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Natsunosuke MISE
Artists
Written by Satoshi KOGANEZAWA   
Published: December 28 2008

© Natsunosuke MISE. Photo by Ryo OBARU

Born on August 1, 1973 in Nara prefecture. Graduated from Nihonga (Japanese-style Painting) Course, Fine Arts Division, Faculty of Fine Arts, Kyoto City University of Arts, in March 1997. Finished Painting Course (Painting), Graduate School of Art, Kyoto City University of Art, in March 1999. Following his participation in a group exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Tokyo, "MOT Annual 2006 -No Border-" in January 2006, his name and artworks became widely known in the Kanto district as well as the Kansai district, his home territory. He was awarded the Newcomer’s prize in art by The Gotoh Memorial Foundation in April 2006, and went to Florence, Italy in March 2007 and stayed there for about one year as an extra prize. He temporarily returned to Japan in September 2007 in order to join "ARKO 2007", an artist-in-residence program run by Ohara Museum of Art from September 15 to October 21. He stayed to create artworks in Muisanso, a former atelier without electricity used by Torajiro Kojima, an oil painter. Then he returned to Florence, before finally returning to Japan in March 2008. In November 2008 he went to China in order to join the 6th Ink-Painting Biennale at Shenzhen Fine Art Institute, and stayed there until December 2008 to create artworks. In January 2009, "Summer in Winter", his first solo-exhibition at an art museum, will be held at The Sato Museum of Art. This title is derived from the words of Lorenzo, a poet born in Siena who he met in Florence. He is currently working as an art teacher at the high school of Kansai Art College and presenting his artworks both inside Japan and overseas.

From my personal point of view, it is difficult to discuss his artworks. This is not because Mise originally studied Japanese-style painting. The term “Japanese-style painting” was introduced in the Meiji Period to define a painting style that was different to “Western-style painting”. He has often been referred to in the recent discussion about "Japanese-style Painting", and he does not hesitate to express his opinions. In fact he is rather outspoken on this topic and his remarks often lead to argument. (note) I do not think that his artworks can be described only under the label of "Japanese-style Painting". His origin, artworks, and words might be a ready target for art historians and critics who cannot help but talk about their own theories. These critics and his deliberations on the history of his home country may motivate him creatively. As a matter of fact, it is also difficult to ignore the critical aspect of his work as seen in naming his artwork in which numerous Mount Fujiseries are forested over the canvas as "Painting of Japan" (Agency for Cultural Affairs, 2005). However, he knows he does not have to use painting if his purpose is just to criticize the system.

What attracts me most is the texture of verdigris, which reminds me of rusty metal. A dynamic picture is generated by assembling patches of Japanese paper in a variety of sizes, and his imaginative power is shown in the way he mixes up motifs such as giant statues of Buddha, a Loch Ness monster, a UFO and demons in the ordinary scenery of Nara, his hometown, or Florence where he has also lived. I have said that it is difficult to discuss his artworks; that is because of the amount of information they contain. After his stay in Italy in 2007, his artworks substantially changed; from showy colors using gold leaf and mineral pigments to black-and-white works using Japanese ink. Once he entitled a solo-exhibition "I would like to draw a picture", and he wrote that "I will never give up painting until the day I die" in a catalogue to describe his residence in ARKO. It is obvious that the difficulty he experienced in continuing to paint in this period caused these words, nevertheless, I would like to keep an eye on his future artworks. His artworks have an imperative power to provoke our desire to view them.

(note) As far as I know, his main public contributions to artistic debate are as follows:

  • "Why Are We Painting Now ?", a talk planned by Mise on November 11 2006 during his solo-exhibition, "Strange Scenery", at Art Interactive Tokyo (panelists: Natunosuke Mise, Kazuo Amano, Kengo Nakamura, Tokuro Sakamoto, Taro Yamamoto, Misa Funai)
  • Posting to E-mail debate session, "MODERN ART IN WANDERINGS: What is Wandering?", held at a special exhibition called "MODERN ART IN WANDERINGS: In Between the Japanese- and Western-style Paintings" at The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto in 2006
  • Participation in a symposium organized by the group exhibition, “Ruining Japanese Painting", organized by the curator Goro Morimoto at C square Art Gallery in Chukyo University in 2007 (panelists: Shigeo Chiba, Kyoji Maeda, Natsunosuke Mise, Noriko Yanagisawa)
  • "Regeneration of Japanese-style Painting" contributed to the feature article, "Regeneration of Japanese-style Painting", and correspondence with Ren Fukuzumi, an art critic, in the January 2008 issue of "Bijutsu Techo (Art Handbook)" published by BIJUTSU SHUPPAN-SHA, LTD.

Public Collection: The Ohara Museum of Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (deposit), The Toyohashi City Art Museum, Agency for Cultural Affairs
Website: http://www.natsunosuke.com/

Career
1996
  - Group exhibition "Spring Soga Exhibition", Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
1997
  - Yamaguchi Prize for "Kyoto City University of Arts Graduation Exhibition" 
  - Group exhibition, "Soga Exhibition", Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art and Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
1998
  - Participating to "Imadate Art Camp '98", Imadate Art Museum,
    Fukui City Art Museum、Miyakomesse (Okazaki, Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "Spring Soga Exhibition", Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
  - Group exhibition "Anarchy Space", Nishijin Kitaza (Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "The 16th Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition",
    The Ueno Royal Museum and The Museum of Kyoto
  - Participating to "Hitotsubo-ten", Guardian Garden (Tokyo)
1999
  - Group exhibition "Kyoto City University of Arts Completion Exhibition", Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art   
  - Group exhibition "Soga Exhibition", Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art and Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
  - Group exhibition "6 direction", Artislong Gallery (Horikawa-Sanjo, Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "Psychological", a workshop "Ceremony to Call Dwarfs",
    Pepper's Gallery (Ginza, Tokyo)
  - Group exhibition "Anarchy Space", Nishijin Kitaza (Kyoto)
  - Solo exhibition "Dwarfs of Synapse", Blue Nile (Shinsaibashi, Osaka)
  - Solo exhibition "Dwarfs of Synapse ~circulation~", Artislong Gallery (Sanjo Horikawa, Kyoto)
2000
  - Group exhibition "The 18th The Ueno Royal Museum Grand Award Exhibition",
    The Ueno Royal Museum and The Museum of Kyoto    
  - Group exhibition "Spring Soga Exhibition", Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art   
  - Group exhibition "Anarchy Space", Nishijin Kitaza (Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "The 29th Contemporary Japanese Art",
    Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art and Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
  - Group exhibition "the 14th Contemporary Japanese Painting", Ube Cultural Hall (Yamaguchi)
  - Selected for "Field Sculpture in Tadaragi", ASAGO ART VILLAGE (Hyogo)
  - Solo exhibition "Natsunosuke Mise", Evangil (Okazaki, Kyoto)
  - Solo exhibition "Dwarfs of Synapse ~forest~" and a workshop "Ceremony to Call Dwarfs",
    OZC Gallery in Osaka Zokei Center (Osaka)
  - Solo exhibition "Dwarfs of Synapse ~circulation~", Artislong Gallery (Sanjo-Horikawa, Kyoto)
  - Participating to "The 5th Wangsan International Cultural Art Festival" (Gangneung, South Korea)
  - Participating to "Wangsan Art Center"
2001
  - Solo exhibition "Dwarfs of Synapse", ONO Gallery (Kyobashi, Tokyo)
  - Solo exhibition "Dwarfs of Synapse ~ladder~", Fuyuu Dairiten (Nara)
  - Award winning for "The 19th Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Sculpture",
    The Ube Outdoor Sculpture Museum (Yamaguchi)
  - Participating to "Hitotsubo Exhibition" Public Screening Panel, Guardian garden (Tokyo)
  - Group exhibition "Experimental art Random", and a workshop "Ceremony to Call Dwarfs",
    Gallery coco (Kyoto), Art complex1928 (Kyoto)
2002
  - Grand Prize for "The 2nd Triennial Competition in Toyohashi Seeking the Artists of Tomorrow",
    TOYOHASHI CITY MUSEUM ART AND HISTORY
  - Group exhibition "Staring at Niche Natsunosuke Mise x Masato Onishi vol.1", Fuyuu Dairiten (Nara), Gallery Tenjin (Osaka)
  - Solo exhibition "Renaissance Nara-town Young Artists The 1st Natsunosuke Mise 'light in darkness/forest'"
    and a workshop "Let's draw with rust", Nara Machimonogatari-kan
  - Group exhibition "light in darkness Natsunosuke Mise x Masato Onishi vol.2",
    Gallery K in Kansai Art College (Nara)、Fuyuu Dairiten (Nara), Osaka Zokei Center
  - Solo-Exhibition "Dwarfs of Synapse ~Forest of Rust~ ", ARTSPACE KAMISANJYO (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Staring at Niche Natsunosuke Mise x Masato Onishi vol.3",
    Gallery Tenjin (Nakasaki-cho, Osaka)
  - Group exhibition "Diversifying Value", Hira Museum (Shiga)
  - Group exhibition "Living with ART", White Cube (Chukyo, Kyoto)
  - Collection by TOYOHASHI CITY MUSEUM ART AND HISTORY
2003
  - Solo exhibition "I would like to draw a picture", gallery neutron (Kyoto)
  - Solo exhibition "Jomon Travel", Fuyuu Dairiten (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "something⇔nothing", Gallery SOWAKA (Kyoto) and Fuyuu Dairiten (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Is Japanese-style Painting Dead?", Fuyuu Dairiten (Nara)
  - Direction for "Staring at Niche -pilgrim-” Niche project Natsunosuke Mise x Masato Onishi,
    Art events in Nara-city, Art map creation
  - Group exhibition "Strange Scenery   Natsunosuke Mise/Hideo Aoshima/Akihiro Kanda",
    ARTSPACE KAMISANJYO (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Mitsuba", Yotsuba Cafe (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Sen", Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art Annex (Kyoto)
2004
  - Solo exhibition "I'm thinking in Nara", gallery neutron (Kyoto)
  - Solo exhibition "Works Nara <=> Tokyo", gallery miyasaka (Ginza, Tokyo)
  - Group exhibition "100 in Japanese-style Painting", ISHIDA TAISEISHA Hall (Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "Kansai Art College Instructors" and the related symposium
    "Artwork Creation and Art Education", ARTSPACE KAMISANJYO (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Narawa", Nara Prefectural Cultural Hall (Nobori-Ohji, Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Imadate Contemporary Art Exhibition '04 ART COMPER'S NOW", Imadate Art Museum (Fukui)
  - Group exhibition "promenade @ nara Takahiko Nishida/Natsunosuke Mise", Fuyuu Dairiten (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Sen", Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art Annex (Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "The 2nd Higashiyama Memorial Nikkei Japanese-style Painting Award Exhibition",
    New Otani Art Museum (Kojimachi, Tokyo)
2005
  - Group exhibition "New Year's Visit to neutron ~Japanize Japan~", gallery neutron (Kyoto)
  - Solo exhibition "Painting in Japan", gallery neutron (Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "Showa Modern 1967", ARTSPACE KAMISANJYO (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Rashinban Selection 2005 HOPE", Art Space Rashinban (Kyobashi, Tokyo)
  - Group exhibition "Between 'Painting' and 'Painting'" and the related symposium: "Japanese-style Painting"
    and "Painting" Kazuo Amano, Keizaburo Okamura, Hidenori Majima, Natsunosuke Mise,
    Kyoto University of Art and Design Galerie Aube
  - Group exhibition "Japanese-style Painting Jack", The Museum of Kyoto (Sanjo Takakura, Kyoto)
  - Participating to "3rd Triennial Competition in Toyohashi Seeking the Artists of Tomorrow",
    TOYOHASHI CITY MUSEUM ART AND HISTORY
  - Solo exhibition "Paintings in Japan", Art Space Rashinban (Kyobashi, Tokyo)
  - Solo exhibition "Paintings in Japan", ARTSPACE KAMISANJYO (Nara)
  - Group exhibition "Eco bags save the earth", Guardian garden (Ginza, Tokyo)
2006
  - Group exhibition "MOT Annual 2006 ~No Border~", and the related talk: Kumi Machida
    x Natsunosuke Mise, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART TOKYO
  - Solo exhibition "Star Navigation", Gallery Ray (Nagoya, Aichi)
  - Group exhibition "Museum Wonderland -summer memory- seize the day",
    and a workshop "Azumino <=> Nara Drawing Pictures on the bus",
    Museum of Modern Art TOYOSHINA (Nagano)
  - Group exhibition "ASUKA", Gallery Asuka (Asuka, Nara)
  - Solo exhibition "web UFO", Bunkamura arts & Crafts (Shibuya, Tokyo)
  - Group exhibition "9th NEXT Japanese-style Painting/ Expression from Kyoto",
    Kyoto Takashimaya, Tonami Art Museum (Toyama)
  - Group exhibition "Sottaku", gallery miyasaka (Ginza, Tokyo)
  - Solo exhibition "Strange Scenery", and the related talk: Keigo Ishibashi x Natsunosuke Mise,
    gallery neutron (Kyoto)
  - Solo exhibition "Strange Scenery", STREET GALLERY (Kobe, Hyogo)
  - Solo exhibition "Map Painting", gallery miyasaka (Ginza, Tokyo)
  - Submit    "The 8th Setsuryosha Florence Prize Exhibition", Setsuryosya-museum of art (Niigata)
  - Solo exhibition "Strange Scenery" and the related crosstalk: Natsunosuke Mise, Kazuo Amano,
    Kengo Nakamura, Tokuro Sakamoto, Taro Yamamoto, Mika Funai,
    ART INTERACTIVE TOKYO (Shinbashi, Tokyo)
  - Young Artist Prize at "2006 Gotoh Memorial Foundation Award" Young Artist Prize
  - Group exhibition "The 3rd Kaiii Higashiyama Memorial Nikkei Japanese-style Painting Award Exhibition",
    New Otani Art Museum (Kojimachi, Tokyo)
2007
  - Solo exhibition "rust work 1998-2007", Gallery Ray (Nagoya, Aichi)
  - Participating to "Kyoto Art Gallery Fair 2007", Miyakomesse (Okazaki, Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "Heisei17 and 18 Agency for Cultural Affairs Purchased Excellent Artwork Exhibition",
    The Japan Art Academy Museum (Ueno, Tokyo)
  - Gotoh Memorial Foundation trainee, Florence, Italy
  - Group exhibition "Seihokai", Zokyudo Gallery (Kyoto)
  - Participating to ARKO2007, Muisanso, former atelier of Torajiro Kojima (Sakatsu, Kurashiki, Okayama)
  - Solo exhibition "ARKO2007 Natsunosuke Mise "Exhibit    Ohara Museum of Art (Kurashiki, Okayama)
  - Participating to "Kurashiki Folding Screen Festival", Exhibit from the family Ohara
  - Group exhibition "Ruining Japanese Painting" and the related symposium: Shigeo Chiba,
    Kyoji Maeda, Natsunosuke Mise, Noriko Yanagisawa,
    C Square, Chukyo University (Nagoya, Aichi)
  - Solo exhibition "Regeneration of Japanese-style Painting", Meihodo blanc (Nagoya, Aichi)
  - Solo exhibition "The Prince", gallery neutron (Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "Artistic Christmas", Shinjuku Takashimaya Art Gallery (Tokyo)
  - Group exhibition "Twenty Angels", PAXREX (Kobe, Hyogo)
  - Collection by Agency for Cultural Affairs, and Ohara Museum of Art
  - Collection by The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
2008
  - Group exhibition "Modern Japanese Art from the Museum Collection",
    The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Kitanomaru, Tokyo)
  - Solo exhibition "My God in Firenze", atelier underworld (Florence, Italy)
  - Solo exhibition "My God" and the related talk: Keigo Ishibashi x Natsunosuke Mise
    (Kyoto Art Map 2008), gallery neutron (Kyoto)
  - Group exhibition "Mount Fuji: symbol of Japan in modern age", Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art
  - Participating to "The 4th Triennial Competition in Toyohashi Seeking the Artists of Tomorrow",
    TOYOHASHI CITY MUSEUM ART AND HISTORY
  - Group exhibition "Excellent Painting Collection by Ohara Museum of Art",
    21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Ishikawa)
  - Group exhibition "Form, Idea, Essence and Rhythm: Contemporary East Asian Ink Painting",
    Taipei Fine Arts Museum (Taiwan)
  - Group exhibition "6th Ink-Painting Biennale", Shenzhen Fine Art Institute (China)
  - Solo exhibition "Natsunosuke Mise “J"", imura art gallery (Kyoto)
2009
  - (Jan) Solo exhibition "Natsunosuke Mise: Summer in Winter",
    The Sato Museum of Art (Shinjuku, Tokyo)
  - (Jan) Group exhibition "Modern Suibokuga 2009 - Present State of Suiboku Expression",
    The SUIBOKU MUSEUM (Toyama)
  - (Mar) Group exhibition "VOCA 2009", The Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo)
  - (Apr) Group exhibition "Modern Suibokuga 2009 - Present State of Suiboku Expression, NERIMA ART MUSEUM (Tokyo)
  - (May) Solo exhibition "Dwarfs on Synapse; Natsunosuke Mise",
    Shinjuku Takashima-ya Art Gallery (Tokyo)
  - (Jul) Group exhibition "Naoaki, Yamamoto, Keizaburo Okamura, Natsunosuke Mise   
    GALLERY KOBAYASHI (Tokyo)
  - (Jul) Participating to "Hijiori-no-Akari", Hijiori Onsen (Yamagata)
  - (Jul) Group exhibition "NIHONGA/Kyo", Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi (Tokyo)
  - (Sep) Solo exhibition "Natsunosuke Mise", C Square, Chukyo University (Nagoya, Aichi)
  - (Sep) Group exhibition "ROOTS", Tohoku University Art & Design (Yamagata)
  - (Oct) Participating to "New Collection Work Exhibition 2006-2009",
    OHARA MUSEUM OF ART (Okayama)
  - (Oct) Solo exhibition "Natsunosuke Mise, Hijiori Genso", Hijiori Onsen (Yamagata)
  - (Oct) Group exhibition "Kami.Silence-Action Japanese Contemporary Art on Paper",
    Die Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Germany)
  - (Nov) Solo exhibition, "Shogetsu", Kyoto Takashimaya, 6F Art Gallery
  - (Dec) Group exhibition "Artistic Christmas vol.3", Shinjuku Takashima-ya Art Gallery (Tokyo)
2010
  - (Jan) Exhibited at "Fuyuhiko Yamamoto Collection", The Sato Museum of Art (Shinjuku, Tokyo)
  - (Apr) Directed a group exhibition "roots", Art space Rashinban (Tokyo)

Last Updated on August 03 2015
 

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