ART&CULTURE / 2023.12.04

Yusuke Nakamura |"Yusuke Nakamura SPLIT!" Exhibition INTERVIEW (1/3)

 Yusuke Nakamura |"Yusuke Nakamura SPLIT!" Exhibition INTERVIEW

Currently, illustrator Yusuke Nakamura's "Yusuke Nakamura SPLIT!" Exhibition is being held at the special venue on the 5th floor of Shinsaibashi PARCO. In this exhibition, including the original calendar for 2024, the original drawings before coloring of past masterpieces are also available. Nakamura World is staring at its detailed drawing and composition power. I would like to ask Mr. Nakamura, who celebrated the 20th anniversary of painting last year, about this solo exhibition and about his consistent motivation for painting style.

  • Interview & Text
    Yusuke Nakamura
  • Photo
    Kazuki Watanabe

ーーーWhat kind of impressions did you have in this exhibition?

 

Nakamura: First of all, because it is an exhibition at a commercial facility called PARCO, I think that it may be easy to enter, and people who are not interested in painting may be brought to someone. The entrance fee (500 yen) is not high, so I think it's an exhibition that even those who like it can have the impression that it was good. Admission is free at the goods corner.

 

ー "SPLIT!" Exhibition can be said to be an archive exhibition that summarizes past works in a compact manner.

 

Nakamura: That's right. From the 15th anniversary exhibition until recently, there was an impression that the number of exhibits had increased so much that the stomach leaned, so I thought it would be nice to have the opportunity to see them a little more compactly. But even though it's compact, there are quite a few points, and when I imagined my picture, I wanted to see it! I think there are many things that you think.

The motif to draw is, "Look inorganic matter and organic matter flat. I can't forgive my personality if I'm wrong with the details (laughs)."

ーRepresentative works and original drawings of the 20 years of painting, such as music textbooks of educational arts companies and CD jackets of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, are also exhibited.

 

Nakamura: Considering the exhibition, is it meaningful to actually see pictures and art books unlike 20 years ago? I'm thinking about it. Now you can see high-quality pictures on the Internet, right? For example, if my generation has a favorite art book, I want to keep it as a thing at hand.

 

I have to think about the meaning of the exhibition.

 

Nakamura: What about exhibitions and art books in the era when you can listen to music on YouTube? Yeah. But this time, graniph's clothes, Asada candy cans, etc. are JPEG and cannot be substituted. There are some things that actually have experience.

-It's an artwork of shirts and "Asada candy sugar coat" cans that collaborated with graniph. There are things that cannot be conveyed on the Internet, such as texture and three-dimensional effect.

 

Nakamura: There's an interest in it. That's why this exhibition is not a regular exhibition space for PARCO, but a place where you originally sold goods at stores, which suits your current thoughts, so it feels just right. There is also a place where you can see it with a lighter feeling.

ーWhat is the "experience" that you can see the original picture up close? Do you feel the amount of heat drawn by hand and the "feelings" on your skin?

 

Nakamura: When I'm drawing a picture, my neck is likely to be fragile (laughs). My shoulders are too stiff and I'm about to vomit. I have a headache too. But if you think about it, thankfully, I've been doing it for more than 20 years, did you have a lot of talent for painting? I've finally come to mind.

 

ーYou can't continue without talent.

 

Nakamura: But in that case, a talented person has some bad body or something misfortune. After that, I dropped out of college, left-handed, and so on.

 

ーThe legendary rock musician died early.

 

Nakamura: That's right. Even if you are talented, what did you sell in exchange for it? I'm thinking about it.…I don't have anything. I went to a human dog the day before yesterday, but it wasn't bad. It's right-handed, it's a college full-time award, and on the contrary, I'm scared (laughs).