Peeling off the surface layers of the medium.

March 12 (Tue) – April 14 (Sun) 2024
Weekdays: 11 : 00 ‒19 : 00

Sundays and holidays: 11 : 00 ‒18 : 00

Closed Mondays (including national holidays falling on Monday)

Stripping away the surface of the record, layer by layer.
In order to reveal the true nature of "something" that it insists.

Organized by Shiseido Company, Limited
Supported by: IHI Corporation, Oji F-Tex Co., Ltd.
(Zai Nomura Exhibition)

Exactly 100 years ago, my grandfather was born in Tokyo.
He had a beautiful younger sister, but she was weak and died young.
My grandfather was so shocked by this that he enlisted to fight in the war.
That was in 1941.

When he returned to Japan after the war, he discovered that his beloved fiancée had also disappeared.
Instead, a woman he didn't know was waiting at his house, and that was my grandmother.

I found out about this from my grandfather's journal discovered after his death along with a photo that accompanied it.
"shiseido art egg" is an open-call program in which Shiseido supports emerging artists whose creations stimulate the senses andoffer different and diverse values, expanding the possibilities for new kinds of beauty, the opportunity to showcase their work in

The photo shows my grandfather in a school uniform and his sister looking lovely in a white dress.

solo exhibitions. Since the program was launched in 2006 a total of 48 artists / artist units have presented their work in thisHis sister passed away a few days after that photo was taken.

manner, and gone on to grow their presence on the art scene.
To date Zai Nomura has attempted to uncover life, death, and what lies between through a variety of media, taking mainly
photography and sculpture as his materials. This exhibition will include a photographic device that prints photos of the dead onto
water, and a performative work that will continue to run for decades. Viewing information media and its intersection of past,present and future, and transformation from analog to digital, through an idiosyncratic lens, Nomura interrogates the essence ofSince its discovery, I've always held onto that photo.
And I had a thought.
If this beautiful girl hadn't died, perhaps I wouldn't exist now.
I wonder if this photo is proof of my existence.

what it is to be human, and ways of existing.
That's why, I burned the photo, which had been kept for over 80 years, and photographed the light from the flames.

Zai Nomura
When I looked at the developed negatives, I felt more moved by the light released from both their bodies and papers
1979 Born in Hyogo

than the pain of the loss of it.

2009 MFA at Goldsmiths University of London

I was overwhelmed.

2013 Ph.D. in Fine Arts at Musashino Art University

In fact, the photo of them that had disappeared was burned into the back of my eyes, and my existence was not disappeared.

2013 Lives in Hyogo

Somehow, I felt OK.
Career highlights to dateThat's why I could bring those who had disappeared back into the light.

2024 solo exhibition "Canʼt Remember I Forgot You", Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo,Tokyo
2021 solo exhibition "Echoes", Ulterior Gallery, NY, USA

That's why the letters that never reached their destination are kept like shadows.

2017 solo exhibition "Canʼt rewind it", Soh Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

And that's why these everyday memories full of love would fade.

But that is OK.

Artist HP: https://www.nomurazai.com/

Even if you disappear and I, the person who remembers you, also disappear, and 100 years from now no one remains toremember you and even though this universe will be gone, it's OK, the fact you exist will never fade.
HP

Instagram

X

Floormap

2-aBiophoton has been shining like this(A boy wearing a sailor suit and holding a model yacht,1919)

4
FantômeWater tank, water, inkjet printer, LED monitor, ozone generator,
microcomputer, internet cloud, 2024

Burned vintage portrait photography, UV-pigment print on glass,2-aacrylic box, 2024

Landing2-bBiophoton has been shining like this(A beautiful baby looking upwards to the left, harmonica inhand, 1925)

4

Burned vintage portrait photography, UV-pigment print on glass,
2024

52-b

2-c

2-d

Fantôme is a device that prints photos in water of those whohave passed away.
Anyone from around the world can participate via an
external website.
Please scan the QR code displayed below to access thewebsite using the Google App or Camera App on yourphone.
*You will need to set up a Google account in advance toparticipate.
*Photos of pets such as animals are also accepted.

2-e
2-c

Biophoton has been shining like this(Captain Tom on a cruise ship with a big smile, 1999)
3

Burned vintage portrait photography, UV-pigment print on glass,acrylic box, 2024

ELV

ELV

1Reception

2-dBiophoton has been shining like this(A man in his 40s wearing yellow seawater pants andsunglasses and a woman of the same age wearing a whitebikini. The two pose on a New York beach crowded withover 50 people, 1980)

5Kantsubaki
Polaroid film, UV-light, cable, 2024

Burned vintage portrait photography, UV-pigment print on glass,acrylic box, 2024

12Untitled(It's OK, the fact you exist will never fade even though thisuniverse will be gone)

Biophoton has been shining like thisBurned vintage portrait photography, UV-pigment print on glass,acrylic box, 2024

DNA data, punched tape machine, microcomputer, paper, projector,
2024

This work utilizes a punched tape machine suspended fromthe ceiling to continuously engrave all of one person's DNA
onto paper. In the past, punched tape printing machines
were used to record information through the use of "paperand holes" as an analog form of communication. If one
person's DNA data were printed using punched tape, thetotal length would be 12 million meters, which is about 1/3
the circumference of the Earth. (This would take 91 years
and 172 days of non-stop, 24/7 printing.)
The DNA tape is continuously imprinted in accordance withthe rhythm of the heartbeat, and the percentage of theimprinted amount is projected on the wall in conjunction
with a projector.

2-eBiophoton has been shining like this(A Japanese man with glasses wearing a checkered shirt,
smiling while sitting on a blue sofa with a beagle dog, 2001)
Burned vintage portrait photography, UV-pigment print on glass,acrylic box, 2024

In this work, the artist collected portraits (including those of
his own family/ancestors) from all over the world taken overthe past 120 years (1903-2023).
He burned them one by one in a darkroom and thenphotographed the flames using long exposure. Thesedeveloped films are affixed to the glass using UV-pigment
printing, a printing technique that is cured by ultraviolet
light.

3Gift
Letters that never reached to anyone, glass box, glass ball, stainlessstreel, 2024

Explanatory Notes
Information on the works are listed in the following order: work title,materials and year of production.