The Last Cosmology

The Last Cosmology reveals Kikuji Kawada’s preoccupation with the cosmos, and his fleeting empathy for the abating custom of divination. Inspired by the apocalyptic sky-scapes of the painter Emil Nolde, Kawada photographed abnormal and calamitous weather conditions – gales that configure coiling cloud-patterns, electrical storms, or rain striking glass. Captured between 1980 and 2000, the work is part of ‘The Catastrophe Trilogy’, a chronicle which ties together the dramas of the skies with the end of two historical eras on earth: the Showa Era in Japan, ending with the death of the Emperor in 1989, and 20th century’s close.