Tomonari NAKAYASHIKI × Takayuki MITSUSHIMA〈The Ones Who See〉

About the exhibition

Who are “The Ones Who See”

The Japanese word “miru” (みる) has many meanings, and we use it in different situations every day. Several kanji characters can be read as “miru”: 見る, to see, or when we allow something into our field of vision; 看る, to see to, or when we take care of someone; 試る, to see, or when we try something new. The rich nuances of the word “miru” frequently express an encounter with or understanding of a given situation, and this tendency can also be seen in other languages, such as English’s “to see.” 

This exhibition focuses on two artists who perceive the world in unique ways. Tomonari Nakayashiki, who has color blindness , paints in a world of colors that is different from most people, and Takayuki Mitsushima, who is fully blind, creates reliefs in a world without light. They create work while synthesizing the neighboring sensations of sound, hand texture, and verbal memories. However, as the richness of the words みる or “see” implies, people who are not fully blind or have color blindness may also be “seeing” the world in a broader sense than simply looking at what comes into view.   

Highlighting the density and breadth of “seeing,” this exhibition considers the ethos of “The Ones Who See”—that is, Tomonari Nakayashiki and Takayuki Mitsushima, as well as the third party of the exhibition viewer. By engaging with works made by these two artists who see differently than most , we hope this can be an opportunity to re-encounter what it means to “see.” 

A Tactile Exhibition

In this exhibition, there are pieces that you can directly touch with your own hands.

In Mitsushima’s new relief work, the nails driven throughout the wooden board embody the town of Kyoto. He catches the slightest slanting of the pavement with a sharp sensitivity, reflected in the height differences of the nails; a bicycle darting through the wind is portrayed by a line of nails in a spiral. Mitsushima sees the shape of the town from a non-visual perspective, and the viewer can relive this experience by touching the work.

Nakayashiki’s paintings characteristically use masking tape as a medium. Arguably alien to the canvas, the use of this tape reveals and emphasizes the material presence of paintings. This materiality also induces a relentless destabilization of the viewer’s focal point—caught up in the teetering illusions of “Is there or isn’t there something recognizable in this image?”—that Nakayashiki, who sees colors by their brightness value, paints with a unique balance.

We can thus “see” the works with many different senses—not only by using our eyes, but also by touching with our hands, or listening to the sounds through our ears.

Exhibiting New Works: Two Artists, One Idea

This exhibition features new pieces that Nakayashiki and Mitsushima created on the same topic, further highlighting the unique characteristics of their work as two artists with different ways of seeing.

The two works will be hung on a wall in the center of the venue, but because they will be placed back to back, they cannot be compared in one glance. This may feel frustrating to the viewer. However, rather than comparing the two pieces from the perspective of an outside observer, this arrangement encourages the viewer to face each work as a genuine stakeholder in its respective cosmos, and to take them in at full, individual scale.  

Looking around, you will see that their works are interspersed on the gallery walls such that both of their worlds can be experienced seamlessly. You can see a work by Nakayashiki while still experiencing the afternotes of one Mitsushima piece, only to then see another. As you surrender yourself to this flow, the clear categories of visual, tactile, and auditory will dissipate, and even the artists’“visual impairments” will gradually lose any meaning. In this moment, the viewer comes face to face with the work, not as information, but for itself, fully immersed in the experience of “seeing.”