TITLE_NAME :
Hitoshi Nakazato｜Painting Outside Part Ⅱ
18/03/2023 - 09/04/2023
MEM
NADiff A/P/A/R/T 3F,
1-18-4, Ebisu,
150–0013 Tokyo
www.mem-inc.jp
When Nakazato arrived in the US, the influence of Abstract Expressionism was waning. Counterculture sparked artistic movements like Neo-Dada and Pop Art which incorporated images from popular culture; fragments of daily life tumultuously invaded the sacrosanct realm of painting. These art movements were a formal objection to the notion of high art secluded in the ivory tower. Anti-Vietnam War protests were taking place on university campuses throughout the US. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Nakazato returned to Japan through Europe and encountered the civil unrest in Paris in May 1968. It was a time of rebellion against the establishment. Japan was also experiencing revolutionary fervor as student protestors blockaded classrooms at the Tama Art University. Student-led organizations forced faculty members, including Nakazato, to confess their complicity to the establishment. Living through such a time, Nakazato confronted the contradictions of an artist living in contemporary society. He even considered stopping painting but deliberately chose to continue working in the medium, simultaneously striving to break free from the realm of painting. With this premise, he began his own painting revolution rooted in his determined thought processes and tenacious physical endurance.
18/03/2023 - 09/04/2023
MEM
NADiff A/P/A/R/T 3F,
1-18-4, Ebisu,
150–0013 Tokyo
www.mem-inc.jp
When Nakazato arrived in the US, the influence of Abstract Expressionism was waning. Counterculture sparked artistic movements like Neo-Dada and Pop Art which incorporated images from popular culture; fragments of daily life tumultuously invaded the sacrosanct realm of painting. These art movements were a formal objection to the notion of high art secluded in the ivory tower. Anti-Vietnam War protests were taking place on university campuses throughout the US. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Nakazato returned to Japan through Europe and encountered the civil unrest in Paris in May 1968. It was a time of rebellion against the establishment. Japan was also experiencing revolutionary fervor as student protestors blockaded classrooms at the Tama Art University. Student-led organizations forced faculty members, including Nakazato, to confess their complicity to the establishment. Living through such a time, Nakazato confronted the contradictions of an artist living in contemporary society. He even considered stopping painting but deliberately chose to continue working in the medium, simultaneously striving to break free from the realm of painting. With this premise, he began his own painting revolution rooted in his determined thought processes and tenacious physical endurance.