Amelia Johnson Contemporary is proud to host the first Hong Kong exhibition of Chiharu Nishizawa, one of Japan’s most exciting young artists working today.
Already attracting huge attention from both collectors and press alike, Chiharu Nishizawa’s humorous commentaries on Japanese daily life are sought after for their quirky and unique depictions. His work preserves the traditional Yamato-e school of composition from a high vantage point and has an instantly recognisable style, depicting groups of people all wearing the same uniform suspended against a bright-coloured background. Presented through an highly detailed, realistic technique, Nishizawa’s race of identikit people appear initially to be orderly groups of office workers. On closer inspection we find that they are involved in ridiculous scenarios, usually wandering across the canvas without true purpose. His works illustrate the gap bewteen external behaviour and internal desires in an economically advanced society where individuals are devoted to gaining acceptance from the group. While his work is full of contradictions, Nishizawa never judges and leaves it up to the viewer to draw his own conclusions.
Born in 1970 in Nangano, Nishizawa studied fine art at Tokyo Zokei University, graduating with a BA in Painting in 1993. In 1995 he completed a post graduate course in printing and in 1997 took up an artists residency at ART Studio Itsukaichi, Tokyo. Since 1997 he has held annual solo exhibitions and has exhibited in group exhibitions and art fairs in Asia and Europe. He has won three awards for his work which recently stormed the auction house of Christies, succsessfully selling for well beyond the estimate. Chiharu Nishizawa’s works can be found in private collections worldwide.
