Born in Osaka in 1927, Katsumi Nakai’s career charted a truly unique path. After studying painting at the Institute of Fine Arts in Osaka, he began exhibiting his work regularly in the area, and in 1958 he was among the seven founding artists of the avant-garde group of abstract and informal art Tekkeikai, which was active from Kyoto to Osaka until the mid-1960s. In 1964, he temporarily relocated to Milan where artist Lucio Fontana and gallerist Renato Cardazzo played a crucial role in his artistic development. In particular, Fontana’s ideas of Spatialism influenced his use of hinged or suspended wooden panels that allow his paintings to move in space—rotating, opening, or closing in a constant state of potential change. The picture plane of the work becomes ever-evolving, integrating with the viewer’s own space.
Nakai exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy, Europe, Japan, and the United States throughout his career, and achieved awards such as the Prix Piazzetta, the Ambitions Moderate Award, and the Silver Award in the XV Milan Triennale in 1973. Nakai returned to live in Japan in 1996 and he died in Hirakata in 2013. In 2004, the Italian Kyoto Institute of Culture organized the seminal exhibition Katsumi Nakai – Open, while Ronchini Gallery gave the artist his first solo exhibition in the United Kingdom in February 2018.