October – January 2026
KATSUMI NAKAI. Flying High
16 October 2025 – 30 January 2026
After his first abstract-Informal explorations with the Tekkeikai group in Osaka, Katsumi NakaiKatsumi Nakai found in Milan, from 1964 onward, a stimulating environment that led to a transformation in his artistic production. If his debut in Venice was still painterly, by his 1967 solo exhibition at Galleria del Naviglio in Milan he presented his new “object-paintings,” shaped and colored wooden works that unfold to take on ever-changing forms.
These works invite reflection on the poetry of the act of blossoming, of opening (hiraku), and of constant transformation. Through a consistent artistic inquiry, open to diverse influences, Nakai created works that make the imagination “fly high,” evoking Japanese kites (tako) with their countless forms and their seemingly weightless lightness. It is on these aspects—documented also by contemporary reflections—that these notes on Nakai’s work focus.
