Yu Nishimura
Ebb tide

30.09–20.11.2021

Yu Nishimura’s paintings are based on simple motifs. People and animals, portrayed from up close or in wistful poses. City scenery mixed with nature: cars rushing off-road, lonely figures stray in suburban landscapes. 

For his first exhibition in this part of Europe Nishimura has prepared a new series of works. It was inspired by the notion of transition. The artist believes that perception is in a constant state of flux. To translate that impression into his canvases he operates with slightly blurred, misaligned edges, and layers of colors – soft, pale, translucent even. 

“My working process, I feel, can be somewhat associated and coincide with the shapes left behind after the waves have receded on the beach, or the seawater seeping into the sand”, says Nishimura.

The imagery is a continuation of the familiar narrative. Lonesome protagonists captured in a tight frame (Chill Man), musing under a starry sky (Outfield) or marching through forests (Seasons); sudden but unhurried animal encounters (Cat Hill, School of Fish). Each and every painting is overlapping different times and perspectives into one.

Yu Nishimura – born in 1982 in Kanagawa, Japan; studied painting at Tama Art University, Tokyo. He works with KAYOKOYUKI gallery in Tokyo.