On View: ‘Imagine(d) Familiarity’ at Gurari Collections

Mitsushige Nishiwaki wasn’t always an artist. He first traveled the world as a salesman for an industrial materials company, getting inspired on the long walks he would take to get to know a new city. He would take in everything, from the cars to billboards to street fashion. Nishiwaki eventually left the business world and pursued an art career because, as he says, “Life is only one time.”

The first email I ever received from Nishiwaki had the following postscript:

“I will attach my etching work ‘Brooklyn Bridge Skaters,’ hoping you enjoy it.”

The piece portrays the titular bridge with a young lady on a skateboard eating pizza. The Statue of Liberty is off to one side, as are the feet of another skateboarder. A car swims in the churning East River. I did, indeed, enjoy it. For the duration of my correspondence with the artist, I looked forward to the etching he would attach next. Every piece was as charming as the first, filled with rosy cheeked characters exploring New York, Paris, London and Boston.

The Tokyo-based artist and graphic designer is self-taught in intaglio, the art form of engraving. He specializes in multi-panel copperplate etchings, using a rare German paper called Hahnemuhle. Nishiwaki also uses a burin tool to etch into the copper raw (that is, without acid). It’s a laborious process, especially considering that his works are made up of several panels—some of his largest pieces contain twenty separately etched rectangles.

Currently on view at Gurari Collections in Boston, Imagine(d) Familiarity is an exhibition of Nishiwaki’s newest etchings on paper. Gurari Collections is part of Boston’s SOWA art and design district, a stretch of more than twenty galleries housed in old warehouses south of Washington Street. But Gurari Collections is not your typical gallery space. If owner Russ Gerard has any say, your visit will lead you down a glorious rabbit hole of curiosities and to a delightful reimagining of the fine art experience.

“Isn’t being a gallerist sexy?” is how Gerard first greeted me, crouched halfway over a broom. The space itself feels more like the home of an eccentric than an art gallery. Its black walls make Nishiwaki’s etchings pop, and there are shelves upon shelves of what might be collectibles. In fact, I’m not quite sure what to call these objects—magnifying glasses of every shape, size and configuration, oddly shaped lamps, mini plush heads (made from a New England dressmaker’s excess fabric) and even a large bird cage, complete with a stained glass window.

Gerard, who has a background in architecture, is a singular soul in the current art sphere. He wants to deepen 2D art’s relationship with 3D to let people better imagine art in real space, such as above an antique table (or next to a bird cage). In this way, Gurari Collections is Gerard’s playground, an ever-changing blank canvas he can mold and flex according to his whims.

“I’ve been chasing silhouettes all my life,” Gerard tells me, and I think I know what he means. Gurari Collections is all about perception, specifically the relationship between an object and its ability to project. Each new exhibit showcases an artist, but every show is also a look into Gerard’s latest attempt to touch the shadows he sees so clearly.

Gerard represents ten artists at Gurari Collections, including the renowned Wendy Artin (“she does a rare thing called beauty”) and Swedish artist Lotta Olsson, who specializes in “imaginative trees.” The artists he represents are masters at what they do; when you look at their work, you are seeing who these artists are as people.

Gerard was drawn to Nishiwaki for his refreshing childishness, a sort of innocence stemming from a place of great intelligence. In fact, Gerard wanted to extend Nishiwaki’s exhibit so that he felt happy coming to work every day.

Nishiwaki’s interplay between the more recognizable icons of a city and the small yet significant details that truly make the culture of a place results in whimsically honest urban depictions. What adds to Nishiwaki’s authenticity is his tendency towards imperfection. Instead of cleaning a press before making another version of an etching, Nishiwaki will sometimes let the previous textures bleed over. It’s a more organic technique that lets you see his artistic process clearly. This is an artist who is not hiding anything from his audience, and Nishiwaki’s artistic motivation is just as transparent: he wants people to be happy and enjoy his artwork.

Once in New York, Nishiwaki spotted a boxing flier in a trash can—it later inspired “Bronx Boxing.” Nishiwaki is often struck by things other people would overlook, whether it be castaway fliers, art hanging in the corner of a Parisian café or fire escapes. Architecture plays an important role in his etchings, in particular the upheaval of scale in favor of more experimental exteriors.

“I still remember a drawing by my friend,” Nishiwaki tells me over email. “She made a temple sketch, but the roof was so large that other parts had to be smaller. Many people laughed at that work, but it touched my heart.” He says he still can’t explain what draws him to certain things, like what it was about that strangely scaled temple that moved him so. The same could be said of Gerard and his visceral response to one-of-a-kind artists, a lovely gut punch that won’t let him go. Wherever this instinct comes from, it has brought Nishiwaki and Gerard together, resulting in the artistic triumph that is Imagine(d) Familiarity.

One of the last postscripts I received from Nishiwaki is as follows:

“I like to put ‘humor’ in my works to make people smile. For example, in my work ‘Arc de Triomphe’ (attached), I put a strawberry tart on the roof, hoping you enjoy it.”

Imagine(d) Familiarity is on view at Gurari Collections in Boston until September 18. Mitsushige Nishiwaki’s solo exhibition at Le Pré au 6 in Paris will take place from November 2 through November 8.