Nobuo Anzai, “Flying Kites” 1998 from the series “Home in the Seasons” 22” x 30’’ mixed media.
Japan Foundation Los Angeles presents virtual exhibition
Nobuo Anzai: Homage to a Nomadic Storyteller
March 18 – June 18, 2021
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles is currently presenting virtual exhibition Nobuo Anzai: Homage to a Nomadic Storyteller. click here to enter virtual exhibition
This exhibition was originally scheduled to open to the public in March 2020 in the gallery space of the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles. But the opening of the exhibition was postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Curated by Kio Griffith of Los Angeles, Homage to a Nomadic Storyteller is a retrospective exhibition of late Nobuo Anzai (1935-2019).
Anzai’s paintings are heartfelt memories of countries he calls homes – Brazil, Colombia, Spain, and Japan. They are unseparated in his mind and heart through his life’s passages as migrant worker, farmer, chef, and artist.
The Fukushima born Anzai spent his childhood during the upheaval years of World War II. At age 23, he emigrated to Brazil to serve two years in agricultural farming. Upon completing this obligation, he trained to become a sushi chef and open his first shop in Sao Paulo. A natural and adventurous journeyman at heart, Anzai would spend the next four decades migrating to Colombia, Spain, and Los Angeles, California.
Anzai’s fond memories of these distant lands find new homes in his paintings. These painted memories have no separation nor borders in their depiction. Instead, they are lyrical in their representation – an homage on several levels of fantasies that naturally combine symbology and essence of the different cultures that he has integrated into his soulful universe.
A conversation between curator Kio Griffith and Anzai’s daughter Mikoto Anzai was recorded on March 18 at https://youtu.be/XEtBb4dJu3w