ARTISTS
Shota NAKAMURA
Shota Nakamura is a Japanese painter born in 1987 in Yamanashi Prefecture. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Musashino Art University in 2018. He is currently living and working in Berlin, Germany.
Nakamura’s works have a soft, contemplative quality, blurring the boundaries between reality and imagination. The paintings feature people engaged in quiet, restful activities such as sleeping, reading, or meditating. Together with his use of gentle tones that create a sense of warmth and calmness, his compositions blend indoor and outdoor spaces, creating a seamless, introspective world. Inspired by artists such as Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard, and Henri Matisse, his work has a painterly, intimate quality with an emphasis on mood over realism. Influenced by his upbringing in Japan and his current life in Berlin, his paintings reflect his emotional state and a meditative engagement with natural landscapes. His work evokes a quiet, almost poetic introspection, inviting viewers to experience a moment of stillness and reflection.
The paintings by Nakamura reference photographs and memories taken by the artist himself, as well as images created by other artists in the past. In some cases, his work is a critique of someone else’s piece, as he directly quotes compositions, altering colors and elements.
His solo exhibitions include “SIGHS”, C L E A R I N G (New York, 2025); “small works 2022-2024”, C L E A R I N G (Los Angeles, 2024); “light room”, C L E A R I N G (Los Angeles, 2023); “each passing day”, Peres Projects (Berlin, 2022); “Walking”, Ilwoo Space (Seoul, 2021). He has participated in group exhibitions such as “Aura Within”, Hauser & Wirth (Hong Kong, 2025); “Wings of a Butterfly”, Ingleby Gallery (Edinburgh, 2025); “Meet me by the lake”, C L E A R I N G (New York, 2024); “BERNHEIM x ADZ Gallery”, Bernheim (Zurich, 2024); “Male Nudes: a salon from 1800 to 2021”, Mendes Wood DM (São Paulo, 2021). Nakamura’s works are included in the collections of ICA Miami; Orange County Museum of Art (Costa Mesa); Lafayette Anticipations – Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette (Paris).
