Yoshinobu Nakagawa

1964 Born in Osaka, Japan

1987 B.A. Fine Art, Osaka University of Arts

Currently lives in Shiga, Japan

Born in Osaka in 1964, Yoshinobu Nakagawa now resides in Shiga prefecture. Since his first solo exhibition in 1987, the year he graduated from Osaka University of Arts, he has consistently explored the relationship between plants, agriculture, and human beings. For Nakagawa, painting resembles farming: applying pigment to a surface is like sowing seeds

into the earth.

His practice develops through four key concepts: “who sows,” “who stores,” “where to sow,” and “things sown, things stored.” These ideas appear through motifs such as farming tools, seed jars, field-like linear compositions, and delicate drawings of seed forms made with wax soot.

Although trained as a painter, Nakagawa has mainly created three-dimensional works. Moving between two-dimensional and three-dimensional expression, he continues to question the essential qualities of both painting and sculpture.

Solo exhibitions:

2026　Views of seeds, eyes of farmers, CADAN Otemachi, Tokyo

　　　La Pensée sauvage (with Genshoin Doukaku), 2kw gallery, Shiga

2025　Views of seeds, eyes of farmers - recent works,Taguchi Fine Art, Tokyo

　　　Yoshinobu Nakagawa, Kusakabe Soy Sauce Brewery Gallery, Kagawa

2024　Views of seeds, eyes of farmers - germination on the table,Taguchi Fine Art, Tokyo

2023　views of seeds, eyes of framers, Galerie Ashiya Schule, Hyogo

2020　Light Pot, Taguchi Fine Art, Tokyo

Collections

Ashiya City Museum of Arts and History, Ashiya, Hyogo

Fuji Xerox Co.,Ltd., Tokyo

Imadate Art Center, Imadate, Fukui

Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art

Kyoto Prefectural Center for Arts and Culture, Kyoto

Museum of Modern Art Wakayama, Wakayama

National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita

Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka

Osaka University of Arts, Osaka

Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., Tokyo

Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo

YAMASA Insutitute of Language and Culture, Okazaki, Aichi