Urban Icons
by Mitsushige Nishiwaki
March 6th – June 28th, 2020
Mitsushige Nishiwaki’s third solo exhibition of original copperplate etchings is an imaginative use of iconic urban scenery. Whether it is Paris, London or New York, his work is fanciful, yet reminiscent and familiar, offering narrative stories that have an “outsider art” point-of-view. Due to their gigantic scale, Nishiwaki’s silent, but animated figures, populate his work with child-like expression.
Our experiences in travel, to the cities he depicts, use historic urban icons that are familiar. What becomes revealing, is that Nishiwaki seems to make each culture immediately identifiable by using these icons as actors in his large and small sized etchings.
Mitsushige Nishiwaki – Laverie Laundromat, 2020, original, one-of-a-kind, copperplate etching
Rooftops turn into outward expressions of the private lives and activities from within. Street scenes are naïve and whimsical, often presenting everyday contexts – the bakery, flower shop, and the like. All of his characters, buildings and people, contribute to the universal familiarity of urban life.
In some of Nishiwaki’s artwork, scale relationships are exaggerated, creating juxtapositions in the composition. This mixing up of scale enhances the story that is being told. His art turns urban fabric and city living into matter that heightens and amuses us about urban dwelling.
Beginning in 2009, and self-taught in intaglio, Mitsushige Nishiwaki’s etchings are on copperplate. For highlighted color, he etches on plastic so as to intensify the color. Dating back to 1584 the German Hahnemuhle paper he uses is of the highest excellence as is the Charbonnel etching ink Nishiwaki uses. His larger works are made up of a series of abutting small print-plate sizes, providing a visible armature for the artwork.
Mitsushige Nishiwaki – Louis Vuitton Trunk Show, 2020, original, one-of-a-kind copperplate etching