Fu Nagasawa “Zankyu”
Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi
Starts 2/21
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Artists
Fu Nagasawa
Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi is pleased to present “Zankyu,”[1] a solo exhibition of the work of Fu Nagasawa, on view from Saturday, February 21 through Sunday, March 29. Following his participation in a two-person exhibition at the same venue last March, this marks his first solo exhibition at the gallery. The exhibition includes approximately 10 new paintings, as well as eight ceramic tile works that represent a new direction in his practice.
Nagasawa regularly visits flea markets near his studio in Kyoto, and produces paintings that reference motifs found in folk craft objects. At these markets, where handmade objects from different periods intermingle, his attention is drawn not only to varied depictions of plants and animals, but also to patterns, calligraphic elements, and other symbolic or abstract forms. Imbued with singular qualities imparted by the hands of anonymous artisans, as well as slight differences that have emerged by chance in individual objects, these visual forms have gradually evolved over long spans of history, surviving amid drastic changes in their surrounding environments and remaining woven into everyday life up to the present. A motif that runs throughout the works in this exhibition is the arabesque pattern, which originated in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and reached Japan by way of China. Nagasawa speaks of being drawn to the way arabesque forms spread across regions, shedding elements and undergoing gradual reduction to symbols. In his paintings, vine-like forms occupy the picture plane as if creeping across it, held in a suspended state between linear rendering and abstract form.
Engaging closely with various elements embedded in folk crafts has shaped Nagasawa’s painting in ways that extend beyond simple incorporation of motifs or juxtaposition of multiple axes of time on the canvas. His insights derived from this process have been absorbed into the act of painting itself. This effort to deepen the dialogue that takes place as he paints is also reflected in his reinterpretation of the relationship between figure and ground. Nagasawa’s earlier paintings are characterized by color fields with distinctive textures produced through the use of woodblocks, as well as by unpainted areas of cotton canvas. In the new works, he adopts a different method, layering small, restrained strokes made with limited amounts of paint and building up large compositions from these accumulations. Slight differences in color that arise from frequently mixing pigments anew appear on the canvas, together with bleeding and scraping, as subtle shifts that emerge naturally from the artist’s gestures. The small ceramic tile works shown alongside the paintings are made using clay sourced from Korea, evoking and restaging the long history of exchange between the peninsula and Japan since antiquity.
While repeatedly encountering images that appear before him like drifting forms and connecting these to the long currents of time embedded within each, Nagasawa explores a visual practice rooted in the here and now. While oriented toward a single point of reference, this approach resists standardization, remaining open to continual renewal and organic change. Like the arabesque, which has been associated with life energy and recurs throughout history and across the world’s visual cultures, Nagasawa’s works hint at an elemental landscape that lies deep within all of us.
Nagasawa regularly visits flea markets near his studio in Kyoto, and produces paintings that reference motifs found in folk craft objects. At these markets, where handmade objects from different periods intermingle, his attention is drawn not only to varied depictions of plants and animals, but also to patterns, calligraphic elements, and other symbolic or abstract forms. Imbued with singular qualities imparted by the hands of anonymous artisans, as well as slight differences that have emerged by chance in individual objects, these visual forms have gradually evolved over long spans of history, surviving amid drastic changes in their surrounding environments and remaining woven into everyday life up to the present. A motif that runs throughout the works in this exhibition is the arabesque pattern, which originated in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and reached Japan by way of China. Nagasawa speaks of being drawn to the way arabesque forms spread across regions, shedding elements and undergoing gradual reduction to symbols. In his paintings, vine-like forms occupy the picture plane as if creeping across it, held in a suspended state between linear rendering and abstract form.
Engaging closely with various elements embedded in folk crafts has shaped Nagasawa’s painting in ways that extend beyond simple incorporation of motifs or juxtaposition of multiple axes of time on the canvas. His insights derived from this process have been absorbed into the act of painting itself. This effort to deepen the dialogue that takes place as he paints is also reflected in his reinterpretation of the relationship between figure and ground. Nagasawa’s earlier paintings are characterized by color fields with distinctive textures produced through the use of woodblocks, as well as by unpainted areas of cotton canvas. In the new works, he adopts a different method, layering small, restrained strokes made with limited amounts of paint and building up large compositions from these accumulations. Slight differences in color that arise from frequently mixing pigments anew appear on the canvas, together with bleeding and scraping, as subtle shifts that emerge naturally from the artist’s gestures. The small ceramic tile works shown alongside the paintings are made using clay sourced from Korea, evoking and restaging the long history of exchange between the peninsula and Japan since antiquity.
While repeatedly encountering images that appear before him like drifting forms and connecting these to the long currents of time embedded within each, Nagasawa explores a visual practice rooted in the here and now. While oriented toward a single point of reference, this approach resists standardization, remaining open to continual renewal and organic change. Like the arabesque, which has been associated with life energy and recurs throughout history and across the world’s visual cultures, Nagasawa’s works hint at an elemental landscape that lies deep within all of us.
Schedule | Feb 21 (Sat) 2026-Mar 29 (Sun) 2026 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Feb 21 (Sat) 2026 17:00 - 19:00 | ||||
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://www.takaishiigallery.com/en/archives/42841/ | ||||
| Venue | Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi https://www.takaishiigallery.com/jp/ | ||||
| Location | 1F Maebashi Galleria, 5-9-1 Chiyoda-machi, Maebashi-shi, Gunma 371-0022 | ||||
| Access | 5 minute walk from Chuo-maebashi Station on the Jomo Electric Railway line, 15 minute walk from the North exit of Maebashi Station on the JR Ryomo line. | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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