Kohei Nawa Aether Past Sep 16 – Oct 22, 2022 New York Exhibition Details:Kohei NawaAetherSep 16 – Oct 22, 2022Gallery:540 West 25th StreetNew YorkPress:Press ReleaseConnect: (opens in a new window) @pacegallery (opens in a new window) @nawa_koheiAbove: Kohei Nawa, Black Field #8, 2022 © Kohei Nawa. Photo by Nobutada OMOTE | Sandwich. Pace is pleased to present an exhibition of new and recent work by Kohei Nawa. The exhibition—featuring sculptures, paintings, and mixed media works—marks Nawa’s first solo presentation with Pace in New York. Through his multidisciplinary practice, Nawa explores scientific and digital phenomena, focusing on the perceptual possibilities of his works. The title of his latest exhibition with Pace has multiple associations: the air and sky, the universes beyond the Earth, and the Greek mythological deity Aether. Enactments of ethereality and weightlessness are central to the works in the presentation, which achieve these ends by way of their varied material makeups and sensory effects. Coursing through the exhibition is a rejection of binaries between human and non-human beings and living and non-living entities.Among the highlights of Aether is Nawa’s new sculpture Trans-Sacred Deer (p/gn_cloud) (2022), which originated from 3D modeling system data and was constructed using traditional techniques and materials such as woodcarving, lacquer, and platinum leaf. The shinroku deer depicted in the work references the Kasuga Shinroku Shari Zushi sculpture, which has been an enduring source of inspiration for Nawa and is believed to have been created between Japan's Kamakura period and Northern and Southern Dynasties period.PixCell-Bambi#24 (Aurora) (2021), from Nawa’s PixCell sculpture series, figures prominently in the exhibition. The work features transparent spheres, or cells, covering its surface. These cells transform and distort viewers’ perceptions of the form beneath—a visual phenomenon that speaks to the impact of digital technologies on individuals’ relationships to the physical world.Works from the artist’s Rhythm series reflect the aesthetic concerns of his PixCell sculptures. These pieces, a selection of which are included in Aether, feature combinations of variously sized wood spheres covered in velvet. The placements of these spheres across two-dimensional planes suggest otherworldly movement and energy.The exhibition also includes Ether#83 (2022), a mixed media sculpture based on 3D modeling of a highly viscous liquid in various stages of descent. Informed by photographs of droplets in motion and the artist’s in-person observations of poured liquids, the columnar sculpture features a sequence of undulating, variously shaped protrusions, serving as a visual exploration of the effects of gravity and anti-gravity.A work from Nawa’s new Fountain sculpture series will be presented in Aether. This mixed media sculpture depicts layered, bountiful tableaus of plants, flowers, fungi, and other biomorphic, organic forms. Coated with micro-beads, the sculpture is produced using hand-drawn sketches and 3D programming. This work is presented in conversation with Nawa’s new three-dimensional, velvet-coated, figurative sculptures Trans-A and Trans-E (2022), which upend conventional modes of portraiture in their merging of human and extraterrestrial characteristics.Aether will also feature a selection of Nawa’s Blue Seed works, for which the artist uses UV lasers to irradiate the surfaces of translucent panels, producing generative images of cross sections of plant seeds and ovules. The blue hues of these works are reflected in the abstract painting Moment#147 (2020), which is created using airbrush and ink.Paintings from the artist’s Black Field series comprise a mixture of black oil paint on wooden panel. Applied in thick layers, the paint will gradually oxidize and harden over the course of the exhibition’s run, yielding new textures and formations as chemical interactions take place. Drawings from Nawa’s new Plotter series, also on view in Aether, feature lines created by an autonomous, programmed device with ballpoint and thin brush pens. Subtle differences between each of these abstract works reflect the unpredictable results of machine-based systems.Nawa’s ongoing solo exhibition at the Towada Art Center in Japan coincides with his solo presentation with Pace in New York. The artist’s VESSEL performance, a collaboration with choreographer Damien Jalet, will be staged at the Torinodanza Festival in Turin, Italy, in September 2022 and at La Filature in Mulhouse, France, in January 2023. Read More Featured Works Kohei Nawa, Ether#83, 2022, mixed media(nylon, stainless steel, paint, resin, glass beads), 170 cm × 20.5 cm × 20.5 cm (66-15/16" × 8-1/16" × 8-1/16") Learn More Close modal Kohei Nawa Ether#83 2022 mixed media(nylon, stainless steel, paint, resin, glass beads) 170 cm × 20.5 cm × 20.5 cm (66-15/16" × 8-1/16" × 8-1/16") Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Kohei Nawa, Plotter#12, 2022, ink on paper, frame size: 107.4 cm × 107.4 cm × 5.4 cm (42-5/16" × 42-5/16" × 2-1/8") image size: 96 cm × 96 cm (37-13/16" × 37-13/16") Learn More Close modal Kohei Nawa Plotter#12 2022 ink on paper frame size: 107.4 cm × 107.4 cm × 5.4 cm (42-5/16" × 42-5/16" × 2-1/8") image size: 96 cm × 96 cm (37-13/16" × 37-13/16") Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Kohei Nawa, Cell System#2, 2022, mixed media (aluminum panel, glass beads, pigment, resin), 157.5 cm × 108 cm × 7.5 cm (62" × 42-1/2" × 2-15/16") Learn More Close modal Kohei Nawa Cell System#2 2022 mixed media (aluminum panel, glass beads, pigment, resin) 157.5 cm × 108 cm × 7.5 cm (62" × 42-1/2" × 2-15/16") Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Kohei Nawa, Black Field#8, 2022, oil on canvas, 162 cm × 130.3 cm × 6 cm (63-3/4" × 51-5/16" × 2-3/8") Learn More Close modal Kohei Nawa Black Field#8 2022 oil on canvas 162 cm × 130.3 cm × 6 cm (63-3/4" × 51-5/16" × 2-3/8") Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Kohei Nawa, Rhythm#13 (Velvet), 2022, mixed media (wood panel, wood ball, paint, velvet, wooden frame), frame size: 128 cm × 95 cm × 9.7 cm (50-3/8" × 37-3/8" × 3-13/16") image size: 113 cm × 80 cm × 6.8 cm (44-1/2" × 31-1/2" × 2-11/16") Learn More Close modal Kohei Nawa Rhythm#13 (Velvet) 2022 mixed media (wood panel, wood ball, paint, velvet, wooden frame) frame size: 128 cm × 95 cm × 9.7 cm (50-3/8" × 37-3/8" × 3-13/16") image size: 113 cm × 80 cm × 6.8 cm (44-1/2" × 31-1/2" × 2-11/16") Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Kohei Nawa, Trans-A & Trans-E, 2-22, mixed media (nylon, stainless steel, paint, resin, velvet), Trans-A: 132.3 cm × 53 cm × 27.8 cm (52-1/16" × 20-7/8" × 10-15/16") Trans-E:122.8 cm × 48.6 cm × 26.4 cm (48-3/8" × 19-1/8" × 10-3/8") Learn More Close modal Kohei Nawa Trans-A & Trans-E 2-22 mixed media (nylon, stainless steel, paint, resin, velvet) Trans-A: 132.3 cm × 53 cm × 27.8 cm (52-1/16" × 20-7/8" × 10-15/16") Trans-E:122.8 cm × 48.6 cm × 26.4 cm (48-3/8" × 19-1/8" × 10-3/8") Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Kohei Nawa, Trans Sacred Deer (p/gn_cloud), 2022, mixed media (wood, varnish, Gold leaf), 142.4 cm × 179 cm × 91 cm (56-1/16" × 70-1/2" × 35-13/16") Learn More Close modal Kohei Nawa Trans Sacred Deer (p/gn_cloud) 2022 mixed media (wood, varnish, Gold leaf) 142.4 cm × 179 cm × 91 cm (56-1/16" × 70-1/2" × 35-13/16") Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Kohei Nawa, Blue Seed#3, 2022, mixed media (acrylic plate, pigment, paint on wooden frame), 64.6 cm × 130 cm × 4.1 cm (25-7/16" × 51-3/16" × 1-5/8") Learn More Close modal Kohei Nawa Blue Seed#3 2022 mixed media (acrylic plate, pigment, paint on wooden frame) 64.6 cm × 130 cm × 4.1 cm (25-7/16" × 51-3/16" × 1-5/8") Inquire How can we reach you? First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Inquiry Message Have you purchased from Pace before?* Yes No Submit Inquiry Or go back Installation Views 1/10 2/10 3/10 4/10 5/10 6/10 7/10 8/10 9/10 10/10 Carousel slide 0 Carousel slide 1 Carousel slide 2 Carousel slide 3 Carousel slide 4 Carousel slide 5 Carousel slide 6 Carousel slide 7 Carousel slide 8 Carousel slide 9 About the ArtistKohei Nawa is a multidisciplinary artist whose diverse practice explores the perception of virtual and physical space and probes the borders between nature and artificiality. Nawa’s use of synthetic compounds underscores a recurring theme wherein materials such as polyurethane foam, translucent beads, ink, paint, glue, and silicone oil become devices that prompt an awareness of our mediated environment.Learn More Journal View All Films Kohei Nawa's Cosmic Sensibility Dec 08, 2023 Pace Publishing Kohei Nawa: Aether Sep 27, 2022 Museum Exhibitions Contemporary Asian Artists at Virginia's Hermitage Jun 04, 2019 Artist Projects Lee Ufan & Kohei Nawa in Setouchi Triennale Apr 17, 2019 Overview Featured Works Installation Views About the Artist Journal