Yasue Kobe (YAYA)
Japanese artist based in Monaco.
She presents works worldwide that reflect her deep respect for the natural environment, her inspiration from literature, and her distinctive blend of humour and poetic sensitivity.
Her diverse series—including Cat’s Talk, the space-inspired Planets, and Food for Thought (a series inspired by the words of Haruki Murakami)—have gained international attention.
Especially since the pandemic, she has embraced a practice of creating art while travelling with her husband—absorbing the atmosphere, landscapes, and wildlife of each place, and transforming those experiences into works that convey the very “breath” of the moment.
Through her art, she aims to encourage awareness of the connection between nature and humanity, inviting viewers to rediscover the world with renewed curiosity, wonder, and a deeper sense of our shared relationship with the natural world.
Recent Exhibitions
2025
• Art Magazine — Sakura Cat (Philippines)
• Voices of Peace to the Sky — Peace T-shirt Art Exhibition:
Works exhibited: Peace & Love, Petals for Peace, Polar Bear (Hiroshima, Japan)
• Freedom — Drink My Words (from the Haruki Murakami–inspired series) (Tokyo, Japan)
• Silent Ground — Into the white, and Nestled in white (Online exhibition)
• Elevated — Food for Thought: Works Inspired by the Words of Haruki Murakami (Monaco)
2024
• Noël Noël Noël (Paris, France)
• Pop-up exhibition Inspired by Haruki Murakami Quotes (Tokyo, Japan)
• Solo exhibition Spring Brings Sakura (Monaco)
2023
• Video work Cat’s Talk Independent day screened on U.S. Independence Day
(Time Square, New York, USA)
2021
• Lunacy? (Monaco)
• Cat’s Talk Milano (Milan, Italy)
Recent Awards
2024
• King Penguins Feel the Heat — First Prize, World Penguin Day Art Contest
(Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition)
2023
• Underwater Treasure — Selected, Bold Abstracts 2023 International Juried Art Exhibition
(Camelback Gallery, USA)
2021
• Underwater Treasure — Selected, 7th Annual Colorful Abstractions
(Fusion Art Gallery, USA)
• Montgolfières over Napa — Selected, 7th Annual Colorful Abstractions
(Fusion Art Gallery, USA)
Selected Juried Exhibitions (2025)
• Silent Ground (Domio Gallery, London, UK)
• Elevated (Espace 22 Gallery, Monaco)
• Freedom (Park Hotel Tokyo, Japan)
• Lovely (Park Hotel Tokyo, Japan)
• Art Magazine Exhibition — Video screening in approx. 400 7-Eleven stores across the Philippines