Profile

Masaki Hirokawa is a graphic and contemporary artist with 16 international awards. Exhibited worldwide and featured in art books and scholarly journals, he creates works as prayers for love and peace.

Masaki Hirokawa
Artist & Creator

Biography

Masaki Hirokawa is a Japanese multidisciplinary artist, UI/UX designer, and app developer. His practice spans visual art, digital media, and interactive technology.

He began self-studying web design and programming in 1997 and joined Kokuwa System Co., Ltd. in 1999 as a DTP operator. In 2002, he worked on core system development at NTT DATA Corporation as a programmer and systems engineer, and in 2005 he became an independent creator. Since then, he has been active across web design, programming, graphics, and interactive movie production.

In 2006, he received the Excellence Prize in the Web Screensaver category at the MTV SO-ZO Competition (supported by AMD) and began exhibiting his work in Japan and abroad. From 2008 onward, he has contributed to and written for numerous graphic design magazines and books.

In 2011, he participated in game development as a technical artist, and in 2013 he launched an independent smartphone application business. To date, his apps have surpassed 50 million cumulative downloads worldwide, with over 3 million monthly active users, and he continues to lead development, global marketing, and operations.

Since 2019, he has resumed full-scale production of graphic art and has actively exhibited in international shows across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. His works depict a symbolic world at the intersection of human consciousness, beauty, and decay, poetically tracing the boundary between dream and reality.

Since 2021, he has received numerous honors from institutions including A’ Design Award, Fondazione Effetto Arte, Contemporary Art Collectors, and ITSLIQUID Group. In recent years, he has further consolidated international recognition with distinctions such as the Award of Achievement (The Consulate of Humanitarian & Culture, Greece) and the Meritorious Service to the Arts Award (Luxembourg Art Prize).

Representative exhibitions include LA Art Show (Los Angeles), Ansan International Photo Festival (Ansan, South Korea), the RenovArt Project (Matera, Italy), and Rome International Art Fair (Rome, Italy). His work has been widely featured in international publications such as 365 Art+ Magazine, Le Musee Plus Magazine, The Best Contemporary Masters, Imago, and Anthology – The Last Decade 2015–2025.

Bridging art and technology, Hirokawa continues to pursue expressions that inhabit the space between the digital and the poetic. His practice evokes a serene yet surreal world in which a subtle synesthetic sensibility and a quietly mystical inspiration coexist.

Work Experience

· Founder & Lead Developer, Independent Smartphone App Business (Self-employed / Global), 2013–Present — 50M+ downloads; 3M+ MAU; lead development, global marketing, operations.
· Independent Creator (Web/UX, Programming, Graphics, Interactive), 2005–Present — End-to-end UX/UI and web builds; publications since 2008.
· Technical Artist (Game Development), 2011 — Tool pipelines, asset integration, real-time optimization.
· Programmer / Systems Engineer, NTT DATA Corporation, 2002–2005 — Core systems design and implementation.
· DTP Operator, Kokuwa System Co., Ltd., 2000 — Prepress, layout, print production.
· Multidisciplinary Visual Artist (International Exhibitions), 2019–Present — Exhibitions across EU/Asia/Americas; recognized by A’ Design Award, etc.

Awards

2025 – Award of Achievement (The Consulate of Humanitarian & Culture in Chania, Greece)
2025 – The New Great Masters in New York (Fondazione Effetto Arte)
2025 – W* Recognition (A’Design Award)
2024 – Meritorious Service to the Arts Award (Luxembourg Art Prize)
2024 – Phoenix for the Arts (Fondazione Effetto Arte)
2024 – Global Art Virtuoso Award (Contemporary Art Collectors)
2023 – Harmony for Humanity Art Prize (Contemporary Art Collectors)
2023 – Career Art Award (Fondazione Effetto Arte)
2023 – The Genius of Italy – Michelangelo International Art Prize (Fondazione Effetto Arte)
2023 – A’Design Award Golden Award (Photography & Photo Manipulation)
2022 – ITSLIQUID International Contest - 12th Edition, Honorable Mention
2022 – BEST COVER ARTIST AWARD (365 Art+ Business Magazine)
2022 – A’Design Award Iron Award (Graphic Design)
2021 – ITSLIQUID International Contest - 11th Edition, Honorable Mention
2021 – ARTIST OF THE YEAR (ITSLIQUID Group)
2006 – Excellence Prize, Web Screensaver Category, MTV SO-ZO Competition supported by AMD

Exhibitions

2025 – Ansan International Photo Festival (Ansan Culture & Arts Center, Ansan, South Korea)
2025 – KINTSUGI (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy)
2025 – TRACES OF DREAMS (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy)
2024 – LA ART SHOW – Los Angeles Art Market (Fondazione Effetto Arte, Los Angeles, USA)
2023 – International Good Design Exhibition (A’Design Award, Rome, Italy)
2023 – ENIGMI (Arte Borgo Gallery, Rome, Italy)
2023 – RenovArt | Shapes of Nature (ApuliaAste, Matera, Italy)
2023 – CENSORED (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy)
2023 – RenovArt | Panta Rhei (ApuliaAste, Matera, Italy)
2023 – RenovArt | Flowing Identities (Spazio Opera Gallery, ApuliaAste, Matera, Italy)
2023 – FROM THE DISTANCE (VAN GOGH Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain)
2023 – RenovArt | Flowing Identities (ApuliaAste, Matera, Italy)
2023 – artbook Gallery (Toberu Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan)
2023 – Paris 2023 International Contemporary Art Fair (VAN GOGH Art Gallery, Paris, France)
2022 – BRAIN CAKE 2022 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Casa Milà, Barcelona, Spain)
2022 – ADRENOCROMO FOR DINNER 2022 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy & Canary Islands, Spain)
2022 – WE CONTEMPORARY CATALOG & ART SHOW (MUSA International, Rome, Italy)
2022 – RenovArt | 100 Artists for the Future (November, ApuliaAste, Matera, Italy)
2022 – GUARDIANS OF DREAMS 2022 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy)
2022 – LONDON CONTEMPORARY 2022 (ITSLIQUID Group, London, UK)
2022 – PRETTY PERV 2022 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy & Canary Islands, Spain)
2022 – International Digital Art Exhibition (VAN GOGH Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain)
2022 – ORIZZONTI TRASVERSALI 2022 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy)
2022 – CONTEMPORARY VENICE 2022 (ITSLIQUID Group, Venice, Italy)
2022 – RenovArt | 100 Artists for the Future (July, ApuliaAste, Matera, Italy)
2022 – International Contemporary Art Fair Monaco 2022 (VAN GOGH Art Gallery, Monaco)
2022 – LIQUID ARSENAL 2022 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy)
2022 – RenovArt | 100 Artists for the Future (ApuliaAste, Matera, Italy)
2022 – ROME INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR 2022 (ITSLIQUID Group, Rome, Italy)
2022 – VIFAF 2022 – Virtual International Fine Art Fair (World Of Crete, Crete, Greece)
2022 – Avant Garde Exhibition (Virtual Artists, London, UK)
2022 – NFT – NEW FREEDOM THINK 2022 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy)
2022 – CANVAS INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR 2022 (ITSLIQUID Group, Venice, Italy)
2022 – I THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND ME (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy & Canary Islands, Spain)
2022 – THE BODY LANGUAGE 2022 (ITSLIQUID Group, Venice, Italy)
2021 – SACRIFICE 2021 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY, Milan, Italy)
2009 – Larotica II Exhibition (GALLERY ART POINT, Tokyo, Japan)

Publications

2025 – ANTHOLOGY THE LAST DECADE 2015-2025 (M.A.D.S. ART GALLERY)
2025 – Le Musee Plus Magazine Vol. 2 (Le Musee Plus)
2025 – Imago 2 (Galleria Tilde)
2025 – Imago (Galleria Tilde)
2024 – Digital Art Creators (365 Art+ Business Magazine)
2024 – Le Musee Plus Magazine (365 Art+ Business Magazine)
2024 – Rothschild Fine Art -2 (365 Art+ Business Magazine)
2024 – People Creating the 21st Century (365 Art+ Business Magazine)
2024 – The Best Contemporary Masters 2024 (Fondazione Effetto Arte)
2024 – The Luxury Collection of Contemporary Artistry (Contemporary Art Collectors)
2023 – WORLD ART GUIDE 2023 (Bellamonti Art)
2023 – PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE VISUAL CULTURE (MUSA International)
2022 – WE CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL ART CATALOG (MUSA International)
2022 – ART ANTHOLOGY V: MADRID EDITION (Guto Ajayu Culture)
2021 onward – 365 Art+ Magazine (365 Art+ Business Magazine)
2019 – Hot Pepper Beauty July 2019 Issue (Recruit Co., Ltd.)
2019 – Otona no Oshare Techo May 2019 Issue (Takarajimasha, Inc.)
2016 – 100 Selected Smartphone Apps to Regulate the Autonomic Nervous System (Gijutsu-Hyoron Co., Ltd.)
2014 – MacPeople July 2014 Issue “What iPhone Developers Are Thinking Now” (ASCII Media Works)
2013 – MacPeople February 2014 Issue “Latest Trends in Popular & Notable Smartphone Apps” (ASCII Media Works)
2010 – Creating Collages and Illustrations with Photoshop & Illustrator (MdN) ISBN: 978-4-8443-6154-1
2010 – The Ultimate Guide to Three-Star Photoshop Techniques (MdN) ISBN: 978-4-8443-6097-1
2009 – GADGET FOR DIGITAL NATIVE (MySpace From JP)
2009 – on View From JP. (MySpace From JP)
2008 – Learning from Leading Creators: Art Expression and Professional Techniques (MdN)
2008 – Photoshop Making Studio (MdN)

Influences

Around 1997, when I was sixteen, I found myself deeply drawn to what was then the still-new world of the internet. That encounter led me to teach myself web design. Through this online space, I was able to connect across borders with designers, programmers, and artists, and those encounters greatly broadened my perspective. They nurtured in me a way of looking at things that naturally crosses disciplines and fields.

At the same time, there was a quieter form of inheritance at work. Both of my grandfathers were miyadaiku—master carpenters involved in the construction and restoration of shrines and temples. From them, I seem to have absorbed the sense that form and space can become vessels for what cannot be seen, and that the act of working with one’s hands can itself be a kind of devotion. Even during the years when I was working in fields that might appear, at first glance, to be far removed from art, this feeling continued to flow quietly at the foundation of my practice.

My path later expanded into core system development, interactive movie production, authoring books on graphic design, game development, and app development, and from 2019 onward I decisively shifted my focus back to graphic art. In late autumn of that same year, under the night sky above Kichijōji Station in Tokyo, I witnessed a mysterious ring of light. It felt like a wordless directive, almost as though someone were speaking to me in Latin, telling me to devote my lifeblood from now on to visual expression. That experience became a major turning point, propelling me into the intense creation of symbolic and dreamlike works.

I hold deep respect for the painter Leonor Fini, who maintained a free and sovereign mode of expression, and I am strongly drawn to the aesthetics of Hans Bellmer, who, despite his engineering background, created works that are both structural and poetic. I first encountered these artists through the writings of Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, whose worldview had a decisive impact on me when I was young. Among all these influences, the greatest came from a mentor I met online at the age of seventeen. He taught me that art is not something lofty or reserved for the few, but rather a natural language originally open to everyone.

Future Aspirations and Vision

My artistic aims are closely tied to the attempt to visualize the “surplus dimensions” that emerge where spirituality and science intersect. As I have engaged with general relativity, quantum mechanics, and causal set theory, while at the same time returning to the Buddhist faith cherished by my grandparents, this preoccupation has gradually taken shape within me.

Through my work, I hope to soften the divide between the sacred and the secular, and to help restore the subtle bonds between human beings and nature. By weaving together natural symbolism, philosophical reflection, and images drawn from contemporary science into visual narratives, I seek to allow the sacred dimensions that lie within us to enter into dialogue with the wider world in which we live.

In essence, I hope that my works can quietly stand as intermediaries between these multiple domains, and that encountering them may offer viewers an opportunity to touch deeper layers of both themselves and the cosmos. That, to me, is the role of my practice.

The World I Hope to Show My Children

This aspiration is also deeply personal. As the father of children with whom I now live apart, and as someone who has passed through relocations, separation, and various hardships, I have come to feel that art is a lifelong vow to entrust warmth, strength, and beauty to the next generation. Words can be clumsy at times, but a work of art can quietly become a bridge—connecting generations and languages, and reconnecting the inner worlds we carry with the outer world, even when we are far from one another.

Artist Profile PDF

Artworks PDF

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