Painting Radiance: Light and Nature in the Art of Daisuke Nakano

NEW YORK, NY – Ippodo Gallery, New York, is pleased to announce the return of Daisuke Nakano for PAINTING RADIANCE: LIGHT AND NATURE IN THE ART OF DAISUKE NAKANO, an exploration of the artistic energy that binds humanity to nature. Born and raised in Kyoto, from an early age Nakano has explored the history and styles of Nihonga, or traditional Japanese painting. Nihonga originated with the Japanese schools of painting that flourished prior to and during Japan’s Edo period (1615–1868). During that time, renowned institutions such as the Kano, Tosa, and Rinpa schools, among others, produced paintings and styles that would become canonized as representing a distinctly Japanese aesthetic. The paintings often centered on themes of nature, human figures, and scenes from classical literature and poetry. Visually, these paintings were distinguished by having a relatively flat perspective and were composed with paint made from mineral based pigments mixed with natural glues that create a matte effect on Japanese washi-paper or silk canvases. During the late nineteenth century, with the rise in popularity of Western-style painting, the establishment of state sponsored art schools, and the decline of many traditional art institutions, historically distinct styles of Japanese painting converged under the broad canopy of Nihonga. Contemporary Nihonga continues to reflect these diverse influences, while maintaining traditional techniques in composition and materials.

As a dedicated Nihonga artist, Nakano begins by hand-mixing powdered mineral pigments with a solution of natural glue, made from deer collagen, dissolved in water. Many of his paintings, such as “Radiance: Blessed with Light” feature flat, boldly colored plants and animals against a gold or silver background. This technique evokes the Rinpa school, a style that originated in the mid-seventeenth century and is most famously associated with the painter and designer Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716). Showing the breadth of his influences, Nakano’s meticulously detailed animals and trees also recall the style of Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795), who merged Western naturalism with Japanese decorative styles. Beneath these traditional elements, Nakano arranges the gold and silver foil of his background to create a subtle, yet distinct, grid, which propels his figures forward as if they might emerge from the painting’s surface.

Daisuke Nakano is a visionary in contemporary Nihonga painting. He is precise, tenacious, and patient. Producing only a few paintings a year, he spends the time perfecting each line and capturing the light and life of the subject matter. Whether it be deer, galloping towards the sunrise or peacocks perched on branches of full spring bloom, his paintings contain a sense of time standing still. Learning to appreciate traditional Japanese painting methods, he created his own style of painting through filling the entire canvas or screen with ornate detail. He expresses the change in our natural world and bridges the connection between human and nature, light and dark, life and death. To look at Nakano’s painting is to understand that paradox, the existence of life does not mean the absence of death but the beautiful collaboration that is the cycle of life. Daisuke Nakano celebrates life with each brush stroke and with each painting illustrates a collaboration of time, life, light, and nature.

Nakano’s works can be found in museums and collections around the world; the Indianapolis Museum of Art at

Newfields recently acquired “Magnolia 'Luminous Wind,'” and featured this painting in “A Brush with Beauty”, an exhibition highlighting masterpieces in Japanese painting over 700 years.

After its initial presentation at Ippodo Gallery New York, Painting Radiance will travel to Portland Japanese Garden for its second iteration in June. We anticipate that Daisuke Nakano’s paintings will bring warmth and

light to hearts during this spring season.