Press release
Masao Nakahara (b. 1956) is a Japanese artist and sculptor who lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. Born in Saitama, he attended the Nihon Art School in Tokyo before emigrating to Germany in 1981 to attend the Braunschweig University of Fine Arts, later graduating from the Düsseldorf Art Academy.
After exhibiting his work in several group shows throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Nakahara broke from his practice in the mid-1990s to work as a translator in order to support his family. Rediscovering both painting and sculpting in 2015, Nakahara was invited by long-time friend Yoshitomo Nara to participate in the 2021 exhibition ““友達と – With Friends” at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, shedding a new light on Nakahara’s work.
Against the backdrop of his early academic training at Tokyo’s Nihon Art School and the expressionist movement of the Neuen Wilden in Germany, Masao learned to develop his own visual language. In both his paintings and sculptures, age-less figures move between idyllic and ominous scenes, from cherry blossom groves to stormy landscapes, suggesting a transcendental existence somewhere between our known physical world and the afterlife. These subjects have fascinated Nakahara since the artist’s childhood and have become a ‘leitmotif’ throughout his career. Nakahara’s visual language offers him clarity when searching for truths that lie far beyond our material world.
“When I was little, I was afraid of dying… I wondered what would happen after I died, and if everything would end when I did… When I was 10 years old a thought came to me. Whenever I was in my room at that time of the day, the sun was shining brightly, and I felt happy. And in that moment, I thought that light would always be shining in this room at that time of the day and would continue to do so, even if I died… and I thought “that’s fine then”.”
Through his works, Masao processes daily realities as well as childhood memories, exploring the meaning and essence of our existence. Dream-like landscapes symbolize the passing of life, referencing Japanese culture and its mythos. Revisiting his heritage, cherry blossom trees feature heavily in Nakahara’s work. Finding their origins in Japanese mythologies on death, he uses these trees, symbols of the transience of life due to their quick blooming season, to reflect on themes such as beauty, temporality and impermanence.
His works have been the focus of solo exhibitions ‘Daydreams and Memories’ at Althuis Hofland Fine Arts (Amsterdam, 2022), ‘Departure and Arrival’ and ‘Fear and Hope’ at ES 365 (Düsseldorf, 2021). He has also participated in duo and group exhibitions such as ‘Swing By’ at Verein Düsseldorfer Künstler (Düsseldorf, 2023), ‘Protectors of Love and Peace’ at YKG Gallery (Tokyo, 2022), ‘Under the Boat’ at Sala del Camino (Venice, 2022), ‘Youth’ at YKG Gallery (Tokyo, 2021), ‘tomodachi ito’ at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf, 2021), ‘5 Japanische Künstler aus Düsseldorf’ at Kunstraum Neuss (1993), ‘Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Japan’ at Gallery Sels (Neuss, Germany, 1991), ‘KIKKOO’ at Bahnhof Eller (Düsseldorf, 1990) and ‘De Reizende Zon’ at Kunstal Almelo (Netherlands, 1990).
