Katsumi Nakai: Unfolding

Few artists in the history of modern art have taken upon themselves the task of exploring the poetic potential of hinges as seriously and extensively as Katsumi Nakai. Born in 1927 in the town of Hirakata, Japan, Nakai travelled to Italy in 1964 and settled in Milan. There he became a notable member of the city’s art scene, much thanks to his unique approach to art-making that relied on cutting and assembling wooden panels using hinges to create paintings of exceptional complexity.

Combining extensive photographic documentation of Nakai’s work, and a compelling biographical essay by notable art historian Brandon Taylor (University of Oxford) the book Katsumi Nakai: Unfolding provides new and original research into the work of an artist who undermined the typical distinctions of art tendencies in the 1960s and 70s, as well as ancient traditions of craft making, European and Asian alike