Sawako Kabuki – Secret Lukewarm Pleasure

Secret Lukewarm Pleasure marks the first London solo exhibition of Japanese illustrator and animator Sawako Kabuki, following its successful month-long run at Pocko Gallery Tokyo, where it welcomed more than 500 visitors. The exhibition brings together a selection of Kabuki’s recent works that explore intimacy, desire and the expressive possibilities of the female body with humour, candour and emotional clarity.

Her bold compositions and saturated palettes reveal a visual language that is at once playful and unflinching. Across illustration, animation stills and short looping sequences, Kabuki examines the complexity of pleasure, vulnerability, self-image and the private rituals that shape contemporary womanhood. The exhibition highlights the directness and honesty that have made her a distinctive voice within Japan’s new generation of artists working across animation and visual culture.

About Sawako Kabuki

Sawako Kabuki is a Japanese illustrator and animator based between Tokyo and New York. She is recognised for her uncompromising approach to themes often left unspoken—female sexuality, self-perception and the social expectations surrounding the body. Her work combines bold graphic lines, mischievous characters and rhythmic sequences that blur the line between humour and confession.

Kabuki’s animations have been screened internationally, and her illustrations have been commissioned by cultural institutions, magazines and brands. With a growing global following, she has become one of the most compelling female voices in contemporary Japanese animation.