Makoto Jo

Born in Japan in 1968, Makoto Jo began his artistic training in Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting) at Osaka University of Arts, where his work received multiple awards.

After leaving academia, he traveled extensively before settling in New York, where he spent over two decades working as a web and graphic designer. This experience shaped his sensitivity to surface, structure, and visual systems.

Returning to fine art, his current practice investigates time as a physical force. Through material processes that resemble erosion and decay, his works exist between control and entropy—where surface becomes a record of transformation.

Osaka University of Arts, Fine Arts — Japanese Painting, 1987–1991

Permanent Exhibition, Twist Bar, Chelsea, New York (2026–ongoing)

Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, New York, 2026