Born in Kobe, Japan, in 1944
Lives and works in New York City
Education
1961–62Osaka Art University, Osaka, Japan
1963–65Brooklyn Museum Art School, New York
Selected One-Person Exhibitions
2011“Earth Wave Paintings,” Feature Inc., New York
2008Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
Tamada Projects, Tokyo
Beauregard Fine Art, Rumson, NJ
2007“Triple X: Extended, Exploded, Extracted – Naoto Nakagawa 1965–1975,” White Box, New York; curated by
Eric Shiner (catalogue: essays by Alexandra Munroe, John Perreault, and Eric Shiner)
“Scream of Nature: Recent Paintings by Naoto Nakagawa,” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York ((catalogue: essays
by Jake Berthot and Jonathan Goodman)
2006“Works on Paper,” Tamada Projects, Tokyo
2005Tamada Projects, Tokyo
Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
2004Holly Snapp Gallery, Venice (catalogue: essay by Dore Ashton)
Tamada Projects, Tokyo
2003Ethan Cohen Arthaus and Kim Kettler Gallery, Wellfleet, MA
2000The Cooper Union Humanities Gallery, New York; (catalogue: essay by Dore Ashton)
1999Van Every/Smith Galleries, Davidson College, Davidson, NC (catalogue: essay by Gail Levin)
1996Nielsen Gallery, Boston (catalogue: essays by Tadao Ogura and John Perreault)
1993Victoria Munroe Fine Art, New York
1991Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo (catalogue: essay by Dore Ashton)
1982Kasahara Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo (catalogue: essays by Rand Castile & Yoshiaki Inui)
1978Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo
1974O.K. Harris Gallery, New York
1972O.K. Harris Gallery, New York
1971Obelisk Gallery, Boston
1968“The Extended Object and Its Image,” Judson Memorial Church Gallery, New York
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012“Punt,” Feature Inc., New York
“Voices from Japan: Despair and Hope from Disaster,” Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine,
New York (“1,000 Portraits of Hope,” traveled to APIA Gallery, Hyogo Prefecture [2013];
Ishigami No Oka Museum of Art, Iwate Prefecture [2013]; Koriyama Hall, Fukushima Prefecture [2013])
“Reinventing Landscape,” Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York
2009–10“Trick Art / Trick Art no Sekai,” Toyohashi City Museum, Japan; traveled to Hokkaido-Kushiro Museum, Mie Prefecture Museum, Fukuyama Museum, Sonpo Japan Togo Seiji Museum, Nagano Prefecture Shinano
Museum, Miyazaki Prefecture Museum, Yato City Museum
2009Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
Fujii Gallery, Tokyo
2007“The World of Trick Art,” Kyushu City Museum, Japan
2006“Andrew Masullo, Naoto Nakagawa, Alexander Ross,” Feature Inc., New York
“Antiquity/Modernity: Breaking Traditions,” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
“The World of Trick Art,” Takasaki City Museum, Japan
2005“Two Continents and Beyond: Waterways,” 9th Istanbul Biennial; an official independent project curated by
Renee Vara and Asli Sumer
“Poles Apart, Poles Together,” Venice Biennale; a project of the International Artists’ Museum and
White Box, New York
“Waterways,” a project coinciding with the Venice Biennale, produced by Vara Global Fine Arts New York
2004Ethan Cohen Arthaus, Truro, MA
2003Nielsen Gallery, Boston
“Below the Canal: After 9/11,” Asian American Arts Centre, New York
2001“Selected Work from the Permanent Collection,” Ohita City Museum, Japan
2000“Conceptual Ink,” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
1999“35th Anniversary Exhibition,” Nielsen Gallery, Boston
1998“Works on Paper,” Tamada Projects Co., Tokyo
1997“Works on Paper,” Tamada Projects Co., Tokyo
1996“Still Life,” Nielsen Gallery, Boston
1994–5“Scream Against the Sky: Japanese Art Since 1945,” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art;
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; Guggenheim Museum Soho, New York;
Yokohama Museum, Yokohama, Japan (catalogue)
1993“Works on Paper: Lyric with an Edge,” Victoria Munroe Fine Art, New York
“Celestial,” Lobby Exhibition, Champion International Co., Stamford, CT
1992“Drawings,” Victoria Munroe Fine Art, New York
“In the Spirit of Landscape,” Invitational, Nielsen Gallery, Boston
1991“Drawings,” Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center, New York; Great Wall Gallery, Toronto
1990“The Silent Dialogue: Still Life in the West and Japan,” Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan (catalogue)
1989“Eighty Masterpieces from the Fukuoka Museum,” Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan (catalogue)
1987“Contemporary Japanese Art in America (1): Arita, Nakagawa, Sugimoto,” Japan Society Gallery, New York
(catalogue: essays by Alexandra Munroe; Toshio Hara; Patterson Sims)
1986“Eminent Immigrants,” New House Gallery, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY; curated by John Perrealt
1982“Contemporary American Realism since 1960,” organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,
Philadelphia; traveled to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; The Oakland Museum,
Oakland CA; Museo Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; Salas de Esposiciones de Bellas Artes, Madrid; Kunsthalle,
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nurenberg, Germany (catalogue)
1981“Real, Really Real, Super Real: Directions in Contemporary American Realism,” organized by the
San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX; traveled to The Indianapolis Museum of Art,
Indianapolis, IN; The Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ; The Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
1980“Asian Artists Exhibition Part II – Festival: Contemporary Asian Art Show,” Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan (catalogue)
1979“The Dragon and the Chrysanthemum,” Summit Art Center, Summit, NJ
1977“The Chosen Object: European and American Still Life,” Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
1976“The Presence and the Absence in Realism,” Brainard Hall Art Gallery, State University College at Potsdam, NY
Wichita State University, Wichita, KS
“40th Annual Midyear Show;” Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1973“Japanese Artists in the Americas,” Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
1970“Toward a New Metaphysics,” Allen Frumkin Gallery, New York
1969“West Side Artists,” Goddard Riverside Auditorium, New York (brochure)
“Young Artists from Around the World,” Union Carbide Building, New York
1968“Beyond Literalism,” Moore College of Art, Philadelphia (catalogue)
Museum of Modern Art, Art Lending Gallery, New York
Selected Bibliography
2012Egenes Linda. “Art, Nature, and Consciousness: A Roundtable Discussion with an Artist and His Gallerist,”
Enlightenment, #7 >link
Zaller, Robert. “Nakagawa’s ‘Thousand Portraits of Hope’ in New York,” Broad Street Review, 7 July >link
Kanno, Miyuki. “New York artist completes 1000 portraits of hope,” Asahi Shimbun, 11 June >link
Berman, Gerta. “Naoto Nakagawa: Art as Hope After a Disaster,” Juilliard Journal, May
2011Kanno, Miyuki. “Artist plans to sketch 100 celebrities for charity,” Asahi Shimbun, 13 December >link
Gomez, Edward M. “Naoto Nakagawa’s ‘1000 portraits’: Art to honor humanity, a gesture to rise above grief,”
edwardmgomez.com, 10 July
Zaller, Robert. “Naoto Nakagawa’s ‘Earth Wave’ in New York: Terror in the Garden of Eden,” Broad Street Review,
19 April
Renzulli, Dianne. “Naoto Nakagawa Exhibition at Feature Inc.,” Battery Park City Broadsheet, 18 April 18 – 3 May Salz, Jerry. “The Naturist,” New York Magazine, 2 May, 77
Kraskin, Sandra. “Hai Tao’s Paradox,” Spirit Rock, Sacred Mountain: A Chinese View of Nature, exhibition
catalogue, Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, CUNY, New York (reproduction)
2007Berthot, Jake. Essay for exhibition catalogue, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
Finkelstein, Alix. “40 years of Explosive Color,” New York Sun, March 2–4
Goodman, Jonathan. Essay for exhibition catalogue, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
McAdams, Shane. Review, Brooklyn Rail, April >link
Munroe, Alexandra. Essay for exhibition catalogue, White Box, New York
Perreault, John. Essay for exhibition catalogue, White Box, New York
Shiner, Eric. Essay for exhibition catalogue, White Box, New York
Zaller, Robert. “Naoto Nakagawa Paintings in New York,” Broad Street Review, 10 April
2004Ashton, Dore. Essay for exhibition catalogue, Holly Snapp Gallery, Venice
Smith, Icy, ed. Voices of Healing: Spirit and Unity after 9/11 in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community,
a project by the Organization of Chinese Americans (Gardena, CA: East West Discovery Press, 2004)
2000Ashton, Dore. Essay for exhibition catalogue, Cooper Union Humanities Gallery, New York
1999Levin, Gail. Essay for exhibition catalogue, Van Every/Smith Galleries, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
Mitcham, Nicole. “Naoto Nakagawa Subject of Ongoing Show,” Lake Norman Times, 21 April
Ota, Tomoo. “Profile of an International Person of Prominence,” Yomiuri Newspaper, October 27
1996Cohen, Joan Lebold. Asian Art News, April/May
Koslow, Miller, Francine. Artforum, September
Maniaci, Cara. Review, The Tufts Daily, March 14
McQuaid, Cate. Review, Boston Globe, 21 March
1995Cohen, Joan Lebold. Orientations, June
Lucie-Smith, Edward. ARTODAY (London: Phaidon Press, 1995), 409, 451
1994Koplos, Janet. “Naoto Nakagawa,” Art in America, April
Munroe, Alexandra. Scream Against the Sky: Japanese Art Since 1945 (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994)
Roth, Ikuko. Review, Asahi News, November 15
Scott, Margaret. Review, Wall Street Journal, March 16
1991Anonymous. “Naoto Nakagawa,” Bijutsu Techno, June
Ashton, Dore. “Naoto Nakagawa,” essay for exhibition catalogue, Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo
Lutfy, Carol. “Naoto Nakagawa,” ARTnews, September
1990Anonymous. The Silent Dialogue: Still Life in the West and Japan, exhibition catalogue,
Shizuoka Prefectural Museum, Japan
Shapiro, Michael. “Painter Naoto Nakagawa,” Manhattan Catalog Magazine, Spring/Summer
1989Anonymous. Eighty Masterpieces from the Fukuoka Art Museum, exhibition catalogue, Fukuoka Art Museum,
Fukuoka, Japan
1988Segi, Shinichi. “Hansha no aru seibutsu (Still Life in Reflection),” Shukan Post, January 1
1987Brenson, Michael. “Three Japanese Artists in Search of a World Language,” New York Times, May 24
Cotter, Holland. “Arita, Nakagawa and Sugimoto,” Art in America, November
Gomez, Edward M. Review, Japan Times, August 17
Indiana, Gary. “Transcendental Meditation,” Village Voice, June 16
Munroe, Alexandra. ed. Contemporary Japanese Art in America (1): Arita, Nakagawa, Sugimoto, exhibition
catalogue (New York, NY: Japan Society Gallery, 1987)
Shepard, Joan. “Modern Japanese Art in America,” Daily News, June 19
Tsuda, Margaret. “Arranged Realism,” Christian Science Monitor, August 19
1986Indiana, Gary. “Eminent Immigrants,” Village Voice, July 8
1983Anonymous. “Realist Who Knows Abstraction: Naoto Nakagawa,” Bijutsu Techno, January
1982Castile, Rand. Essay for exhibition catalogue, Fuji TV Gallery, Tokyo, Japan and Kasahara Gallery, Osaka
Inui, Yoshiaki. Essay for exhibition catalogue, Fuji TV Gallery, Tokyo, and Kasahara Gallery, Osaka
Matsumura, Yoshio. “Baroque Realism,” Sankei Shimbun, October 22
Ogura, Tadao. “Naoto Nakagawa,” Yomiuri Shimbun, November 20
1981Boothe, Meredith Sally, et al. Real, Really Real, Super Real: Directions in Contemporary American Realism
(San Antonio, TX: San Antonio Museum of Art, 1981)
Castile, Rand. “Absorbing the Shock of the West,” ARTnews, September
Goodyear, Frank H. Contemporary American Realism Since 1960 (Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts, 1981)
1980Inui, Yoshiaki. Asian Artists Exhibition Part II – Festival: Contemporary Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Art Museum,
Fukuoka, Japan
Inui, Yoshiaki. The Art of Tomorrow, Vol. 18 of Gendai nihon no bijutsu (Contemporary Japanese Art)
(Tokyo: Shogakukan Publishing Company, 1980)
1979Lorber, D. Martin H. The Dragon and the Chrysanthemum (Summit, NJ: Summit Art Center, 1979)
Perreault, John. “New Life for Still Life,” Soho Weekly News, April 12
1975Battcock, Gregory, ed. Super Realism: A Critical Anthology (New York: E.P. Dutton, Inc., 1975)
1974Ogura, Tadao. “Naoto Nakagawa: White Angel,” Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art Newsletter,
November 1, 1974
Perreault, John. “New Wrinkles in Realism: Posen and Nakagawa,” Village Voice, March 14
1972Perreault, John. “The Terror of a Wooden Match,” Village Voice, 20 January
Ratcliff, Carter. “New York Letter,” Art International, March 20
1971Preston, Malcolm. “Naoto Nakagawa: Paintings on Exhibit at Obelisk Gallery,” Boston Herald Traveler, January 16
1970Forgey, Benjamin. “A New Kind of Surrealism,” Washington Evening Star, December 21
1969Perreault, John. “Lies That Art True,” Village Voice, February 20
Wyley, Campbell. West Side Artists, exhibition brochure (New York, NY: Goddard Riverside Auditorium, 1969)
Perreault, John. “Beyond Literalism,” Art International, January
1968Ashton, Dore. “Beyond Literalism, But Not Beyond the Pale,” Arts Magazine, November
Aiko, Kenji. “New York’s Young Japanese Artist: Naoto Nakagawa,” Bijutsu Techno, June, 162–165
Vanderlip, Diane Perry, and John Perrault. Beyond Literalism (Philadelphia, PA: Moore College of Art, 1968)