In Japan, “Kuuki wo yomu,” which loosely translates as \u201creading the air,\u201d refers to the custom of adapting one\u2019s behavior according to the mood of any given situation. Bound up in ideas of social conformity, this concept is central to the work of the Rie Nagai, whose emotionally charged indoor landscape paintings explore the cultural imperative, dominant in Japanese culture, to prioritize the needs of a group over one\u2019s personal interests.<\/p>\n
For her exhibition at KB, Nagai has created an entirely new body of work based on her experiences of living and working in Berlin. As the starting point for this project, the artist visited a number of well-known nightclubs, including Berghain, Tresor, Watergate, and Sisyphos, which she sees as cultural symbols of the German capital as well as spaces of intense social pressure. Working from memory, Nagai then translated her observations onto paper in a series of paintings collectively titled Night<\/span><\/em> followed by the geographical coordinates of the individual locations. Using color to express feelings of repression and suppression, Nagai\u2019s distinctive palette stems from her avoidance of warm shades like vermillion, which has positive connotations in many cultures, in favor of cooler tones like magenta, pink, and violet to engender feelings of tension in her audience. In the wake of the disruption to Berlin nightlife wreaked by Covid-19, the series has taken on unexpected new meanings, with the empty spaces in Nagai\u2019s paintings coming to stand for an experience that is no longer possible. As the artist puts it, \u201cWith clubs closed, the situation inside them is as obscure as Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s cat. It\u2019s a fantastic fantasy, but I sometimes imagine it\u2019s possible to hear music blaring by itself in an empty nightclub.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-27715","kb_exhibition","type-kb_exhibition","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"article_image":27704,"article_image_bu_de":"Rie Nagai, Night (52\u00b030'03.8\"N, 13\u00b026'42.9\"E, c.2X20), 2020, Acyril auf Papier. Courtesy the artist.","article_image_bu_en":"Rie Nagai, Night (52\u00b030'03.8\"N, 13\u00b026'42.9\"E, c.2X20), 2020, acrylic on paper. Courtesy the artist.","datum_suche":"2020-07-24 12:25:26"},"yoast_head":"\n