Exhibition/event has ended.
[Image: Daiki Nishimura "Crossing the Alps Third Time" (2024), mixed media, water-based paint, seawater, Japanese paper, beeswax, resin, wooden panel, 67.5 x 48 cm]

Daiki Nishimura "Absent Landscape, Peaceful Sea"

Hakari Contemporary
Finished

Artists

Daiki Nishimura
hakari contemporary is pleased to present “Absent Landscape, Peaceful Sea” a solo exhibition by Daiki Nishimura. Nishimura, whose theme is environmental issues, has created new works including the “Crossing the Alps” series and the “1 – 2” series in response to the discharge of Alps treated water from TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that began on August 24, 2023.

The “Crossing the Alps” series references “Napoleon Crossing the Alps”, painted for propaganda purposes by Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), who used seawater to diffuse pigments and water-soluble paints on the artwork throughout. The paints are affected by the distortion of the washi paper. The paint diffuses onto the work in a way that is affected by the distortion of the washi paper, and the entire washi paper, which serves as the support, is stained with a color reminiscent of the deep sea. The simple wooden weir surrounding the figure in the center of the painting collapses under the pressure of the poured resin, and the resin overflowing from it shakes the notion of inside and outside the painting, but is barely contained by a second weir surrounding the entire work. However, the height of the second weir is much lower than the first weir.

The “1 – 2” series was created using photographs taken along the border of the designated exclusion zone between the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant. The pigment-printed photographs on Japanese paper are adhered to aluminum plates using transparent resin, which is intentionally not applied evenly, creating a layer of trapped air between the aluminum plates and the translucent photographs. How is the resin applied and how is the pressure applied? The subtleties of this process are the elements that maximally intervene with the artist’s intention in these very simple works.

Both of these two new series, inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the recent discharge of Alps treated water into the sea, suggest aspects of the historical relationship between politics and art and its impact on our daily lives. While these works are always fraught with political questions, Nishimura’s honest research of materials has created a refined image as a work of art. In addition to the two new series mentioned above, the exhibition will also feature new works from Nishimura’s signature painting series “Foresight dream”.

We hope you will enjoy this exhibition of Nishimura’s works, which have been sublimated into brilliant works of art that directly confront and raise important questions about environmental issues that we might otherwise be tempted to turn away from.

[Related Event]
Commemorative Talk Event
Date: February 17 (Sat) 16:00-17:00
Talk by: Daiki Nishimura (painter) × Tomoki Akimaru (art critic)

Schedule

Feb 17 (Sat) 2024-Mar 20 (Wed) 2024 

Opening Hours Information

Hours
11:00-18:00

Opening Reception Feb 17 (Sat) 2024 17:00 - 19:00

FeeFree
Websitehttps://hakari.art/exhibitions/alps/
VenueHakari Contemporary
https://hakari.art/
LocationPorte de Okazaki #103, 140 Okazakienshoji-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 606-8344
Access6 minute walk from Higashiyama Station on the Tozai subway line, 16 minute walk from exit 9 at Sanjo Station on the Keihan line.
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