lodestone by Tetsuya Nagato
9th – 30th March, 2024

104GALERIE (Nakameguro, Tokyo) is holding a solo exhibition by Tetsuya Nagato, “lodestone”, from March 9th (Sat.) to 30th (Sat.) 2024.
The artist’s previous two exhibitions, were created around concept and project-based work. This third solo show, after four years, will center around pure collage work, which can be described as his principal mode. In addition, the show will be an opportunity to view a new development of his work, which he has worked on over the past year: digital collage work, and three-dimensional pieces produced from it.

Tetsuya Nagato has been exploring collage work for many years. His material is an enormous volume and range of printed matter. The prints are detached from their original context, and information such as color and texture are taken into Nagato’s consciousness as sensory signs. Then, through the manual work of dismantling, processing, and reforming the paper – countless actions repeated as a movement back and forth between real and unreal worlds – these signs are output as collages with new meanings and images. Through Nagato’s work, we can sense a “mind to transform the conventional”, and a “perspective from a different world.”

The title of the exhibition, “lodestone”, refers to the weak flow of energy or magnetic force which he receives while creating artwork. The main pieces reflect six motifs that are present in Nagato’s mind, each of them a symbol of magnetic power produced in the world of the mind, released from life and death.

“Whether I am making work or collecting material, it feels as though there is a kind of power that attaches to me, and the work eventually gets created by itself, as if the pieces of paper connect to one another by magnetism,” says the artist. This exhibition features a series of work produced through the multi-faceted approach of the Tetsuya Nagato’s collage art. We look forward to welcoming you to the exhibition.