Kengo Nakamura’s 5th exhibitions since April 2015, “Modern Lovers” and “JAPANS”, are concurrently held at MEGUMI OGITA GALLERY from Tuesday, December 4th to Saturday, 22nd.

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Looking back his 2 decades and exploring the next development, Nakamura held the retrospective exhibition at Kakegawa City Museum in 2015. It has been 4 years since the last exhibition of new works and now he is challenging himself to compile the themes he has worked on. 150 years have past since Meiji Era was set and this is also the last year of Heisei Era in Japan. He says he seems quixotic considering modern through art.

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In “Modern Lovers”, he exhibits works in natural mineral pigments of Japanese-style painting on Washi (Japanese paper), which is reconstruction of prints of modern art in Western Europe after Impressionism. He allows himself to trace Modernism which values individuality instead of Academicism. He approaches the ideals and conflicts related to the acceptance of Modern Europe and translation by his paintings, which he calls futility.

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The paintings are precisely “Japanese-style” established in modern times and they are made by wry but straight methods tracing Western art with Japanese technique.