimental Organization of the World, Crévecœur, Paris (2020); Münster Sculpture Project in Sagamihara, Kanuma Park, Kanagawa (2018); Apropos l’Hiver, Bel Ami, Los Angeles (2017); By the lakeside, Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago (organized by Yui Yaegashi, 2017); SAYONARA Jupiter, 356mission, Los Angeles (curated by MISAKO & ROSEN and XYZcollective, 2017); and The Way of PAINTING, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo (2014). Matsubara’s work is in the collections of the Christen Sveaas’ Art Foundation, Jevnaker; Collezione De Iorio, Trento/Verona; Fonds régional d'art contemporain (FRAC) de Lorraine; the Lewben Art Foundation, Vilnius; and the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw.