TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY is pleased to present Permeating Color, a solo exhibition by Nobuaki Maeda in the VIEWING ROOM.

Born in Kumamoto in 1949, Nobuaki Maeda is a contemporary artist who continues to live and work in his hometown. In the 1970s, he met Donald Judd (1928–1994), a leading figure of American Minimal Art, and encountered the work of significant artists both in Japan and abroad, including Katsuhiko Narita (1944–1992) and Tadaaki Kuwayama (1932–2023). Through these experiences, Maeda engaged directly with the aesthetic currents of Mono-ha and Minimalism. While influenced by these movements, he has consistently pursued a personal vision of pure abstraction, developing a unique and contemplative pictorial space.

In 1970, Maeda participated in the 10th Tokyo Biennale, Between Man and Matter, held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, as an assistant to Shintaro Tanaka (1940–2019). There, he witnessed the working processes of international artists such as Jannis Kounellis (1936–2017), Carl Andre (1935–2024), and Richard Serra (1938–2024), gaining invaluable exposure to the global currents of contemporary art.

A particularly formative moment was Maeda’s encounter with the work of Katsuhiko Narita, who was gaining attention at the time for his exhibition SUMI. Deeply impacted by Narita’s practice, Maeda maintained a lasting friendship with him in the years that followed. Another significant influence was Tadaaki Kuwayama, a central figure in Minimalism who relocated to New York in 1958. Meeting Kuwayama was a pivotal experience for Maeda.

From the late 1970s onward, Maeda created works based on Xerox (photocopy) techniques and frottage that explored temporality, before shifting toward a minimalist pictorial structure that eliminated figuration. By diluting acrylic paint to its limits and pouring large amounts of water onto the canvas, he developed a distinctive, multi-layered painting process. Through this method, he established a body of work characterized by profound color and pure abstraction.

The horizontal and vertical lines that emerge on his canvases evoke the verticality of gravity and the horizontality of geological strata—an interplay that conjures a tranquil, expansive space imbued with depth and stillness.

This exhibition marks Nobuaki Maeda’s first solo presentation at TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY. We warmly invite you to experience his quietly resonant works.