Koji Nakazono
Like Randy Rhoads, Kurt Cobain, or Yutaka Ozaki, there are talented artists who left this world at a young age. They have been mythologized as charismatic figures and are still spoken about today, yet it was only recently that I learned that Japanese contemporary art also has a gifted artist who died young at the age of 25.
His name was Koji Nakazono (1989–2015). From his time as a student at Tokyo University of the Arts until his life ended at 25, he produced and exhibited around 500 works. Even after his death, his work continues to be included in important exhibitions such as “Japanorama” (Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2017) and the “7th Moscow Biennale” (State Tretyakov Gallery, 2017).
This time I visited the Yokosuka Museum of Art, which is holding Koji Nakazono’s first museum solo exhibition.
“Outer Rim: Landscapes I Wanted to See”
As the title of the show “Outer Rim: Landscapes I Wanted to See” suggests, Koji Nakazono’s works are said to project onto the canvas the scenery he himself wanted to see.
About fifty works are on view. The number may seem modest at first, but the range of subject matter is wide, and you find yourself surprised by the sheer variety in his repertoire.
Sizes vary from major works to small pieces, and the large-scale paintings in particular have tremendous power.
He apparently loved green, and I got the impression that many works use green heavily.
When you look closely, you’ll notice that in several works lines that were invisible at first begin to surface.
Since some colors and lines are hard to catch in photos, I highly recommend seeing them in person.
An interview with him from his lifetime is available, so I’ll embed the video here.
His unrestrained style, his generous expressive range, his sense of color, and above all the lively dynamism of a brush that clearly enjoyed painting all resonate deeply. It leaves you with a sad sense of how much more he must have wanted to paint, and how much more we would have wanted to let him paint.
He apparently also created album cover artwork in the past.
His First Art Book Is Now on Sale
His first art book has been released. It contains many works beyond those in the current exhibition, letting you fully immerse yourself in the world of Nakazono!
