LOUNGE /
ART
April 3, 2019
Exhibition "Eyes that Create Landscapes: Art, Design, and Craft Encountered by Shinichiro Nakahara" | Kirishima Art Museum of Art, Kagoshima
Kirishima Art Museum of Art, Kagoshima
To "Create a Good Landscape."
Exhibition: Art, Design, and Craft Encountered by Shinichiro Nakahara of Landscape Products
Landscape Products was formed in 1997, centered around Shinichiro Nakahara. They are a design collective aiming to create new things, with roots in the modern design of the 1940s-60s, and have undertaken numerous domestic and international projects since their formation. Nakahara, as the founder of the company, currently oversees direction, branding, and event curation. He is also preparing for an exhibition at the Kirishima Art Museum of Art in his home prefecture of Kagoshima, set to open in April 2019, which can be considered his magnum opus. In this season of vibrant greenery, what kind of "landscape" will be visible within the rich forests of Kirishima?
Text by Satsuki Wakabayashi
Eyes That Create Landscapes: Art, Design, and Craft Encountered by Shinichiro Nakahara
Landscape Products is a design collective formed in 1997 around Shinichiro Nakahara. With roots in the modern design of the 1940s-60s, they have focused on "creating good landscapes" for over 20 years, undertaking numerous domestic and international projects.
Their activities have expanded to include furniture manufacturing and sales, spatial design for homes, offices, and stores, direct-to-consumer retail operations such as Playmountain which opened in 2000, as well as producing and directing exhibitions and events, editing and publishing, and branding, creating a diverse range of products and experiences. An exhibition by Shinichiro Nakahara, the central figure of Landscape Products and currently its founder overseeing all projects, is scheduled to open on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at the Kirishima Art Museum of Art in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Shinichiro Nakahara was born in 1971. After studying art at Kagoshima University's Faculty of Education, he moved to Tokyo and formed Landscape Products in 1997. He has been involved in many initiatives related to his home prefecture of Kagoshima, and his work is widely recognized.
He also curated "Satsumaimo," an event that three-dimensionally edited Kagoshima from a unique perspective, held both domestically and internationally. He has also supervised projects such as the Kagoshima Prefectural Specialty Products Association's "MIGOTE" and the Kagoshima Prefectural Kawabe Buddhist Altar Cooperative's "Kawabe Shuren Dan." He participated as a technical team member in the "Eames Design Exhibition" (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum) in 2002, and curated the "Encounter Between Folk Art and Landscape Products" exhibition (Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art) in 2003, among many other exhibition and event supervisions.
Photo by Yoshio Kato
Photo by Ippei Nakamura
One of the concepts he has cherished is "creating a good landscape." Here, "landscape" encompasses not only the natural environment before our eyes but also man-made structures and the lives of the people within them. This exhibition displays works by young Kagoshima craftspeople whom Nakahara encountered through his studies, alongside design, craft, and art pieces that have been objects of his admiration, organized into 26 keywords. Talk events and pop-up shops are also planned.
Free thinking and originality for creating better landscapes will naturally emerge. Over the 56-day exhibition period, what kind of "landscapes" will we encounter within the rich forests of Kirishima?
Eyes That Create Landscapes: Art, Design, and Craft Encountered by Shinichiro Nakahara
Period: Saturday, April 27, 2019 – Sunday, June 30, 2019
Closed: Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a public holiday)
Venue: Kirishima Art Museum of Art, Kagoshima (Art Hall) Second Exhibition Room (Kagoshima Prefecture)
Address: 6340-220 Koba, Yusui-cho, Aira-gun, Kagoshima Prefecture
Hours: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Last admission 4:30 PM)