WORKS

Yoshitaka Nanjo (born 1977 in Kagawa Prefecture), whose work centers around two-dimensional landscapes, incorporates the soil from the site he is painting into his work, which is one of his defining characteristics. He goes to the site, observes, photographs the landscapes that catch his eye, collects soil, and returns to his studio. He then breaks down the landscape he is painting into various elements and arbitrarily reconstructs those elements into a painting.

In a solo exhibition held in February 2016, the artist challenged himself to unleash his multifaceted perception of landscapes embedded in his paintings and present them for the first time as a full-fledged installation. The theme at that time was a miniature Mount Fuji mound that was said to have existed behind the gallery. It was an attempt to translate its historical background and story into the present. Later, during a residency in Kyoto in September 2016, he newly tackled the task of superimposing narratives onto the land he depicted in his landscape paintings. For example, he superimposed the current location of the Rashomon gate with the image of the Rashomon gate as depicted in the story. This attempt is scheduled to be showcased at the VOCA2017 exhibition to be held in March 2017. By adding the element of time to works that originally reconstructed elements that could be visually interpreted from the landscapes they depicted, the past becomes history and story, and the future becomes a world of imagination.

In his solo exhibition at Art Front Gallery, the artist will tackle the theme of time in a more spatial and experiential way. This exhibition, which attempts to visualize the passage of time within the gallery, will be a step towards presenting the breadth and depth of the artist's interests, which cannot be contained within landscape painting, through new expressive methods. The rich breadth and new developments raise expectations for the future of his paintings. We invite you to come and see the artist's challenge.