The Japanese government has designated Mamoru Nakagawa a holder of important intangible cultural property (informally “living national treasure”). Nakagawa received that designation in 2004 for his art and technique in copper casting and in metal inlay. At the age of 56, he was the youngest person ever to earn the designation.
Kaga, the feudal domain that comprised present-day Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures, was a center of metal-inlay craftwork. The metal-inlay tradition, like other craftwork traditions, withered under the pressures of industrialization.
Nakagawa has been a seminal figure in a successful initiative to revive metal inlay as an important genre of craftwork. He has enlivened the traditionally monotone realm of metal casting, for example, with an unprecedented palette of colors.
Profile
- 1947
- Born in Kanazawa, Japan
- 1971
- Graduated from Kanazawa College of Art and takes employment in Osaka at manufacturer of electrical appliances, where he participates in designing hair driers and other products
- 1974
- Returned to Kanazawa on account of mother’s failing health. Works briefly at prefectural Industrial Research Institute, where he meets and begins apprenticeship under metal-inlay artist Kaishu Takahashi
- 1979
- Selected for first time to exhibit in Exhibition of Japanese Traditional Art Crafts, sponsored by Nihon Kogeikai (Japan Traditional Craft Association)
- 2004
- Designated holder of important intangible cultural property (“living national treasure”) by Japanese government
- Now
- Teaches at Kanazawa College of Art, where he heads college’s Research Institute of Art
Selected Exhibitions
- 2008
- SOFA New York
- 2008
- Onishi Gallery, New York
- 2007
- The British Museum, London
- 2004
- Danish Museum of Art and Design, Copenhagen
- 1999
- Mitsukoshi Etoile, Paris
- 1995
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Museum Collections (partial listing)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / The British Museum, London / 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa / Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Kanazawa / Jingu Museum, Ise / Kanazawa College of Art, Kanazawa / Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka