Axel Vervoordt Gallery is pleased to present the solo exhibition, In Pursuit of the Expanse of Nature, by Ryuji Tanaka (1927-2014). The exhibition features a diverse selection of paintings from the 1980s-90s, a lesser-known period of the Japanese artist’s later career in which he continued to produce a remarkable series of works while evolving and refining his techniques. In a letter written in 1993, Tanaka wrote: “A unification with nature—that is my artistic principle. Placing myself at the crossroads between the interwoven kindness and harshness of nature, I express the things I see and hear there through ‘myself’.”

As illustrated, Tanaka knew the ultimate test of the quality of his art depended on his unique way of seeing the world. Tanaka was, first and foremost, a nihon-ga (Japanese-style painting) artist. He deeply understood the techniques, concepts, and nihon-ga traditions. He worked throughout his career to define its borders while redefining its limits. As evident on the canvasses, Tanaka had specific, innovative ways of utilising pigments and incorporating silica, sand, glass powder, adhesives, pebbles, and even metal in his work. He crushed minerals to create pigments and use them like paint, and rather than a brush or even his own body, in some works, he used feathers to make soft, sweeping, powerful gestures to create blurry effects. In search of a spatial expanse of nature, his canvasses evoke a fresh and profound lyricism. Like traditional Japanese Haiku poetry, the artist’s paintings may be described by their spare materiality, but richness in expression.

For more information about the exhibition, please visit https://www.axel-vervoordt.com/gallery/exhibitions/ryuji-tanaka-in-pursuit-of-the-expanse-of-nature.

Artists: Ryuji Tanaka