NKSIN (Shin Nakagawa, b. 1994) is a Japanese painter based in Fukushima who exhibits mainly in Tokyo and abroad. Born to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother, he grew up feeling excluded, and social discrimination became the central theme of his work. His large acrylic canvases, with flat colour and bold outlines, show actors, musicians and other cultural icons in today’s casual clothes, playfully linking nostalgia and the present.
NKSIN (Shin Nakagawa, b. 1994, Fukushima, Japan) is a Japanese painter who still lives and works in Fukushima and exhibits mainly in Tokyo and abroad. Born to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother, he grew up feeling excluded by a community that did not fully accept his multicultural background. This experience led him to explore social discrimination, which has become the central theme of his work. His main characters confront various forms of discrimination provocatively and with humour, mirrored by the artist’s own experiences. NKSIN portrays artisans, actors, musicians, artists and other icons who shaped the culture of their era, dressing them in contemporary everyday fashion and placing them in present-day settings. This juxtaposition creates a playful tension between nostalgia and the present. His large acrylic canvases, with their flat colours and bold outlines, connect Japanese pop visual culture with a thoughtful social message.
