＊日本語 Japanese

Biography: ​​

Emi Kusano is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice integrates emerging technologies, including AI, to explore nostalgia, pop culture, and collective memory. By visualizing the dialogue between past and present through a retro-futuristic aesthetic, she invites viewers to reconsider contemporary society.

Her work has been exhibited internationally in over 20 countries at major institutions including M+ (Hong Kong), Saatchi Gallery (London), Grand Palais Immersif (Paris), and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as well as at major international art fairs such as Frieze and Paris Photo. Her artistic roots lie in street photography, and her early archival work on Harajuku fashion was featured at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London).

Kusano has realized a commissioned project associated with the seminal cyberpunk work Ghost in the Shell, and participated in collaborative auctions with Christie’s for Gucci and UNHCR. She was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2025 and a Cultural Leader in 2026.

Having served as a lecturer at Tokyo University of the Arts, she currently serves on Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs' Copyright Subcommittee, addressing issues of authorship and rights in the algorithmic age. Her background also includes leading the synth-wave unit Satellite Young.

Artist Statement:

Born in 1990 as a member of the digital-native generation, I experienced the transition from an era dominated by mass media (1950s to early 2000s) to a globally connected internet culture, developing a lasting fascination with the former. By examining the allure and dissonance of this period, I critique rapidly evolving technologies in the modern day through the lens of retro-futurism. This theme has been a consistent focus in my multidisciplinary practice, actively incorporating diverse media such as fashion, music (including my work with the music group Satellite Young), and installations, even before integrating AI technology.

I primarily create photographs, video art, and installations by organically integrating generative AI into my artistic process. By merging algorithmic uncertainty with my artistic vision, I question the role of the artist in the AI era. I regard AI as one of many creative partners in exploring the significance and vulnerability of being human.

In contrast to the "abstraction of reality" techniques employed in Japanese anime and manga, my work infuses abstract memories with a visceral realism through the natural use of AI, blurring the line between recollection and tangible experience. My inaugural AI art series, Neural Fad, portrays Japan’s unique street culture based on powerful language models biased towards Western culture. Another project, Melancholic Magical Maiden, explores gender perspectives found in 1990s magical girl and robot anime, critically addressing themes of post-war guilt and patriarchy in Japan.

Many of my pieces incorporate self-portraits generated by AI trained on my own facial data, allowing me to investigate how information technology influences identity formation.

In our current AI era, the boundary between truth and fiction is becoming exponentially ambiguous, with an overwhelming flood of information beyond our cognitive capacity. While this may seem to point to a dystopian future, there are more pressing matters for discussion. We may be the last generation capable of collectively experiencing such intense nostalgia. Using my art as a common language for discourse, I encourage a reevaluation of the present time.

​

【Project】

• Co-founder of Web3 Anime Project Shinsei Galverse

• Lead Singer and Music Composer, Synth-wave Music Unit Satellite Young​

【Position】

• Part-time Lecturer, Tokyo University of the Arts (2019~ Present)

• CEO / Co-Founder, Fictionera Co., Ltd. (2021~ Present)

【Education】

• 2015・Keio University BA -  Design 

【Selected Exhibitions】

• 2026-04: Solo Exhibition (√K Contemporary, Tokyo, Japan)

• 2026-03: Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 — Zero10 Sector (Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong)

• 2026-01: Ghost in the Shell: The Exhibition (TOKYO NODE, Tokyo, Japan)

• 2025-12: Bodyscapes (Load Gallery, Miami, The United States)

• 2025-12: Media Under Dystopia 6.0: Looking at Models (Miami, The United States)

• 2025-11: uni form: Broken Twill – Berlin Edition (P61 Gallery, Berlin, Germany)

• 2025-11: Paris Photo 2025 — Digital Sector (Grand Palais, Paris, France)

• 2025-10: Ghost in the Shell × Emi Kusano: Immersive Solo Exhibition “EGO in the Shell”   (Offline Gallery, New York)

• 2025-05:Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival   (M+ Museum, Hong Kong)

• 2025-05:Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival   (M+ Museum, Hong Kong)

• 2025-05:New Dimensions: Expanded Consciousness  (Mikke Gallery Tokyo, Japan)

• 2025-03:Office Ladies  (ArtVerse, Paris, France)

• 2025-03:RIVALS - Photography vs. Promptography  (Galerie Guelman und Unbekannt, Berlin, Germany)

• ​2025-01:The Second-Guess  (House of Electronic Arts, Basel, Switzerland)

• 2024-12: Ai: The Expo (Discovery Museum, Kerkrade, Netherlands)

• 2024-12: Untitled Art (Miami Beach, The United States)

• 2024-11: TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan)

• 2024-11: 17–24 NOVEMBER 2024 | AI BIENNALE, ESSEN REIMAGINE TOMORROW, 1954–2024 (Stiftung Zollverein und Digital Campus Zollverein, Essen Germany)

• 2024-11: 19th Digital Art Festival Taipei (Art Space IV, Future Square Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, Taipei, Taiwan)

• 2024-10: Artificial Dreams (MEET Digital Culture Centre, Milan, Italy)

• 2024-09: Art of Punk (Museum Francisco Carolinum, Austria)

• 2024-09: Kiaf SEOUL (Coex Exhibition Centre, Seoul, Korea)

• 2024-03: Artificial Dreams (Grand Palais Immersif, Paris)

• 2024-03: Now in Digital Art: Game Room (Akbank Sanat, Istanbul)

• 2023-12. Neural Fad:  AI dreams Nostalgia,   “NIPPON   TV IMAGINARIUM AWARD 2023” award jury presentation, organized by NIPPON TV, (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)

• 2023-12. The Gateway Miami - Art Basel Miami (Ferena Forum)

• 2023-10: "DXP (Digital Transformation Planet): Towards the Next Interface" (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa)

• 2023-10: Long Live London (Saatchi Gallery)

• 2023-09: "E-Motions" (UNIT London)

• 2023-07: "Christie's 3.0 presents Future Frequencies: Explorations in Generative Art and Fashion in collaboration with Gucci" (Rockefeller Center)

• 2023-06: "Non Fungible Conference" (Carlos Lopes Pavilion)

• 2023-05: "Bright Moments Tokyo" (Shibuya Parco)

• 2020-08: "Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk" (Victoria and Albert Museum)

• 2019-11: "SIGGRAPH ASIA Art Gallery" (Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre)

• 2018-03: "Art Hack Day" (National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation)

• 2011-04: "Japan Fashion Now" (Fashion Institute of Technology, New York)

* For information on all exhibitions and event appearances, please click here​

【Award】​

• Finalist of Digital Art Awards 2026 by Hofa in Partnership with Phillips (2025)

• Inaugural AI Art Fellow, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (2026)

• Cultural Leader, World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (Davos, 2026)

• Artist Cohort, OpenAI (2026) 

• World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders 2025 (2025)

• Aesthetica Art Award Long list (2025) 

• Sora Select Feature Film (2025)

• Excellence Award "Currents Art Award" (2025)

• Lumen Prize Finalist (2024)

• Winning Prize "Meta Morph Award" AI Video (2024)

• Winning Prize "SIGGRAPH Asia Art Gallery" (2019)

• Jury Award "Art Hack Day" (2018)