JIRO NAGASE

Nonaka Hill Los Angeles is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new work by Jiro Nagase. The exhibition will run from November 23 to January 25th, 2024. An opening reception for the artist will take place on November 23 from 6 to 8 pm. A performance by the artist, using the instruments created for the show, will occur during the reception.

For the exhibition, Jiro Nagase continues his in depth material exploration of aluminum. Lightweight, ductile, nonmagnetic and relatively new to the hands of human creation, aluminum was discovered in 1825 and industrialized for the first time in 1865, by comparison the first human use of iron dates to before 3500 BC. Its relative state-of- the-art status, along with its strength and formal aesthetic properties makes aluminum a choice material for Nagase to realize his creations. Chairs, lamps, vessels, architectural elements, analog musical instruments all realized in matte polished aluminum create a catalog of living sculpture, equally ready for functional deployment or aesthetic pleasure.

Simple architectural chairs, modifiable with back and armrests, can be merged together infinitely; lamps turned inside out allowing the user to experience the formal organization of circuitry and wiring as well as the on/off of illumination; stanchions rendered with such refinement they question their own alleged utility; each of Nagase’s realizations masterfully blur culturally imposed lines between art and design.

-Comparisons could be drawn to the French architect and designer Jean Prouvé, who also engaged aluminum in depth, or the Bauhaus and De Stijl schools of thought, their ideas of simplicity of forms, the primacy of function, and lack of unnecessary ornament. Perhaps less apparent , though equally relevant, are connections to minimalist sculpture from the 60s and 70s, and the Southern California “finishfetishists”- both with an asymptotic drive toward perfection. Like all successful design, the objects Nagase creates elegantly solve the problems they take on, while also performing formally as sculptures, engaging the classical elements of fine art; line, shape, space, value, form, texture, color - each work asking as many questions as it answers.

Jiro Nagase was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1990, where he continues to live and work today. He has been showing his work in solo and group exhibitions since 2019.