Contemporary artist Naito Rei's natural light exhibition "Naito Rei - I can see you on the bright ground" will be held at the Contemporary Art Gallery of Art Tower Mito from July 28th to October 8th.


Naito's work explores the question, "Is existence on earth itself a blessing?" He has earned acclaim both domestically and internationally for his spatial works, which sublimate the inexhaustible natural elements of light, air, wind, water, and gravity, as well as the earthly life that receives the colors and sounds they bring, into forms that exude a quiet yet certain hope.

Naito has previously created permanent works that resonate with nature and architectural spaces, such as Kinza's "This Thing" (Naoshima, 2001) and "Matrix" (Teshima Art Museum, 2010), and has held exhibitions in historic locations such as the Carmelite Monastery in Frankfurt and the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.

In this exhibition, Naito's first solo exhibition in Japan since 2014 and his largest to date, he has considered light one of the fundamental elements of his work, and for the first time has created a space that allows us to gaze upon "scenes of life on earth," where light, life, and art are never separated, using only natural light.


At one point, Naito became aware of "an unconscious process in which a person (I) living within life on earth steps out of life, adopts the gaze of others, and gazes into the inner workings of life," and began to feel "as if we are being gazed upon from afar and receiving compassion."

Under the abundant natural light that changes throughout the day, this exhibition emerges as a place of communion between those of us living on earth and the dead, the reborn, animals, plants, and spirits, and as a space that evokes the continuity that permeates the eternal movement of nature and us.

Based on the title "I can see you on the bright earth," this exhibition sees Naito confront the contemporary art space of Art Tower Mito. Centered around new works, all eight rooms in the gallery are composed of a variety of media, including paintings and sculptures, and come together as a single artwork. By touring all the rooms, viewers will be able to encounter a new world of Naito's work.


Naito works only during the day when sunlight pours into his room. This time, visitors will be able to view his works under lighting conditions similar to those in which he creates them. In particular, the painting "Color Beginning" reveals a delicate and mysterious hues that cannot be seen under artificial lighting, creating a constantly changing landscape.

As a related program, a curator talk will be held in which the curator in charge of planning will talk about the exhibition.