Illusion of Time and Space
Nakamura Joji is a painter who paints figurative portraits and still lifes using his fingers instead of paintbrushes. His works are handled by European galleries such as Mikiko Fabiani (France) and Kaplan Projects (Spain), and he has exhibited his works globally in Paris, the Netherlands, and Taiwan. This exhibition, "CANDY," will feature approximately 20 paintings.
Born in 1974, Nakamura was influenced by punk music, and during his adolescence, he frequented live music venues where he became interested in flyers "rather than holding an instrument," and started making collages by imitating what he saw. Later, while studying abroad in the United States, he was inspired by the freedom of people his age created, and decided to become an artist.
In the late 1990s, he was inspired by the DIY spirit of street art, which was also a part of punk, such as Barry McGhee, and started working in earnest after returning to Japan in 2000. He approached magazine editors and people in the art world in an attempt to create a street art movement in Japan that he had encountered in the US. However, looking back on that time, he recalls that there were some things that didn't seem to fit together.
"Back in the '90s, Jeffrey Deitch in America was exhibiting street art, which had previously been considered just graffiti, in large-scale art museums. At the same time, people in the art world in Japan weren't paying any attention to the trends in street art. When we met and talked, our conversations just didn't mesh, and I was shocked, wondering, 'What's with this time difference?'"
Portraits painted with fingers, without a brush
How far could he go as a painter, as he had no formal art education and was not a "hardcore street artist"? Initially, he also worked on collages, but he felt resentful that his "purpose was to collect interesting photos," so he focused on painting. What he faced was the autonomy of painting.
However, he was troubled by the fact that he was unable to use a brush well and was unable to paint as he imagined. At that time, he was inspired by the avant-garde art group Gutai Art Association, especially the foot painting of Kazuo Shiraga, and came up with his current style of painting with his fingers.
Nakamura lists Picasso and Modigliani as his favorite artists, and says that he feels an independent presence in their paintings. A work of art is not something that imitates something in the outside world, but rather, like a human or natural object, it is an entity that takes on a form that is unique to itself. The sensuality and vitality felt in Nakamura's colorful color schemes and the forms drawn with direct strokes from his fingertips is probably due to the strong reflection of this awareness.
When he first began his career searching for his own style, his works were characterized by voluminous, monochrome abstract expressions using only black and white paint, but he has since increased the number of colors he uses and made his works richer. In recent years, his works are characterized by a faint, deep style based on the paint Naples Yellow Green, which Nakamura says "I wouldn't be able to paint without."
Painting as a purely visual experience
The title of this exhibition is taken from the album of the same name by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan, which he was listening to while creating the work. He says that there is no particular meaning to the album, other than that "I was listening to it on the day I had to decide on the title for the exhibition, and I wanted something that everyone could read and understand at a glance."
"I believe that the mere existence of a painting creates a communication from the moment it is hung on the wall, so I don't attach any particular meaning to the work."
"Western paintings have a slightly dull, heavy feel. I wonder what kind of paintings the artists who painted those kinds of works would be creating if they were living in the modern era, when there are so many different types of paint available. I would like to create modern versions of historical portraits and figure paintings, imagining that Picasso might have used fluorescent colors."
Nakamura says he still remembers someone who saw his work at an art fair in France saying, "It reminded me of my childhood and moved me." He says he was born in a different country and doesn't know what those memories were, but he was really happy.
Nakamura begins painting without a preliminary sketch, and his portraits, which are not based on real subjects, appeal to the viewer's imagination, evoking and suggesting various images. Nakamura's works intuitively convey that the essence of painting lies in pure visuality, and that they are illusions of time and space that free humans from the shackles of reason.
