Exhibitions

KEN NAKAHASHI is pleased to present DOING, a solo presentation by Erik Swars from September 15 (Friday) to October 14 (Saturday), 2023.

In his sixth solo exhibition at the gallery in three years, Swars will present new works from DIA series.

In the gallery space, the works respond to each other, and in contrast to their rigid appearance, they exist as if adrift in ephemerality itself.

The pieces sometimes, are sculptural objects, free-standing on the wall as thick, heavy slabs of wood and steel, with their water repellent aluminum surfaces lightly sprayed with color; at other times, the images imprinted on the surfaces seem to have melted away and been scraped off.

These works are an archive of moment-to-moment events that explore the mutual influence of time, space, materiality, color, and unpainted surfaces in Swars' work with a variety of materials.

Erik Swars

Born 1988 in Zwenkau, Germany.

2013 to 2014, studied painting at Tokyo University of the Arts. 

He then went onto attend Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle to study under Jochen Plogsties. 

Swars’ works are held in various public collections, including G2 Hildebrand Collection in Leipzig, National Collection of Germany and the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig. 

[Recent major exhibition]

• 2022 Imi Knoebel, Erik Swars, KEN NAKAHASHI, Tokyo
• 2021 MOMENT AND/OR REALITIES BETWEEN (1-39), Galerie Jochen Hempel, Leipzig
• 2021 Felder, Jahn und Jahn, Munich
• 2020 CONNECT Lepzig, Museum der bildenden Künste MdbK, Leipzig
• 2020 kuchisabishii, KEN NAKAHASHI, Tokyo
• 2020 dia, Archivmassiv/Bildarchive, Leipzig

[Major public collection]

• G2 Hildebrand Collection, Leipzig
• Sammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (National collection of Germany)
• Museum der bildenden Künste MdbK, Leipzig

Erik Swars DOING

• September 15—October 14, 2023
• Tue-Sat, 11:00-18:00
• Closed: Sunday & Monday
• Reception: Friday, September 15, 18:00-20:00

Photo by Yuya Saito