In vibrant color, Naoto Nakagawa blends the real and the fantastical, inspired by the Surrealist movement and elements of Pop Art. Recent works epitomize his engagement with what he has coined the “conceptual real:” representational compositions rooted in metaphor that reference contemporary events, literature, and art history. Several of these paintings and drawings are on view at KAPOW in the Lower East Side of Manhattan through March 2.
Confronting the precarity of our contemporary moment in national, global, and astronomical contexts, these works feature a distinct horizon line, dividing the above and below with the aim of simultaneously evoking a stage and a reflection. “Earth Descending a Staircase, No. 9” (2024), explores the ambivalent relationship between these two realms. Alluding to Duchamp’s “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2” (1912), Nakagawa’s Earth repeats across the surface, as seen from space. This repetition is intended to elicit a dizzying uncertainty as to whether the earth is descending or ascending, moving backward or forward; the infinity-like effect emphasizes the complicated nature of time as constructed by humans juxtaposed to its mutable, relative nature as experienced in outer space.
Nakagawa’s interest in the relationship of earthly life to that of the cosmos parallels his depiction of heaven and hell, also shown metaphorically in his repeating theme of upper and lower realms. Centering the ongoing war in Ukraine, “BUCHA” (2022) and “GATE: Eight Billion People of the World” (2022) confront viewers with present-day realities of hell and our shared fate of mortality, and hope to offer the solace that spirituality and interdependent journeys can provide.
Nakagawa’s paintings have been widely exhibited at galleries and museums internationally, including shows at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Japan Society Gallery, and SFMOMA. His work is in the permanent collections of MoMA, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, MIT, the Worcester Art Museum, and the National Museums of Modern Art in Osaka and Kyoto.
For more information, visit kapowgallery.com.
