Founded in 2021, NISO is committed to supporting the next generation of talents as well as rediscovering the legacy of XXth Century artists whose remarkable contributions to Art History have gone unnoticed in recent times. Located in Central London, the gallery provides a dynamic platform to present solo exhibitions and intergenerational dialogues in collaboration with artists, estates, and representing galleries. 

NISO has been committed to supporting the next generation of talents as well as rediscovering the legacy (...)

Supporting early-career artists, rediscovering overlooked masters from the XXth Century. 

Sawako Nasu (Tokyo, b. 1998) lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. The artist holds a BFA and MFA from the Tokyo University of Arts. Solo exhibitions include: Sunny, Rainy at Biscuit Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2023); Slipped Moonlight, Ginza Tsutaya Books, Tokyo, Japan (2022); To the Lighthouse, myheirloom, Tokyo, Japan (2022). Recent group exhibitions include: Biscuit Gallery 3rd Anniversary Exhibition「grid3」, Biscuit Gallery, Tokyo (2024); Inaugural Group Exhibition, NISO, London (2024);「Selection」, KEN NAKAHASHI, Tokyo, Japan (2024); Draw Lines & Shapes in My Maps, Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi, Maebashi, Japan (2023).

Landscape n.1, 2024   120 x 170 cm   Oil on Canvas

Landscape n.2, 2024   80 x 100 cm   Oil on Canvas

Landscape n.3, 2024   56 x 74 cm   Oil on Canvas

Landscape n.4, 2024   56 x 71 cm   Oil on Canvas

Landscape n.5, 2024   56 x 71 cm   Oil on Canvas

Landscape n.6, 2024   56 x 71 cm   Oil on Canvas

Installation view of Vestige, NISO, London, September 2024.

Portrait of A Man n.1, 2024   50 x 41 cm   Oil on Canvas 

Portrait of A Man n.2, 2024   40 x 31 cm   Oil on Canvas 

Portrait of A Man n.3, 2024   40 x 31 cm   Oil on Canvas 

Portrait of A Man n.4, 2024   40 x 31 cm   Oil on Canvas 

Portrait of A Man n.5, 2024   40 x 31 cm   Oil on Canvas 

Portrait of A Man n.6, 2024   40 x 31 cm   Oil on Canvas 

Portrait of A Man n.7, 2024   40 x 31 cm   Oil on Canvas 

A virtuoso in portraiture and travel painting – Proctor’s mostly autobiographical works freely depict the artist’s surroundings. Delicate renderings in watercolour relate quotidian scenes ranging from the landscapes he encountered on his bohemian wanderings from the Middle East to Asia “Kyoto, Golden Temple, Rain” (1991) to the intimate portraits of friends, lovers and colleagues made from the comfort of in his living room “Portrait of Richard Buckle” (1968), “Peter Hinwood”(1969). A chronicle of daily life as an artist, a dandy, and an integral member of the swinging sixties, Procktor’s honest reflections deeply resonate with the modern-day documentation of life in the digital Age.

Marked by a unique and understated painterly language that blends traditional and contemporary influences – Procktor’s portraits reveal a subdued and pasty palette and lingering atmosphere redolent of the pre-pop ‘Euston Road’ artistic movement, combined with an audacious use of white space that parallels the aesthetic modernity of the time. Marked by a non-hierarchical way of seeing, extraneous detail is opted out, figures carefully poised within the white space of the paper - some with mannerist distortions – coming together in a gentle and elegant quality that is muted in its transparency and deliberate areas of unpainted surface.

Balanced with an equal measure of finesse and flair – the subjects of Procktor’s portraits unveil a colourful melee of artists, musicians, designers, photographers and socialites that relay to the audience a generational snapshot of the milieu of art, theatre, fashion and rock music the artist inhabits.

Among them, some of the greatest figures of the era as well as many queer icons such as his friend the artist David Hockney and fashion designer Ossie Clark, interior designer Christopher Gibbs, Richard Beer, Peter Schlesinger, Mo McDermott, David Gwinnett, Francis Bacon, Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, and Cecil Beaton; making up an almost complete cast of the ‘swinging’ London of the 60s and 70s.

Seemingly unguarded, Procktor’s portraits and renderings show a recurring - almost voyeuristic - depiction of the male figure – as carefree bodies recline half- naked “Brittas Bay” (1968), baking in the summer heat in parks “Lawn” (1975), or on the decks of boats “Tropic of Cancer”(1974). Conjuring airs of queer eros and nonchalance, these epitomise much of the liberal revolution of the time, where accepted norms of behaviour, sexual and otherwise, were being jettisoned for a new age of social freedoms.

A charismatic dandy renowned for his Wildean theatricality and wit, Procktor was one of the UK’s most controversial and enigmatic figures. Spanning several decades, his work compassed diverse styles and mediums, subject to significant acclaim as well as controversy over his lifetime. First gaining recognition the year after his graduation, his first show at the Redfern was a sell-out before it opened. The following year, Bryan Robertson selected him for the seminal 1963 exhibition “New Generation” at the Whitechapel, exhibiting his early paintings – dynamic, abstract depictions of the male nude – alongside those of the most promising artists of his time Patrick Caulfield, John Hoyland, Bridget Riley and David Hockney. With subsequent tendencies that included the out-of-vogue medium of watercolour, paired with the thematic monotony of his 1968 ‘One Boy Show’ fiasco - Procktor’s acclaim would never reach that of his close friend and muse David Hockney. By the mid-90s, doomed by alcoholism and a series of personal disasters that included a fire that destroyed his home and much of his art, brief spells of incarceration and homelessness quickly ensued, blighting the later years of his life.

Today, his prints, watercolours, and oil and acrylic paintings sit in private and public institutions including the British Museum, the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, The Los Angeles County Museum, the Metropolitan Museum (NY), and the MoMA (NY), subject to a particular resurgence since the publishing of Ian Massey’s major monograph “Patrick Procktor: Art and Life” in 2010. Spotlights include Tate Britain's survey show of watercolourists in 2011 and Queer British Art exhibition in 2017, as well as his acclaimed retrospective at Huddersfield Art Gallery in 2012, and the eponymous exhibition at Palazzo Bentivoglio (Bologna) “A View From A Window” in 2022.

NISO is pleased to announce Sawako Nasu’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, opening on Tuesday, September 17th. This marks the artist's first presentation outside of Japan and reinforces the gallery’s dedication to showcasing young talent from the Japanese art sceneSeptember 17th. Vestige presents a body of sixteen works on canvas that explore the breadth of her practice, from portraiture to landscape.

Sawako Nasu’s work serves as a profound meditation on the passage of time, memory, and the ephemeral quality of human nature—themes encompassing both her technique and subject matter. Nasu reduces her landscapes to abstraction by superimposing thin layers of paint, meticulously applied according to a geometric division of the surface plane. This method renders her brushstrokes nearly invisible, resulting in compositions that exude a subtle stillness, serenity, and a quiet melancholy.

The visual impact of Sawako Nasu’s work is reminiscent of Hiroshi Sugimoto's seascapes, where time—and patience—plays an integral role in the creative act. Much like the slow, deliberate process of capturing light in a photograph, she must patiently wait between each layer of paint to dry, allowing time to create a marbled texture that reveals itself slowly, just as sediment builds over time.

The result of these deliberately repetitive gestures in composing her landscapes manifests as subtle variations across the body of work, giving rise to numerous perspectives that intersect and coexist on the surface plane. The only constant is the horizon line—a consistent element that, like a compass, anchors the viewer.

The principles guiding her creative method serve a different function in her portraiture. With each layer of paint, the figures depicted gradually fade away, much like the sea wears away the rock, leaving behind only the memory of what once was. At once visible and obscured, the figure is captured both in its immediate reality and its ephemeral, elusive nature. Sawako Nasu's portraiture serves as a reminder that nothing is permanent—everything is in a constant state of change.

Sawako Nasu (Tokyo, b. 1998) lives and work in Tokyo, Japan. The artist holds a  BFA and MFA from the Tokyo University of Arts. Solo exhibitions include: Sunny, Rainy at Biscuit Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2023); Slipped Moonlight, Ginza Tsutaya Books, Tokyo, Japan (2022); To the Lighthouse, myheirloom, Tokyo, Japan (2022). Recent group exhibitions include: Biscuit Gallery 3rd Anniversary Exhibition「grid3」, Biscuit Gallery, Tokyo (2024); Inaugural Group Exhibition, NISO, London (2024);「Selection」, KEN NAKAHASHI, Tokyo, Japan (2024);  Draw Lines & Shapes in My Maps, Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi, Maebashi, Japan (2023).

Installation view of Vestige, NISO, London. 

Landscape n.3,2024 56 x 74 cm Oil on Canvas

Landscape n.1, 2024 120 x 170 cm Oil on Canvas

Portrait of A Man n.1, 2024 50 x 41 cm Oil on Canvas

Man At The Window II, 2024 101 x 76 cm Oil on Canvas

Man At The Window I, 2024 130 x 106 cm Oil on Canvas

Sawako_Nasu_Press_Release .pdf

NISO is pleased to announce Sawako Nasu’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, opening on Tuesday, September 17th. 

NISO

NISO

18.09—09.11.24

18.09—09.11.24

Artists

Sawako Nasu

Sawako Nasu

Patrick Procktor

Patrick Procktor

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