WORKS

Yoshitaka Nanjo's solo exhibition "Native Landscape" (2016) uses miniature Mount Fuji mounds as a primary point of reference and attempts to re-examine the historical and cultural processes by which the landscape of Mount Fuji has been generated and shared, through painting and installation. Prior to creating the works, Nanjo actually climbed Mount Fuji, experiencing the mountain physically, while simultaneously collecting information accumulated in the place through photography and soil sampling.

The artwork is composed of layers of painted paint and particulate materials such as local soil. The soil is not merely a material; it is fixed onto the canvas as an element that suggests the spatiality of the depicted landscape, creating a tension between the two-dimensional image and the material trace. Through this structure, the painting goes beyond being merely a reproduction of a landscape and functions as a device that evokes the place itself.

Mount Fuji is a landscape that has generated and received diverse images through art historical representations such as those by Hokusai and Tessai, as well as mountain worship such as Fuji-ko and Fujizuka, and through tourism and media. Nanjo focuses on these overlapping representations of Mount Fuji, and by intersecting the universally known image with personal climbing experiences, he shows in an invisible way how the reality of the landscape emerges. Through the motif of Mount Fuji, this exhibition presents the process by which landscapes are generated in the interplay between physical experience and cultural memory.

"Depicting Norway"

The new works on display are based on an artist-in-residence program that Nanjo participated in in Norway last summer. For about a month, she stayed in Bodø, a town in northern Norway, and painted scenes from the fjord coast, the surrounding mountains and rivers, and the tranquil townscape, both during her stay and after returning to Japan.

The cathedral spire stands out clearly against the slightly hazy Scandinavian sky. The cathedral's facade, rebuilt after being burned down in World War II, is hidden outside the frame, and only the bell tower, a symbol of survival, rings out with the sound of twilight bells.

This is a landscape of a lake and mountains that the artist stumbled upon by chance during a walk. He says he was genuinely surprised by the panoramic, "cinematic" scene, something he had never encountered in Japan. The artist, who is particular about the location, brought back soil he collected on the spot. He dries it, sifts it, and refines it into particles similar to pigment before mixing it with a medium and applying it. Even though it is the same Norwegian soil, there are not uniform shades, and subtle differences emerge in each work.

Nanjo has consistently visited and painted famous places such as Mount Fuji and Ise Shrine. He questions whether the unique Japanese view of landscapes, from the Edo period to the present day, has taken on a certain religious significance. This reveals the artist's approach, which goes beyond simply depicting what is seen. Looking at his new works from Norway with this perspective, the mountains, lakes, and townscapes that are so familiar to the locals may appear a little different.