Recognized for his outstanding mastery of zōgan (metal-inlay), Nakagawa Mamoru was designated a Living National Treasure in 2004 at the age of 56 –the second youngest in history. Nakagawa has been a seminal figure in revitalizing metal-inlay as an important genre of decorative arts in Japan since its decline during the Meiji Restoration period. He has enlivened the traditionally monotone realm of metal-casting with an unprecedented palette of colors. Since the zōgan technique is said to have originated from Turkey, the artist has traveled there on numerous occasions, following the Silk Road, the cultural crossroads of eastern and western Asia. In 2008, he visited the United States on a cultural exchange fellowship under Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. While on the fellowship in Washington, D.C., he taught a master class on the Kaga zōgan technique at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. The same year, Nakagawa’s work was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the museum’s first contemporary Japanese metalwork.
Selected Exhibitions:
2013 - 2023 Asia Week New York, US
2022 Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition, Japan
2021 - 2022 Japan: A History of Style, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, US
2015 SOFA Chicago, Illinois, US
2013 Contemporary Kōgei Styles in Japan, Morikami Museum, Florida
2008 SOFA New York, US
2007 Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan, British Museum, London, UK
- Selected Public Collections
The Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, US
The British Museum | London, UK
Victoria and Albert Museum | London, UK
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art | Kanazawa, Japan
Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art | Kanazawa, Japan
Jingu Museum | Ise, Japan