Works
25.05.2023 – 28.02.2024
The exhibition shows sculptures, drawings, paintings and furniture by Katsuhito Nishikawa (JP, born 1949) from the 1980s until today. For the first time, a special exhibition at Museum DKM is not limited to the temporary exhibition wing of the museum but occupies other rooms in dialogue with the permanent collection.
The former master student of the sculptor Erwin Heerich erects buildings, art in architecture projects and walk-in sculptures on a large scale in public spaces. In parallel, he creates sculptures, drawings and paintings in his studio that often respond to their natural surroundings. His landscape paintings Am Teich (2010) and An den Auen (2010) take us to the marshes of Hombroich Island1, where Katsuhito Nishikawa has been working since 1994. Shades of grey that lie like dense veils of mist over a subtly suggested meadow landscape allow us to immerse ourselves in the special aura of Nishikawa’s œuvre, a harmoniously self-contained body of work that unites nature and culture.
A 10-part sculpture ensemble made of plaster, wood and bronze illustrates the artist’s abiding interest in architecture: Arena (2016), Mauer (2012), Turm (2020), Terrasse (2013), Cathedral (2015) are reminiscent of classical architectural elements; the format and white surface of the sculptures bear resemblance to architectural models. With their uneven, imperfect structure, however, the sculptures seem enraptured, like ruins of a pittura metafisica. In the next room, Nishikawa presents Color as Shadow. Piero (2005), a study consisting of 24 panels that conceals Piero della Francesca’s cool colour scale behind several layers of acrylic glass. The evoked veil that covers the colours like a semi permeable membrane of transience makes the special luminosity for which the Italian painter of the early Renaissance is universally known disappear behind patina. A traditional Japanese screen is also stripped of its original pictorial theme and its function as a room divider: Painted in delicate blue with oil pastels and acrylic paint and covered with fine lines of silver wire, Primavera / Paravent für eine Teezeremonie (2020) undergoes a metamorphosis. The theme of transience, the concept of impermanence is not only a constant in Nishikawa’s work, but also in Japanese aesthetics and one of the essential teachings of Buddhism.
Painterly-poetic drawings from the 1980s focus on the morphology of plants and emphasise the importance of nature as a source of inspiration: Harmony, order and proportion not only serve as models for the organic form-finding of many of his sculptural works (Aqua, 1991-1994, Physalis, 2004, Ohne Titel, 2014), which suspend the opposition of art versus nature and transform it into a coexistence. The exhibition design, created by the artist himself, is also captivating with its harmonious, rhythmic hanging and positioning, which always incorporates the void. Ultimately, Nishikawa remains true to his function as a sculptor and succeeds in creating new spaces out of existing spaces, walk-in sculptures, so to speak, into which he invites the viewer to explore his own cosmos.
Katsuhito Nishikawa (JP, 1949) has been working at the Hombroich rocket station near Neuss since 1994. He studied at Keio University in Tokyo until 1972, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1974 to 1976 and sculpture with Erwin Heerich at the Düsseldorf Art Academy from 1976 to 1980. The artistic guidelines of his professor and later colleague still influence him today. Katsuhito Nishikawa has realised numerous buildings, art on building projects and sculptures in public spaces. He is also active as a painter, photographer and designer.
1 In 1987, the collector Karl-Heinrich Müller (D, 1936 – 2007) founded the Museum Insel Hombroich, an ensemble of landscape, architecture and art. It is a landscape conservation area and habitat for numerous animal and plant species. In 1994 he acquired the nearby former Nato missile station Hombroich. Together with Erwin Heerich and Oliver Kruse, Katsuhito Nishikawa was instrumental in the conversion and redesign of the site. The area serves as a living and working space for artists and scientists as well as a venue for cultural events.
Works in the exhibition
EG Altbau
1. Am Teich, 2010 Oil on Canvas H. 100 x 140 cm
2. Aqua, 1991-94 Wood, plaster, painted H. 35 x 92 x 92 cm
3. Aqua, 1991-94 Wood, plaster, painted H. 35 x 92 x 92 cm
4. An den Auen, 2010 Oil on Canvas H. 100 x 138 cm
5. Am Teich, 2007 Oil on Canvas H. 51,5 x 100 cm
6. Am Teich, 2007 Oil on Canvas H. 51,5 x 100 cm
7. Mauer, 2012 Plaster, painted H. 38 x 16,5 x 15,5 cm
8. Torso, 2008/13 Bronze, painted H. 56 x 12,5 x 10 cm
9. Architektur, 2012 Bronze, painted H. 10,5 x 39 x 39 cm
10. Cathedral, 2015 Wood, plaster, painted H. 60,5 x 17,5 x 17 cm
11. Ohne Titel, 2009 Wood, plaster, painted H. 41 x 37 x 37 cm
12. Arena, 2016 Plaster, painted H. 11,5 x 30 x 30 cm
13. Traces, 2011 Wood, plaster, painted H. 30 x 19,5 x 19 cm
14. Ohne Titel, 2011 Wood, plaster, painted H. 27 x 19 x 19 cm
15. Turm, 2020 Wood, plaster, painted H. 68 x 9 x 9 cm
16. Terrasse, 2013 Wood, plaster, painted H. 17 x 25,5 x 25,5 cm
17. Flügel, 2022-23 Lead, plaster, paper, Paint on Wood. H. 120 x 240 cm
18. Ohne Titel, 2012 Wood, plaster, acrylic glass, painted H. 57 x 36 x 36 cm
19. Ohne Titel, 2012 Wood, plaster, acrylic glass, painted H. 57 x 36 x 36 cm
20. Tete-a-Tete Stuhl, 1997, Laminated wood, H. 70 x 120 x 60 cm
21. Color as shadow/Piero, 2005 24 Colour chart, acrylic glass, silver wire je. H. 30 x 42,3 x 3,4 cm
22. Tanit, 2006 Wood, plaster, painted H. 291 x 11 x 11 cm
23. Color as shadow/Ultimate Blue, 2005-06 Acrylic glass, silver wire H. 59,7 x 59,7 x 3,4 cm
24. Color as shadow/Ultimate Blue, 2005-06 Acrylic glass, silver wire H. 59,7 x 59,7 x 3,4 cm
25. Color as shadow/Ultimate Blue, 2005-06 Acrylic glass, silver wire H. 59,7 x 59,7 x 3.4 cm
26. An den Auen, 2018-20 Öl, Encaustic, acrylic paint, silver wire on cardboard H. 75 x 100 cm
27. Primavera/Paravent, 2020 Oil crayon, acrylic paint, silver wire on paper H. 151 x 327 cm
28. Barcelona, 1997 Wood, plaster, painted H. 55 x 32 x 32 cm
29. Tisch für Teezeremonie, 2023 Laminated wood H. 60 x 99 x 99 cm
30. Ohne Titel, 1986-88 Drawings, pigment ink, pencil, oil paint on paper, je H. 29,7 x 42 cm
2. OG
31. Ohne Titel/Ei, 1995-96 Wood, painted H. 164 x 108 x 108 cm
32. Ohne Titel, 2014 Wood, plaster, painted H. 83 x 39 x 39 cm
33. Ohne Titel, 2014 Wood, plaster, painted H. 83 x 39 x 39 cm
Neubau
34. Physalis, 2004 Concrete. H. 84 x 100 x 100 cm
35. Physalis, 1994/2019 Wood, paper, organza, LED per physalis ca. 60 x 30 x 30 cm
36. Am Teich/Due Torri, 2009 Oil, encaustic on wood H. 42,5 x 63 cm
37. Am Teich/Due Torri, 2009 Oil, encaustic on wood . H. 42,5 x 63 cm
38. Chaise Longue, 1990 Laminated wood H. 71 x 60 x 145 cm