広瀬菜々＆永谷一馬 / Nana Hirose＆Kazuma Nagatani

Nana Hirose
2015-16
Overseas Research Fellowship, Pola Art Foundation
2014
Meisterschüler, University of the Arts Bremen, Germany
2008-14
University of the Arts Bremen, Germany
2005
M.F.A. Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto
1980
Born in Osaka, Japan

Kazuma Nagatani
2014
Meisterschüler, University of the Arts Bremen, Germany
2008-14
University of the Arts Bremen, Germany
2004
B.F.A. Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto
1982
Born in Hyogo, Japan

Solo exhibitions
2018
Another Place, Dialogue Exhibition with Anna Bart, Japan Foundation Köln, North Rhine-Westphalia DE
2017
Life is beautiful, Brühler Kunstverein, North Rhine-Westphalia DE
2017
Still Life, Johann-Friedrich-Danneil-Museum, Saxony-Anhalt DE
2016
A letter from Vienna, Künstlerhaus Salzwedel, Saxony-Anhalt DE
2016
Today is a good day, Kunstverein Frankfurt Oder, Brandenburg DE
 

Group exhibitions
2018
Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, Niigata
2017
71. International Bergisch Art Award, Solingen Art Museum, North Rhine-Westphalia DE
2017
TWS Open Studio, Tokyo Wonder Site Residency, Tokyo
2017
Static Scope, Akibatamabi21, Tokyo
2016
home, produzentengalerie plan.d., Düsseldorf DE
2014
Of The Universe, Weserburg-Museum of Modern Art, Bremen DE

Awards / Grants
2018
Kunststiftung NRW, Project Grant, North Rhine-Westphalia DE
2018
The Asahi Shimbun Foundation, Project Grant, Tokyo
2018
Nomura Foundation, Project Grant, Tokyo
2018
Residency Grant, Ulm Art Foundation, Baden-Württemberg DE
2017
Audience Award, 71. International Bergisch Art Award, Solingen Art Museum, North Rhine-Westphalia DE
2017
Residency Grant, Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Foundation, North Rhine-Westphalia DE
2017
The Asahi Shimbun Foundation, Project Grant, Tokyo
2017
Nomura Foundation, Project Grant, Tokyo
2017
Residency Grant, Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo
2016
Residency Grant, Künstlerhaus Salzwedel, Saxony-Anhalt DE
2016
Contemporary Art Foundation Grant Tokyo
2016
Nomura Foundation, Project Grant Tokyo
2016
Stipend of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony-Anhalt DE
2016
Residency Grant, Kunstverein Frankfurt Oder, Brandenburg DE
2015
Pola Art Foundation, One-year fellowship, Tokyo
2015
Aichi Art Program, Project Grant, Aichi
2014
Residency Grant, Völklingen Ironworks / HBK Saar, Saarland DE
2013
Audience Award, Erster Völklinger Art Award, Saarbrücken DE
2012
1st Prize, University Award, University of the Arts Bremen, Bremen DE

Our works are centered around observing our life. We are primarily interested in our perception of the spaces where we live and the everyday scenes and objects of our lives to which we generally do not pay attention to. We create representations of a reformulated reality using materials from our daily life. By accurately measuring our own living space and sculpting detailed impressions of everyday objects, we strive to observe our environment as accurately as possible and mould it into a formulated imagination driven by our personal perspective. By rebuilding our reality, we address what we see, the way we perceive our reality and where we are.

Hirose and Nagatani use motifs from the daily life in their work. Confectionaries, wrapping paper, postcards, receipts, bird nests, potatoes, magazines, plastic, stationaries. Their home, apartments, classrooms, housing.
They always have a connection with our daily lives. Under their statement that “”the boundary between daily life and art in the contemporary context”” is their theme, by creating artwork from things that were in our daily lives, our lives begin to change. The human mind is complex and liable to change; in our everyday we realise in certain moments that today is different from yesterday. They use various methods of expression in their work, however, there is a consistent direction to knowing oneself better in their world.
We feel a sense of discomfort when we see something familiar become a work of art. Perhaps people only realise that there is no such thing as eternity to anything, when the foundation of where they stand or what they see becomes unstable.

(Chiharu Shiota)