On Friday, March 3, 2017, contemporary artist, Kohei Nawa, held a lecture at NeueHouse Hollywood’s Screening Room and Library presented by the Consulate General of Japan Los Angeles to give a behind-the-scenes look at his various works that run a full gamut of genres spanning fifteen years.
Nawa, one of the principal art designers for JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, is the founder and director of SANDWICH, a former sandwich factory turned artist residence and studio in Kyoto, Japan. At the studio, Nawa and other artists, designers, and architects originally from around the world can collaborate on myriad projects that would otherwise have been made difficult by geography. One such project from 2015 was entitled “Vessel,” which enlisted the expertise of Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet and utilized Nawa’s stage design. This project then inspired Nawa to create sculptures of the poses from the “Vessel” performances by using 3D cameras to capture the dancers’ unique poses.
One of Nawa’s most iconic projects, though, may be “PixCell,” a series of works consisting of various taxidermy animals and other objects completely covered with spherical crystals of different diameters. “PixCell” stems from a previous series called “Prism,” consisting of objects encased in transparent, rectangular boxes that cause the viewer to see either a single object, multiple objects, or nothing at all depending on their vantage point. Such projects reflect Nawa’s desire for his audience to experience seeing the world through multiple lenses at the same time.
Nawa’s work has been exhibited extensively in Japan and have wowed art-lovers in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, South Korea, Spain, China, and Bangladesh. Most recently, Nawa’s work was found at The Broad in Los Angeles for a one-week engagement which coincided with the museum’s “Spring Preview Featuring JAPAN HOUSE Artist Kohei Nawa.”
For more information about Kohei Nawa and his work, visit: http://kohei-nawa.net/
For more information about JAPAN HOUSE, visit: http://www.japanhouse.jp/en/
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