To mark the release of the second CHICKEN SAPIENS figure, Gallery SHUKADO presents an exhibition of work by KAKINUMA Hiroki. CHICKEN SAPIENS is the strange creature — part chicken, part human — that appears again and again in Kakinuma’s humorous, densely metaphorical paintings. The exhibition brings together paintings from that world alongside the second CHICKEN SAPIENS figure, modelled in three dimensions under the artist’s supervision. Paintings and the limited-edition figure are both on view and available for purchase. We hope you will enjoy the singular imagination that only Kakinuma brings.

To mark the release of the second CHICKEN SAPIENS figure, Gallery SHUKADO presents an exhibition of work by KAKINUMA Hiroki.

CHICKEN SAPIENS is the strange creature — part chicken, part human — that appears again and again in Kakinuma’s humorous, densely metaphorical paintings.

The exhibition brings together paintings from that world alongside the second CHICKEN SAPIENS figure, modelled in three dimensions under the artist’s supervision. Paintings and the limited-edition figure are both on view and available for purchase. We hope you will enjoy the singular imagination that only Kakinuma brings.

Exhibition Information
ExhibitionHiroki Kakinuma: CHICKEN SAPIENS 2 — Celebrating the Second Figure Release
DatesSeptember 18 (Fri) – September 29 (Tue), 2026
VenueGallery SHUKADO
Hours10:00 - 18:00
NotesClosed｜September 21 (Mon), 22 (Tue), 23 (Wed)
Admission free
Website
Hiroki Kakinuma, “Karkinos”, 50 go (about 1.2 m on the longer side)
Hiroki Kakinuma, “Karkinos”, 50 go (about 1.2 m on the longer side)
Hiroki Kakinuma, “5 p.m.”, 8 go (about 46 cm on the longer side)
Hiroki Kakinuma, “5 p.m.”, 8 go (about 46 cm on the longer side)
CHICKEN SAPIENS: the second figure, in a special limited release
CHICKEN SAPIENS (HOVER)
CHICKEN SAPIENS (HOVER)

CHICKEN SAPIENS is the one-of-a-kind character Hiroki Kakinuma made by fusing a chicken with a human being.

The first figure, released in 2025, was well received and sold out.

Now the second one, long awaited, arrives at last.

The new CHICKEN SAPIENS (HOVER) is a hovering type. Its presence is hard to pin down, and that is exactly what gives form to Kakinuma’s many-sided world — humorous and shadowed at the same time.

We hope you will enjoy having the new CHICKEN SAPIENS (HOVER) close at hand.

Title: CHICKEN SAPIENS (HOVER) — A Unique Fusion of Man and Bird
Artist: Hiroki Kakinuma
Material: acrylic on resin
Size: H30.7 × W14.3 × D11.7 cm
Year: 2026

How to buy

At the gallery: please ask a member of staff.

Online: available from our BASE shop.

Sketch 1 for the figure. Also on show at the gallery.
Sketch 1 for the figure. Also on show at the gallery.
Hiroki Kakinuma
Born in Tokyo.2011 Graduated from the Musashino Art University after finishing master's course in oil painting.

He is good at depicting a grandpanoramic world which develops between foreign materials and human beings,and abnormal days mingled withquotidian affairs.

Untraceable “Bird Man” vs Human being, huge monster destroying towers and buildings vs daily life,city life vs suburban life etc.. They co-exists in mysterious harmony.

What he paints may be the scenefrom special effects shooting orour relationship with its shooting, or we, the tourists, strolling over indecent chaotic Asian quarters.

In our modern time we live in the hustle and bustle of the citybumping each other but somehow managing to live in harmony,in spite of many contradictions.His paintings may well be a diorama reflecting our real life.
More about this artist