Kohei Nawa

(Japanese, born 1975)

Kohei Nawa is a Japanese sculptor exploring digital culture and contemporary spirituality. Perhaps best known for his PixCell series, he creates works by covering found objects such as taxidermied deer with an intricate layer of glass beads, prisms, glue, plaster, and spray foam. Nawa’s transparent husk is then removed, ultimately creating a light-filled facsimile of the original object. “The approach of making sculpture from granular materials eventually emerged when I was searching for my own means of expression, and is associated with the concept that the whole world is made from cells and cellular structures,” he has explained. “At the molecular level, all natural and man-made articles are groups of particles.” The artist is inspired in part by digital pixels—which use light to construct images—as a conceptual gesture, thereby making his sculptures a real life analogue to the digital image. He also cites artists such as Katsuhiro Otomo and Antony Gormley and the architect Antoni Gaudi as lasting sources of inspiration for his practice. Born in 1975 in Osaka, Japan, Nawa studied at the Kyoto City University of Art where he received his BFA and PHD in fine arts, and also spent one term as an exchange student at the Royal College of Art in London. His works can be found in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Gallery Victoria in Melbourne, among others. Nawa lives and works in Kyoto, Japan.

Kohei Nawa News

Galleries

Mega-Gallery Pace Will Open a Sprawling New Tokyo Outpost Designed by Thomas Heatherwick Next Spring

by Eileen Kinsella
Mega-Gallery Pace Will Open a Sprawling New Tokyo Outpost Designed by Thomas Heatherwick Next Spring
Art World

Despite Bans on Public Gatherings, Marc Glimcher's New 'Superblue' Initiative Is Launching a Series of Venues Dedicated to Big, Immersive Art

by Eileen Kinsella
Despite Bans on Public Gatherings, Marc Glimcher's New 'Superblue' Initiative Is Launching a Series of Venues Dedicated to Big, Immersive Art
Art Guides

Must-See Art Guide: Shanghai

by Tatiana Berg
Must-See Art Guide: Shanghai

Kohei Nawa Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Kohei Nawa (498 results)
Element - Black #8, 2018

Kohei Nawa

Element - Black #8, 2018

Sale Date: January 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Velvet - VIA - Wall (R) (from METAMORPHOSIS..., 2019

Kohei Nawa

Velvet - VIA - Wall (R) (from METAMORPHOSIS..., 2019

Sale Date: January 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Velvet - Fu / Rai (from METAMORPHOSIS..., 2019

Kohei Nawa

Velvet - Fu / Rai (from METAMORPHOSIS..., 2019

Sale Date: January 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Direction #78, 2013

Kohei Nawa

Direction #78, 2013

Sale Date: January 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Velvet #4 (Black), 2018

Kohei Nawa

Velvet #4 (Black), 2018

Sale Date: January 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Pixcell-Toy-Locomotive, 2015

Kohei Nawa

Pixcell-Toy-Locomotive, 2015

Sale Date: December 17, 2020

Auction Closed

Line-Random-CMY#3-1, 2013

Kohei Nawa

Line-Random-CMY#3-1, 2013

Sale Date: December 5, 2020

Auction Closed

Transfer #31, 2017

Kohei Nawa

Transfer #31, 2017

Sale Date: November 19, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2011

Kohei Nawa

Untitled, 2011

Sale Date: October 31, 2020

Auction Closed

Line - Random - CMY #2-2, 2013

Kohei Nawa

Line - Random - CMY #2-2, 2013

Sale Date: October 31, 2020

Auction Closed

Dot-Fragment_B, 2008

Kohei Nawa

Dot-Fragment_B, 2008

Sale Date: October 31, 2020

Auction Closed

Velvet - Trans - T.O.P (R), 2019

Kohei Nawa

Velvet - Trans - T.O.P (R), 2019

Sale Date: October 31, 2020

Auction Closed

PixCell - Hanafuda #1 (Gokou), 2006

Kohei Nawa

PixCell - Hanafuda #1 (Gokou), 2006

Sale Date: October 31, 2020

Auction Closed

Velvet #7 (moss), 2018

Kohei Nawa

Velvet #7 (moss), 2018

Sale Date: October 31, 2020

Auction Closed

Direction #123, 2014

Kohei Nawa

Direction #123, 2014

Sale Date: October 31, 2020

Auction Closed

Line-Random-K-1, 2013

Kohei Nawa

Line-Random-K-1, 2013

Sale Date: October 17, 2020

Auction Closed

VELVET-RAI (R) 絲絨 - 雷（R, 2019

Kohei Nawa

VELVET-RAI (R) 絲絨 - 雷（R, 2019

Sale Date: September 15, 2020

Auction Closed

Line - Fragment # 7, 2008

Kohei Nawa

Line - Fragment # 7, 2008

Sale Date: August 1, 2020

Auction Closed

Velvet - Throne (R) (from METAMORPHOSIS..., 2019

Kohei Nawa

Velvet - Throne (R) (from METAMORPHOSIS..., 2019

Sale Date: August 1, 2020

Auction Closed

Line-Fragment #48, 2008

Kohei Nawa

Line-Fragment #48, 2008

Sale Date: August 1, 2020

Auction Closed

Line - Random - CMY #2-2, 2013

Kohei Nawa

Line - Random - CMY #2-2, 2013

Sale Date: August 1, 2020

Auction Closed

Line - Random - CMY #3-1, 2013

Kohei Nawa

Line - Random - CMY #3-1, 2013

Sale Date: August 1, 2020

Auction Closed

PixCell-Toy-Egg Plant, 2006

Kohei Nawa

PixCell-Toy-Egg Plant, 2006

Sale Date: July 9, 2020

Auction Closed

Grid#23, 2017

Kohei Nawa

Grid#23, 2017

Sale Date: July 4, 2020

Auction Closed

English (US)

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