Kyoji Nagatani

1950, Tokyo, Giappone

Kyoji Nagatani was born in Tokyo in 1950; he graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts and the Higher Institute of Research of the State Fine Arts University in the Japanese capital.

In 1976 he received a Diploma in the specialization of bronze casting. He won a scholarship from the Italian government that enabled him, in 1984, to graduate from the Brera Accodemia under the guidance of sculptors Enrico Manfrini and Alik Cavaliere. His most impressive works include the Monument for Villa Fontana in Capriano (MI); the Monument for the Hachioji Municipal Theater in Tokyo; and the Open Museum of Usukushi-ga-hara in Nagano.

Arriving in Italy already an expert, but hungry for the knowledge that puts him in contact with the greatest masters of sculpture of the period, he begins a "grand tour" that will last 40 years. He chose Milan as his adopted city because here he found a basic affinity in the essentiality and discretion, while still classy, of the Milanese "gesture."
Thus a mutual absorption develops. The rigour of the country of origin is diluted, but not too much, while the typical Lombard severity receives an impulse rich in elegance and style. If we were to look for a term to sum up Kyoji Nagatani's work, we would certainly use the term Stile. He infuses it into everything that represents him: from his person to his movements, from his continuous study to his speech and, of course, his works.
Gifted with creativity and discipline, he produces in recent years impressive monumental works exhibited all over the world, down to the small jewels/sculptures that are so appreciated by his many collectors. What is impressive is the lightness he manages to infuse into his works, making bronze, a heavy metal par excellence, so intangible that it floats in the air, free to express all its warmth.
One day, while we were talking, we were discussing what sculpture is, and we wandered into an even narrower alley from which only "works of art" pass, seeking a definition. A work of art is always a magical object to which the artist conveys the ability to make us fascinated by a rainbow of emotions otherwise impossible to perceive, and sculpture, being three-dimensional and physically palpable through touch, allows us to feel it not only with our eyes but also with our hands, touching it.
Some will be shocked...touching a work of art...? Well yes, sculpture is to be touched, and Nagatani goes even further, creating works that are to be rotated, that can be reassembled according to one's sensibility, that therefore live actively with those fortunate enough to possess them.
Continuing on his personal path, we could identify Nagatani's experience with the technique known in Japan as "kintsugi", i.e. the art of repairing broken pieces with gold, liquid silver or lacquer and gold dust, highlighting the fractures instead of hiding them, to create a new, reborn object, sometimes even richer and more important.
This is what Kyoji Nagatani did metaphorically when, shattering his life in his native country, he first moved to Italy. Slowly but ceaselessly, he rebuilt himself piece by piece, filling the gaps between the shards with the gold he had collected in our country, made up of art and people of infinite variety, building within himself a vase full of emotions. And today, once again, responding to the irresistible call of the Rising Sun, he finds the courage and strength to "break" this experience, but rich in the spiritual gold he has accumulated over the years, he is already working to rebuild the vase, himself, welcomed by his family and ideally by his father, to whom he wanted to pay homage by exhibiting two of his paintings.

Exhibitions

1998-1990

• “Gallery  Universe”, Tokyo
• “Spazio Boleri Italia”, Milano
• “Galleria  Silvano Lodi Jr .” , Milano
• “Vecchia Pescheria”, Cervia

1988-1975

• “Gallery  21” Ginza, Tokyo
• “Galleria Ponte Rosso, Milano
• “Galleria Annunciata”, Milano
• “Centro Culturale D’Arte Bellora”, Milano

Monumenti

• • 1981- Monumento per Villa Fontana, Capriano, Milano,
  • 1994 –  Collezioni “Shu Uemura” HARAJUKU, Tokyo
  • 1994 – Monumento per ACS, Tribiano
  • 1994 – Monumento per Teatro  Comunale di Hachioji, Tokyo
  • 1995 – Museo aperto di Utsukushi-ga-hara, Nagano
  • 2000 –  Monumento per Scuola “Yurigokuin”, Osaka
  • 2000 – Giubileo 2000 – Cofanetto per le chiavi della Porta Santa della Basilica in S. Giovanni Laterano – Roma
  • 2001- Monumento per il  Tempio “Ryukokuji” Hachioji, Tokyo
  • 2003- Il museo delle sculture posto a Santa Maria di Leuca  colleziana l’opera “Il Mutante”
  • 2006- Trono del Silenzio posto nella piazza Don Civilini di Pioltello (Milano)
  • 2006 – Monumento “Triade Rossa” con acqua, posto nello stabilimento  della Hosaka Seisakujyo (Kanagawa)
  • 2009- La Porta della Memoria in serpentino è posta nella piazza Belvedere di Chiesa Valmalenco (Sondrio)
  • 2012 – “SEME” Scuola Edile di Bergamo
  • 2013 – Tre monumenti per i giardini pubblici di Yoshikawa (Saitama)