Kenji Nagai

prints

October 17th - 28th, 2017

On Tuesday, October 17th at 7 pm was opened the exhibition of prints of Japanese artist Kenji Nagai.

Nagai is an artist of rich international career, which is also marked by his significant presence at Serbian contemporary art scene: starting from Award at Third Printmaking Biennial 1994, afterwards participation at International Printmaking Triennial 2011. and 2017, and in artistic colonies in Studenica and Sićevo. Certainly, Kenji Nagai is the author who continuously creates strong connections between artists and print’s centers in Serbia and Japan.

In his work we can find an interweaving of different poetic experiences, of traditional and contemporary, west-european and classical japanese painting. Oriental philosophy which is based on principles of jing and jang, is essential part of work of this artist. Poetic discourse of Kenji Nagai is related to memories from childhood and to everyday life. Nagai spent his childhood at his parents’ home in Hachioji, Tokyo, where they owned a large textile factory. He was enchanted by colorful textiles which became a part of visual culture that formed him. Today, when he lives away from the bustle of Tokyo, he is revealing nature with all her contrasts through his work.

The author states: „I’ve continued to create works which demand balance between conflict and harmony. In titles of my works I use C to denote chaos and cosmos, and L for lines“. New series of lithographies stem from previous creative phases which are characterized by cultivated approach to printmaking. Artist doesan’t reproduce shapes from nature, he is transferring his reflections of wind, silence, movement in abstracted forms.

Kenji Nagai (1947. Tokyo, Japan) graduated from Musashino Art University, Japan (1972); Japanese Government granted him the fellowship for staying in the Netherlands (1988/89). He held over 20 solo exhibitions in Tokio and Netherlands (The Hague, Nijmegen); he participated on a huge number of collective exhibitions (Japan, Russia, Canada, Turkey, Serbia). He got a lot of awards for printmaking.