“I started to exhibit my work from 1956 in my city, at the Kyoto Museum and in Tokyo. In 1958 I founded with other seven avant- garde artists the Tekkeikai group. But few Japanese collectors liked the avant-garde art; people wanted traditional, academic and commercial art. I left and chasing the sun I found Milan. Thank you, Milan.”
Katsumi Nakai, 1976, Milan

🔻Katsumi Nakai, 1965, different sizes, oil on canvas.

📌Katsumi Nakai. Flying High, until January 30, 2026.
Corso Monforte 23, Milan

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Studio Gariboldi, corso Monforte 23, Milan

🪁 Monday – Friday
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
info: press@studiogariboldi.com

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#studiogariboldi #modernart #modernjapaneseart #giovannigariboldi #katsuminakai #artgallery #milan #japan

🔹Studio Gariboldi celebrates the 100th anniversary of Tomonori Toyofuku’s birth.

📌#TomonoriToyofuku is a Japanese sculptor born in Kurume (Fukuoka) in 1925. After participating in the 1960 Venice Biennale, he chose to settle in Italy. He opened his studio in Milan, where he came into contact with Enrico Castellani, Piero Manzoni, and Lucio Fontana. The Milanese environment fostered the abstract shift in his artistic path, and at his first solo exhibition in Italy in 1962, he presented wooden surfaces pierced by holes—an element that would become emblematic of his spatial research.

Thanks to @giorgiocardazzo for the pictures.

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🪁KATSUMI NAKAI. FLYING HIGH
16 October 2025 - 30 January 2026
Corso Monforte 23, 20122 Milan

INFO press@studiogariboldi.com

#studiogariboldi #modernart #modernjapaneseart #giovannigariboldi #katsuminakai #artgallery #milan #japan #luciofontana

🔹Katsumi Nakai. Flying High
October 16, 2025 – January 30, 2026

In 1964, Katsumi Nakai began his journey into the world. Between New York and Paris, Nakai chose Milan. The streets of Brera and Bar Jamaica became some of his favorite haunts. For years, he worked in his Milan studio, alongside some of the most prominent artists of the period.

Within the exhibition by Katsumi Nakai, there is a selection of archival and previously unseen photographs shows the artist at work in Milan.

✨The exhibition is open Monday to Friday, until January 30, 2026.
From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

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🔹Katsumi Nakai. Volare Alto
16 ottobre 2025 – 30 gennaio 2026

Nel 1964 Katsumi Nakai inizia il suo viaggio nel mondo. Tra New York e Parigi, Nakai sceglie Milano. Le strade di Brera e il Bar Jamaica erano tra i suoi luoghi elettivi. Lavora per anni nel suo studio a Milano, tra i nostri migliori artisti del periodo.

All’interno della mostra di Katsumi Nakai, una selezioni d’immagini d’epoca e inedite, con l’artista al lavoro a Milano.

✨La mostra è visitabile da lunedì a venerdì, fino al 30 gennaio 2026
dalle ore 11.00 alle ore 13.00, e dalle ore 14.00 alle ore 18.00

KATSUMI NAKAI, 44-148, 1971

🔹44-148 is an “Oggetto che sboccia” an
“Object in Bloom,” a phrase that accompanied the concise numerical titles of Nakai’s works. In Japanese, it was translated as obuje no tsubomi ga hiraku, literally “the bud of the object opens.” This expression of blossoming evolves into mono wa hiraku-
“the object opens”-and finally into the essential gesture hiraku: the act of opening, unfolding, and continuously revealing itself.

An opening that never ends — a dialogue between balance, movement, and light.

🎵#AkiraKosemura is a Japanese composer and pianist known for blending minimalist piano with ambient and electronic sounds. He is now one of Asia’s most streamed classical artists.

KATSUMI NAKAI. FLYING HIGH
16 October 2025 - 30 January 2026
Corso Monforte 23, 20122 Milan

#studiogariboldi #modernart #modernjapaneseart #giovannigariboldi #katsuminakai #artgallery #milan #japan

✨ Studio Gariboldi is pleased to announce the exhibition Volare Alto (Flying High), a solo show dedicated to the Japanese artist Katsumi Nakai.
Fourteen works from the 1960s and 1970s and a magnificent kite.

Katsumi Nakai was born in 1927 in Hirakata, Osaka. After graduating from the Osaka University of Fine Arts, he exhibited in numerous group shows and, in 1956, held his first solo exhibition at the Omote Gallery. In 1958, he co-founded the avant-garde group Tekkeikai. In the spring of 1964, like many Japanese artists of the time, he decided to travel to Europe; his journey led him to Milan, a city that deeply impressed him. Nakai became part of the circle of artists that, in 1967, art critic Guido Ballo would call the “New Milan School.” Among many others, he met Tomonori Toyofuku and Lucio Fontana, who played a crucial role in shaping his artistic vision.

Katsumi Nakai, Volare Alto
📅 October 16, 2025 – January 30, 2026
📍 Corso Monforte 23, 20122 Milan
🕒 Monday–Friday 11am–1pm | 2-6pm
Saturday and Sunday by appointment

✨ Opening solo show: October 16, 6-9 pm
✨ Talk: November 11, 5 pm, with Stefano Turina and Natsuko Toyofuku: Katsumi Nakai and Tomonori Toyofuku

🎵 #SusumuYokota (1960–2015) was a visionary Japanese composer and producer, known for his atmospheric soundscapes.
He released numerous albums under aliases such as Stevia and Ebi, leaving a lasting mark on electronic and ambient music.

Under the patronage of the Consulate General of Japan in Milan.
📧 Info: press@studiogariboldi.com

#KatsumiNakai #Japan #studiogariboldi #contemporaryart #modernart #artgallery