Saisoro V

Born in Chiba Prefecture in 1956, Kazumi Nakamura is an artist representing the contemporary Japanese art scene. He finished the graduate program of Tokyo University of the Arts in 1984. Nakamura debuted in the 1980s and his early paintings with Y forms using the tree shape as a motif attracted attention. Subsequently, Nakamura produced Diagonal Grid, C Opened, Ranging Difference – Broken Shelter, Broken Hermitages, Saisoro, and Shokusocho (Phoenix) series. Nakamura explores creation of paintings in a new dimension and his own theory of paintings by referring to classical Japanese art and Chinese art in an attempt to critically overcome American Abstract Expressionism. With more than 1200 works to this day, he continues to practice creation of paintings at the level different from formalistic abstract paintings.

Saisoro is the name of a dance music song for traditional Japanese court dance Gagaku. Today almost no one dances Saisoro because of its ominous legend that one who dances this piece is doomed to die. The brush strokes the artist created with dynamic movements on the canvas evoke smooth motion of a dancer playing an old wanderer searching the elixir of life.