Hino gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Isao Nakamura from Saturday, October 27th, 2018.

This show will be composed of Nakamura’s most recent works from his major series entitled "ISEI", which he has been continuously working on for over 30 years.

Nakamura came up with the term "ISEI" which literally translates from Japanese Kanji as “Mind Vigor”. He believes that ‘pure painting’ can be generated when the mind transcends thought and the subconscious feelings, which lie hidden outside of the artist’s consciousness, somehow gain ground. The title "ISEI" is a literary attempt to describe a place where these paintings could exist.

Nakamura only consciously initiates or decides what color he selects; from where he starts, and from where he positions himself in front of the bare canvas. However, as things progress, unpredictable forms or colors naturally appear on canvas despite the artist’s intentions or preconceptions. He keeps responding to these phenomena reflexively and sensuously, releasing the artist from any attachment to subject thus shifting the onus to the events occurring on canvas, which makes the artist feel as if he is being guided or manipulated by the painting itself. The painter’s purpose crumbles with every brush-mark and the canvas is ultimately filled with colors and forms, yielded by an unidentifiable great force from elsewhere. This is the state of "ISEI" and Nakamura believes that ‘pure painting’ can exist in this way as a teetering between oneself and the external world. If it is possible to discern a sense of cumulative time or spatial depth in Nakamura’s painting, more than simply in a visible way, then it could be because his painting is derived from this indefinable and infinite state.

Hino gallery is presenting a solo exhibition by Nakamura for the first time in 2 years. We hope you will see the new developments of "ISEI" in his most recent works.