Kengo Nakamura

Kengo Nakamura, born in 1969 in Osaka, studied Japanese paintings at the Graduate School of Tama Art University, and is now known for his unique paintings using motifs that represent modern society, popular culture, and art history. Among them are speech balloons and characters’ silhouettes from manga, and floor maps of Tokyo residences. In recent years, he has especially focused on a series of work, titled “Emoticon” which displays the dismantled and reconstructed emoji; the icons which expresses our emotions in email.
Technically, combining coarse mineral pigments with fine ones, and making the layers in the manner of the traditional Japanese painting, Nakamura elaborately creates the rich texture where the colors reflect diffusely in the layers. Obtaining vibrant color effects, which cannot be achieved by the chemical colorants such as oil, he has established his own style in the realm of lyrical tranquility.