Makiko Nakamura Moons of Jupiter John Martin Gallery
Makiko Nakamura Moons of Jupiter 8 March 8 April 2017 John Martin Gallery Half Moon Sonnet, 2017 oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, 47¼ x 47¼ ins 38 Albemarle Street London, W1S 4JG www.jmlondon.com info@jmlondon.com Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-1:30 Tel +44 (0)20 7499 1314
Blue Flickering Invitation from Aquarius, 2016 oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, 47¼ x 47¼ ins
Camellia Garden, 2016 oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, 47¼ x 47¼ ins
Campanella s Journey, 2016 oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, 47¼ x 47¼ ins
Canal City, 2016 oil on canvas, 91 x 91 cm, 35¾ x 35¾ ins Hazy Moon in Hometown, 2016 oil on canvas, 91 x 91 cm, 35¾ x 35¾ ins
Giovanni s Wish, 2016 oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, 47¼ x 47¼ ins
Moon Phases and Wishes, 2016 oil on canvas, 21 x 30 cm, 8¼ x 11¾ ins Mirage Moon, 2016 oil on canvas, 21 x 30 cm, 8¼ x 11¾ ins
Moons of Jupiter, A Song for Beloved Spirits, 2017 oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, 47¼ x 47¼ ins
Little Whispers in the Forest, 2017 oil on canvas, 91 x 91 cm, 35¾ x 35¾ ins
Distant Thunder, 2017 oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, 47¼ x 47¼ ins
A Sakura Story, 2017 oil on canvas, 45.5 x 45.5 cm, 18 x 18 ins Poisson D Avril, 2017 oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm, 23½ x 23½ ins
History of Kyoto / Fantasy, 2017 oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, 47¼ x 47¼ ins
Galaxy Railway Crossing, 2016 oil on canvas, 45.5 x 45.5 cm, 18 x 18 ins Terre, 2016 oil on canvas, 45.5 x 45.5 cm, 18 x 18 ins
Centaurus Festival, 2017 oil on canvas, 91 x 91 cm, 35¾ x 35¾ ins
Days of Princess Kaguya, 2017 oil on linen, 91 x 91 cm, 35¾ x 35¾ ins
Makiko Nakamura was born in Japan in 1951. She was brought up by her Grandparents and started to paint at a very early age. Her Grandfather and her Uncle, who had been killed in the war, were both artists and the house was filled with their painting materials which she was taught to use. During her childhood she learned the techniques of calligraphy and traditional Japanese painting and, as an only child, she described painting becoming her best friend and consumming her daily life. In 1966 she went to art school in Kyoto to study printmaking, sculpture, film-making and painting. In 1995, following the death of her parents she moved to Paris to continue her studies in painting and printmaking before moving to Philadelphia to study at the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1999 she made the decision to move to Dublin where she lived and worked until 2013, taking Irish citizenship in 2011. During this time she developed the process which has directed her painting ever since. Nakamura begins with simple, repetitive geometric shapes or grids which gradually dissappear as she builds up each layer of paint; when complete, she then reverses the process, slowly sanding away the paint surface to try and find the starting grid, on the way creating a new surface made up of scratches and traces of colour from every layer of the work. Nakamura talks of this process being a way to see through time, revisiting memories hidden in the work and from their simple, minimalist beginning each painting takes on a more organic and expressive character. The fourteen years Nakamura spent in Ireland were immensely important in her development as a painter and when she returned to Japan she left behind one of her most important paintings with the Irish Museum of Modern Art and two major commissions for the Gate Theatre. Three years after her return to Kyoto and living in her studio, Nakamura continues to follow the same, highly disciplined routine, painting all day, every day. Having not lived in Japan for over twenty years she knows no-one in Kyoto and has few distractions the central importance of painting in her life that she first discovered as a child has now become a daily devotion. Nakamura s paintings develop slowly, demanding all her time and all her attention. Catalogue Published by John Martin Gallery for the exhibition Makiko Nakamura, Moons of Jupiter 8 March 8 April 2017 at John Martin Gallery, First Floor, 38 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4JG Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm and Saturdays, 10am to 1:30pm For all enquiries call Laura Campbell 020 7499 1314 laura@jmlondon.com www.jmlondon.com Photographs of paintings by Matt Pia